The Changing Arctic

See those walruses relaxing on the beach?  That’s not normal behaviour.  It’s quite new.
You see, walruses normally lay on the ice.  They use floating sea ice in the ocean to give birth or rest between hunts.
Now, because they rest on the beaches, they are far from their food sources.  Also, it becomes too overcrowded,
which is dangerous for their young. The ice has been disappearing rapidly at the North Pole.
All the Arctic animals are trying to find new ways to survive. 

Scientists started recording temperatures at the Arctic in 1900.  Since then, the temperature rose to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Snow cover (snow on land), is very important for the Arctic ecosystem.  When the snow is thin,
the ground absorbs the heat from sunlight.  This heat melts the snow more quickly.
Less snow means the planet is warming.

There is also another reason the planet is getting warmer. Arctic sea ice is melting. Normally,
the sea ice acts as a mirror.  When the sunlight hits the ice, it reflects the energy and heat back into space.
This keeps the planet’s temperature stable.  Now there is less ice, and the dark ocean waters absorb the heat.
This warms the oceans and can kill fish and other marine life.
People and countries will have to make changes to protect the planet and stop climate change.