The Parvati Foundation, an international non-profit is leading the creation of the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS) to protect one of the most important global life support systems, the Arctic Ocean. As the Arctic ice recedes year by year, global consequences multiply. While there is still a window of opportunity to avert total catastrophe, an immediate response is required, measured in weeks and months rather than years. The foundation believes this can be achieved through the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS).
MAPS will safeguard the entire area north of the Arctic Circle as the world’s largest marine sanctuary. It prohibits commercial tourism, fishing, oil and gas activity, shipping, militarization and dumping of waste. These activities destroy the sea ice and disrupt the permafrost, reviving buried pathogens and threatening to cause large scale methane eruptions. A major methane explosion from Arctic permafrost has been estimated to cost the global economy $60 trillion US. The mounting military tensions within the region have prompted warnings of a “New Cold War”.
MAPS is the only initiative to include protection of the coastal waters where the majority of exploitation takes place. The science is clear that protecting the Arctic High Seas is not enough to protect life on Earth. As Yvo de Boer, Former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, says, “MAPS is the only sane choice for the critically vulnerable Arctic ecosystem, for the sake of our seas, our atmosphere and all life.”
There is an urgent need for scientists from all disciplines to support this initiative and help to educate the public about this emergency, mobilize world leaders and the public to protect the Arctic Ocean and our shared future.
Open Letter is being circulated to be endorsed by scientists from all disciplines to voice their support of MAPS — please see this link to the letter: here
Please consider adding your name to the Open Letter and join the growing number of influential scientists, including 26 Nobel Laureates, that have recently signed it.
