Monday, August 11, 2008

No Hope for Arctic Ice Recovery.


"Just last week, a seven-year study led by University of Alberta scientist Christian Haas revealed "drastic" reductions of up to 50 per cent in the thickness of High Arctic ice and predicted the thinning "could soon result in an ice-free North Pole during summer."


Read more here: Unprecedented

This kind of news should create a state of emergency on the planet, wouldn’t you think?

But no, it’s business as usual with the added bonus of more oil to be drilled in the melted newly perma-frosted Arctic, with, of course, (no surprises here!) the battling of Canada, Russia, Denmark, the U.S. and Norway to establish first dibs.

And the wide open spaces of the Northwest Passage will fortuitously facilitate the new shipping lanes freighting the latest in penny tchotkes from China to Walmart.

New bio-hazards in the oceans are predicted with the Atlantic and Pacific melding rogether for the first time in 3 million years with the Pacific sea creatures making the jump to Altantic waters, and vice versa. Yep, 3 million years.

If our descendants survive, will they ever forgive us?

15 comments:

  1. I, too, am more and more concerned about all of these things. I watched an excellent documentary, The End of Suburbia, that documents what life might be like once peak oil takes hold. It's already happening. Watch food prices go up, etc.

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  2. If our descendants survive, will they ever forgive us?

    No WWW - they won't forgive us because they won't know about us,
    they'll be just small group of humanoid creatures clinging to what's left of planet Earth in the (perhaps not so) far distant future. No records, no memories, other than garbled legends.

    Round and around we go.... :-(

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  3. i am not an ostrich but i find this kind of thing so incredibly depressing--there's nothing to DO about it--that i can hardly bear it.

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  4. Rhea:
    Yes, it is an excellent film and we are already just about there. More and more are converting their lawns to sustainable vegetable gardens.
    -----------------------------------
    T:
    I'm off out to observe the Persoid Shower in a few mins. I find it uplifting to see the magic in the skies and realize how absolutely tiny we are. I wish I could say the same for Thems Who Rules Us.
    -----------------------------------
    Laurie:
    We just need to take care of our own little patch and do all that needs to be done for it. I am only just beginning with my little efforts but it feels kinda grand.
    -----------------------------------
    XO
    WWW

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  5. Ah the famous China to Wallmart trade route - we absolutely mustn't allow any threats to THAT!

    By the by, WWW, the top of your blog seems to be missing. A temporary glitch, I hope!

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  6. Laura:
    No missing bits at my end, maybe it is a firefox, IE issue?
    And that last, alas, is about the end of my tech ability! ;^)
    XO
    WWW

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  7. You'd think governments would at least be preparing for major flooding, but they seem quite oblivious. There are tens of thousands of homes at risk of flooding in the UK but nothing is being done to prevent it, like encouraging people to move or building homes above ground level (or even floating homes). The ostrich syndrome is widespread.

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  8. What makes all of this a kind of grim irony Nick is that it was predicted so long ago!
    We've had ample time to ramp up eco-planmning and flood prevention.
    I predict more and more catastophes like Katrina unless a "Nucular" takes place as a diversion from the real crisis.
    XO
    WWW

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  9. I think we've gotten so used to the words 'climate change' and the consequences of it, that we accept it as a given now and look upon it as a wonder and with much curious interest, losing sight of the disastrous results of it. It's like we are little children watching a house burn down. Even here in the Netherlands, we seem more curious then concerned, although there are measures being taken against the rising waters. Still, whole neighborhoods are being built on very low lying land that will most definitely be flooded.
    Human beings want to see the positive opportunities of change and not the negative damage, which makes you wonder how much we really do care about the other species we share the world with, or if our curiosity to see what will happen is bigger.
    I think in the end we are just opportunists who will figure out a way to make a buck out of any sort of situation and that Gaya will adapt somehow. If we survive that is just not very sure, but we seem to assume that we will.

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  10. I've written about climate change till I'm blue in the face, but the masses still argue about whether McCain or Obama is the best 'Commander-in-Chief' to take on the Russians, or the Iranians, or whoever the media decides is our next fashionable enemy. My father's ninety-three and he says of the British: "Give'em their beer and their football, and they don't give a damn about anything else." I think he's right.
    Drilling for oil in the Arctic; drilling for oil on the continental shelf; fighting over oil in the Middle East....we could all be driving round in cars fueled by clean hydrogen within twelve months if the politicians would just get their tongues out of the backsides of the oil companies. Incidentally, your blog looks fine on my computers. Probably just a temporary Blogger glitch.

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  11. We are the 1st generation, to have the power to destroy the world. So I guess that's what we're are doing. Taking the time to ensure it's done properly.

    I don't think it matters whether our descendants forgive us or not. As the planet may not be able to sustain them. So future generations will slowly become extinct. Aren't we doing well.

    It's shocking because even our attemps to protect the environment are slowly destroying it. Hybrid cars are a good example of this, Nickel used in the Hybrid car batteries has to be mined, shipped to Japan. Where the batteries are made and put into the cars, then the cars have to be shipped all over the world for sale.

    Even if you ignore the pollution caused by all that shipping. And dismiss the quantities of oil used to manufacture the various plastics. You can't ignore the fact that Nickel mining is one of the singularly most evironmentally damaging mining processes on Earth.

    Hooray for us.

    PS, check out WALLE - Disney Pixar's new movie. It is brialliant, and has a marvellous story line. Regarding pollution and Environmental issues.

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  12. WWW - YOU'RE AWAY, OF COURSE - IT SLIPPED MY MIND FOR A WHILE!

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY, and MANY HAPPY RETURNS! I hope you and your loved ones are having a wonderful day. Warmest wishes for all you would wish for in the coming year.

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  13. Indeed Happy Birthday, have a wonderful time.

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  14. Irene:
    Well said.
    DJM:
    It is hard to come up with green solutions to the many environemntal ills that bedevil us.
    T:
    Thank you so much and we did!
    DJM:
    Thank you!
    XO
    WWW

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  15. Irene:
    Well said.
    DJM:
    It is hard to come up with green solutions to the many environemntal ills that bedevil us.
    T:
    Thank you so much and we did!
    DJM:
    Thank you!
    XO
    WWW

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