REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) – Although faced with fresh evidence of global warming, the United States and other members of the Arctic Council on Wednesday failed to make any recommendations to combat a problem most scientists say is causing sea ice to melt and temperatures to rise.

The council met to consider a new scientific report suggesting the Arctic is warming up much faster than the rest of the planet. Some delegates on the council, a respected international panel that advises governments on Arctic issues, seemed to blame their group’s inaction on America’s rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, which requires industrial nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The Bush administration prefers voluntary measures to save the environment.

The study, compiled by 300 scientists and released earlier this month, said the Arctic is particularly vulnerable to warming from industrial greenhouse gases. One reason is that when snow and ice melt, the exposed, bare ground absorbs more heat.

The study projects that some animals could become extinct and people living in the region could be threatened. Sea ice in the Arctic has already decreased about 8 percent in 30 years, resulting in the loss of 386,100 square miles of sea ice.

, according to the report.

Delegates said the findings will help inform governments about global warming, but declined to make any specific recommendations in a declaration adopted Wednesday.

Paula Dobriansky, the U.S. under secretary of global affairs, told the council’s closing news conference that she was happy with that decision. She said America’s participation in the council is just one part of the Bush administration’s $5.2 billion spent for environmental projects such as renewable energies.

But anger from other delegates over the U.S. position on global warming seemed evident during the news conference, particularly the Bush Administration’s rejection of the Kyoto Protocol in 2001.

The U.N.-sponsored accord, which was negotiated in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, requires industrial nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases below 1990 levels.

When Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said, “It is the best possible declaration that could be adopted today,” other delegates exploded in laughter.

The council is comprised of eight nations – Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States – and six indigenous peoples of the Arctic, including the Saami Peoples of Norway and Finland and the Inuit Circumpolar Conference.

AP-ES-11-24-04 1921EST