No More North Pole?

Yahoo! News/AFP:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The worrying shrinkage of Arctic sea ice could accelerate dramatically in coming decades, leaving the planet's most northerly ocean virtually devoid of ice in summer by 2040, according to a new study.

The paper, which appeared in the US journal Geophysical Research Letters on Tuesday, mainly points the finger at greenhouse-gas emissions.

It warned that if carbon pollution continues to increase at present rates, the Arctic's normal cycle of freezing and thawing faces catastrophic disruption.

...The shrinkage of the Arctic ice cap is viewed with alarm by scientists, as it appears to perturb important ocean currents elsewhere, notably the Gulf Stream, which gives western Europe its balmy climate.

It also threatens animals such as polar bears and seals that depend on ice -- as well as Inuits and other native peoples who hunt these animals and have to travel on thinner ice in this quest.

...In September, European scientists unveiled satellite images from late August showing that perennial sea ice -- thick ice that is normally present year-round and is not affected by the Arctic summer -- had disappeared over an area bigger than the British Isles.

The study released Tuesday concludes that reduced rates of greenhouse gas emissions could slow the ice loss. "Our research indicates that society can still minimize the impacts on Artic ice," Holland said.

"Mommy, what happened to Santa's house?"

'Well, little Johnny, Mommy needed to drive an SUV the size of Rhode Island to get you to and from soccer practice, so the North Pole melted and Santa is moving to Nevada.'

This Lift Line Closure is Brought to You By Global Warming

How do you run a professional skiing circuit if the snow isn't reliable? Good question. But don't worry, I'm sure this global warming thing will pass. After all, it is not like we have a scientific consensus or anecdotal evidence of the phenomenon, right?

New York Times:

High temperatures in Europe have disrupted the Alpine skiing World Cup, throwing the calendar of the sport’s premier circuit into disarray and raising questions about the future of a sport so vulnerable to climate change.

...Things are much worse in Europe. On Saturday, race organizers in St. Moritz, Switzerland, canceled World Cup races scheduled for Dec. 9-10, saying temperatures were too high for them to make artificial snow.

...In recent years, managers of some of the highest ski resorts in the Alps have taken the extreme measure of wrapping glaciers and snowfields with foam insulation to decelerate the ravages of summer heat. World Cup skiers, who rely on such locations for their year-round training regimens, could be the canaries in the coal mine for the skiing industry in general.

“Of course we’re all very worried about the future of our sport,” said Anja Paerson of Sweden, the gold medalist in slalom at the Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy. “Every year we have more trouble finding places to train.”

"Canaries in the coal mine." When the bird died the miners got out. How many dead birds do we need to have piled up before we start doing something on a large, global, multi-national level?

**THUMP!** Another canary just hit the floor...

Murdoch Recognizes Climate Change

Zeenews.com:

Tokyo, Nov 06: Conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch said on Monday he has had a change of heart on climate change and now believes global action is needed -- although not in the form of the US-opposed Kyoto Protocol.

Murdoch -- whose powerful News Corp empire includes Britain's The Sun tabloid newspaper and The Times -- called for a new treaty that is acceptable to all countries and brings in emerging economies.

Murdoch said any treaty "must apply to all countries" -- including the United States, Japan and European nations, along with China, India and Russia.

"I have to admit that, until recently, I was somewhat wary of the warming debate. I believe it is now our responsibility to take the lead on this issue," Murdoch told a conference in Tokyo.

"Some of the presumptions about extreme weather, whether it be hurricanes or drought, may seem far-fetched. What is certain is that temperatures have been rising and that we are not entirely sure of the consequences," he said.

"The planet deserves the benefit of the doubt."

Another member of the business community is recognizing the challenge of global warming. One can only hope that our politicians will be quick to follow.

Global Warming Could Wither Profits

Article from Canada's CTV.ca:

Global warming could devastate the world economy on a scale we haven't seen since the world wars and the Great Depression, a major report by a British economist says.

