Monitoring climate change in the Arctic

Economist : To study global warming and other subjects, scientists from 10 countriesâmdash;Norway, France, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, South Korea, India, and Chinaâmdash;have set up research stations in the Norwegian village of Ny-Alesund. In a lengthy article, the Economist discusses the rapid melting of sea ice and disappearing permafrost in the Arctic over the past century. Such changes to the landscape can be attributed to the growing number of greenhouse gases, including ozone and methane, and the soot from diesel exhaust and forest fires. Arctic warming is of concern because it can alter the temperature gradient in other parts of the world and thus affect weather patterns between the tropics and the poles.