Oslo - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday capped a visit to the Arctic region off northern Norway to see the effects of global warming and inspect a global seed bank. The visit included an hour-long excursion late Tuesday on the Arctic Sea ice, north of the Svalbard Archipelago.
Researchers briefed him, and he had a chance to drill into the ice that has an important role in the global climate system.
The melting ice poses a threat to animal and birdlife in the region, as well as low-lying areas worldwide.
Ban said he wanted to use what he learned first-hand from the visit at a summit meeting he has convened in New York later in September.
That meeting is part of the UN chief's efforts to push for a new climate deal on reducing greenhouse gas emissions at an upcoming summit in December in Copenhagen.
Ban later urged world leaders to "take action immediately" to preserve the planet and combat climate change.
Research suggests that the Arctic has warmed twice as fast as the global average in the past 100 years, impacting the extent and thickness of the sea ice.
Ban and Norway's Agriculture Minister Lars Peder Brekk Wednesday visited the Svalbard Global Seed Vault that was inaugurated 2008.
Often likened to a Noah's Ark, the vault is to serve as a safety net and store copies of seeds from staple crops like maize, rice and wheat from other seed banks and collections worldwide.
"The food and climate crises have shed a new light on the need to secure the world's crop variations. These crises are a wakeup call," Brekk said.
The UN head was Tuesday accompanied by Erik Solheim, Norwegian environment and international development minister.
Melting sea ice and glaciers in areas ranging from the North Pole, Greenland and Svalbard to the Himalayas and Andes posed a threat to mankind, Solheim told news agency NTB, citing changes in rainfall patterns and rising rivers.