Sir Nicholas Stern, the report's author and a senior government economist, said unchecked global warming could shrink the global economy by 20 per cent -- and cost a whopping $7 trillion in lost output.

However, taking action now would cost just one per cent of global gross domestic product, Sterns says in his 700-page study.

...If no action is taken, says Stern, up to 200 million people could become refugees as their homes are hit by drought or flood from rising sea levels.

Further, up to 40 per cent of wildlife species could become extinct, and melting glaciers could cause water shortages for one sixth of the world's population, the report says.

...Despite the gloomy forecast, Stern said he is "optimistic" that if the world powers act "strongly and urgently," the effects can be minimized.

"Whilst there is much more we need to understand -- both in science and economics -- we know enough now to be clear about the magnitude of the risks, the timescale for action and how to act effectively," he said.

Stern said the world must shift to a "low-carbon global economy'' through measures including taxation, regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon trading.

...The "green" initiatives, he said, provide an opportunity "for new markets, for new jobs, new technologies, new exports where companies, universities and social enterprises in Britain can lead the world".

...Stern is a former chief economist of the World Bank.

As documented periodically on this blog, I think businesses are starting to wake up to the disastrous effect global warming could have on their profits, and are starting to show that they have the potential to provide leadership that is so sorely needed in this area. Let's hope Adam Smith's invisible hand is a strong hand of progress in this instance.

Australia Brings Money to Global Warming Fight

From the Irish Examiner:

Australia pledges €300m to fight global warming

With Australia in the grip of its worst drought in a century, the government is set to announce an AUS$500m (€300m) [blog editor: $378.8 million U.S. dollars] package aimed at preventing global warming.

Australia, already one of the world's driest continents, has been suffering from below-average rainfall for the past several years, crippling farm production and raising concerns about the possibility of irreversible climate change.

However, Australia is one of only two industrialised nations worldwide, along with the United States, that have refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming which calls for dramatic cuts in carbon dioxide output, also known as greenhouse gas emissions.

Insurance Industry Leadership

Good news in the fight against global warming -- the private sector, motivated by the almighty dollar -- are waking up to the problems and financial opportunities presented by climate change.

Via USA Today:

New combatant against global warming: insurance industry

Updated 10/13/2006 11:46 AM ET
By Ron Scherer, The Christian Science Monitor

NEW YORK — Insurance companies, who like to stay out of the limelight, are becoming leading business protagonists in the assault on global warming.

•Next week, Travelers, the giant insurance firm, will offer owners of hybrid cars in California a 10% discount. It already offers the discount in 41 other states and has cornered a large share of the market.

•This fall, Fireman's Fund will cut premiums for "green" buildings that save energy and emit fewer greenhouse gases. When it pays off claims, it will direct customers to environmentally friendly products to replace roofs, windows, and water heaters.

•In January, Marsh, the largest insurance broker in the U.S., will offer a program with Yale University to teach corporate board members about their fiduciary responsibility to manage exposure to climate change.

The insurance industry's clout is sizable. It's the second-largest industry in the world in terms of assets, and has a direct link to most homeowners and businesses. It insures coal-fired power plants as well as wind farms, so it can influence the power industry's cost structure. With its financial muscle, the industry could help advance the use of new financial instruments designed to allow companies to trade greenhouse-gas emissions in the same way that commodities are bought and sold.

...One reason for this massive change in coverage is an ongoing shift in the way insurance companies view risk. Insurers are starting to change their risk-assessment models to reflect future climate-change scenarios instead of past weather patterns.

...In fact, the industry is not driven just by an attempt to help the environment: It also wants to make money. In Travelers' case, the impetus to give a policy discount on hybrid cars came when Greg Toczydlowski, a senior vice president of product management, was gassing up his wife's Ford Excursion.

"A hybrid zipped in and out while I was still pumping, and it occurred to me it takes so little gasoline and runs so much longer on a tank," says Mr. Toczydlowski. "I came back and did research on how many hybrids are out there and what's the profile of the customer. We discovered it was a preferred customer — middle-aged, very responsible, and stable financially."

