Bursik, whose country is holding the six-month EU presidency, has returned from a trip to Antarctica where he went last Friday with other EU countries' environment ministers, invited by their Norwegian counterpart Erik Solheim, along with environmental experts from Algeria, Britain, the Czech Republic, the Congo, Finland, Norway and Sweden, and representatives of other countries, including China, India, Russia and the United States.
Czech minister of environment Martin Bursík. Photo: ČTK
The politicians and experts wanted to personally see the impact of global climate change in this part of the world.
Bursik said Antarctica to a high extent helps stabilise the world climate. At present, however, the icebergs are melting there due to the temperature deviations and the warming up of oceans.
The impact of climate change is apparent in Antarctica and its extent is enormous, said Bursik, deputy PM and chairman of the junior ruling Greens (SZ).
The team at the Troll station was exploring Antarctica within the project launched on the occasion of the International Polar, in which some 10,000 scientists and another 40,000 people from over 60 countries took part in the Arctic and Antarctica in 2007-2009.
The Norwegians are the only ones to measure the mercury incidence in Antarctica. They found out that 80 percent of the mercury there came from coal burning in China and India and 20 percent from South Africa, Bursik pointed out.
"We were leaving with a great memento, realising that we bear responsibility also for unpopulated continents as well as the negotiations on the global agreement on climate protection," said Bursik.
He added that the short stay in Antarctica persuaded him and his colleagues that emissions produced by humans are threatening the unique ecosystem in Antarctica. The researchers' findings in Antarctica are alarming, he added.
"This is an appeal for us to succeed in bringing representatives of the major world economies to a negotiating table during our EU presidency," said Bursik.
The Czech Republic, too, has a polar station in Antarctica, on the northern coast of James Ross island. Experts from Czech universities and research institute are studying there the origin and development of life on the Earth after the glaciers receded.
Author: Czech News Agency (ČTK), www.ctk.cz
Source: Prague Daily Monitor, http://praguemonitor.com