Now hybrid owners, besides saving on their fuel bills, can save money on their auto insurance — about $100 a year, according to Travelers.

Good Thing Global Warming Isn't Real...

Chicago Tribune:

Blasting A/C in the Arctic

One area is 5 to 11 degrees above average

In this northern territory, temperatures are rising, hunters are falling through ice and offices are using something they've never used before--air co

By Howard Witt
Tribune senior correspondent

September 29, 2006

RESOLUTE BAY, Nunavut -- They never used to need air conditioners up in the Arctic.

But earlier this year, officials in the Canadian Inuit territory of Nunavik authorized the installation of air conditioners in official buildings for the first time. Artificial cooling was necessary, they decided, because summertime temperatures in some southern Arctic villages have climbed into the 80s in recent years.

Inuit families in the region never used to need to shop in grocery stores, either. But the Arctic seas that always stayed frozen well into the summer have started breaking open much earlier, cutting off hunters from the seasonal caribou herds on which their families depend for sustenance.

And experienced Inuit hunters, as comfortable reading ice conditions as professional golfers are reading greens, had seldom fallen through the ice and drowned. But this year in Alaska, more than a dozen vanished into the sea.

...Wayne Davidson, the resident meteorologist in Resolute Bay for 20 years, says monthly temperatures throughout the year are 5 to 11 degrees higher than recent historical averages. For example, Davidson said, the average daily temperature last March was minus 13.4 degrees Fahrenheit, compared with an average of minus 24.2 degrees from 1947 to 1991.

...The signs of warming in the Arctic are not merely anecdotal. This month, NASA climate experts reported with alarm that for the last two years, Arctic sea ice has been melting in summer and winter at rates far higher than anything seen before.

Summer sea ice coverage in 2005 was the smallest recorded in a century and was not much larger this year, the NASA researchers said, and winter coverage in 2005 and 2006 was 6 percent smaller than the average over the last 26 years.

The recession of ice coverage in the winter is especially alarming, experts said, because it suggests the fundamental climatic engine that creates Arctic ice may be impaired.

..."The basic question of global warming is no longer a subject of dispute in the scientific literature," said Naomi Oreskes, a professor of the history of science at the University of California, San Diego, who reviewed 928 scientific papers about climate change published between 1993 and 2003 and found none challenging evidence of human contributions to global warming.

"The discussion has moved on to how quickly will things change in the future, the rate of ice melting and differing climate models," Oreskes said. "There's almost nobody left anymore who doesn't accept that global warming is real."

...SIGNS OF ARCTIC CLIMATE CHANGE

Ice-covered areas of the Arctic seas have been declining at the highest rate in a century of recorded observations.

Mosquitoes were sighted in Resolute Bay last year for the first time.

Experienced Inuit hunters are falling through the ice along routes they once traversed with ease.

Polar bears are hungrier and venturing more frequently into Inuit villages.

Air conditioners are being imported to Canadian Arctic territory of Nunavik.

Is It Me, Or Is It Getting Hot on This Planet?

FINALLY, a way to get people (mostly men) to think about global warming...

AP:

SYDNEY - A saloon-style striptease at an Australian government-sponsored conference on global warming left some scientists and government officials hot and bothered.

The show was cut short and organizers issued an apology after some delegates at the Australia and New Zealand Climate Forum's dinner in Canberra walked out during what was intended as a lighthearted break from the weighty business of rising temperatures.

Our Misguided Priorities

Last night I saw An Inconvenient Truth, the global warming documentary warming starring Al Gore.

The film is a startling wake up call that had me thinking all last night, and throughout my wake up routine this morning.

Our priorities are out of whack and we need to start making substantive changes now.

I would urge anyone who has an interest in living on this planet with a predictable, stable and high quality of life to see the film and then start working to become a part of the solution.

Watch the trailer (below). Find a theater. Pledge to see the film (right-side of this page). See the movie. Learn more. Help save the planet as we know it.