“We’ve never really done anything like this before, but climate change hasn’t really reared its head in this kind of way before. Even though you can’t attribute every storm to climate change, the average of 5-degree warmer oceans have created so much more vapor for the storm to pick up and dump on NYC and Boston.” Hurricane Sandy: Climate Change Activists Offer Stark Reminder Before Storm Hits
Greenland’s ice and glaciers are melting fast, exposing ultra-rare minerals and gems deposits like no other on the entire planet. Gold, diamonds, coal, uranium, possibly oil and gas, and rare-earth metals (a very rare mineral-ore used to make cell phones) are among the many riches to be dug up.
A mining boom is about to completely change the island forever. We’re witnessing it right now. Glaciers are melting, exposing rock underneath that is packed with profits.
This means a tidal wave of money is about to crush centuries of culture, tradition, and local community. Many locals can’t wait for it to happen.
These screens are clipped from this fantastic article covering the economic boom Greenland is about to experience due to the big melt. It’s a beautifully shot video. And these pics do not do it justice. Have a look.
After you watch, I’d also like to hear what you think of this situation. Do you think mining in Greenland is a good thing? If you know Scandinavian politics, what of the possible break between Greenland and Denmark? What new goods and services will the natives and locals need in Greenland?? Click here and add your opinion/ask questions/vent/etc. I’ll do my best to answer!
![shortformblog:
wired:
theatlantic:
A Climate Change Adventure: The Arctic’s Melting, So These Guys Sailed Across It
Every winter, like clockwork, the sea ice that covers the Arctic thickens and grows. And then every summer, the Earth tilts its Northern Pole toward the sun and some of that ice melts away.
But not all of it. Even in the summer months, many of the northern channels and passages that connect the Atlantic to the Pacific are blocked off by ice. For centuries European explorers searched for a passage unsuccessfully, until 1906 when an expedition led by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen made it across. Since then, better boat and navigation technology have enabled more regular crossings, but the most northern routes have remained off-limits for all but the strongest, diesel-powered, extra-fortified, ice-breaking boats.
Until this year, when three men made the complete Northwest crossing through the M’Clure strait (the northernmost of the direct routes) in the Belzebub II — a sailboat with no fortification. Previously, the only boats that had made it through M’Clure were ice-breakers, and none had been able to complete the pass through Viscount Melville Sound after shooting through M’Clure. Usually only either the sound or the straight are open to boats, but not both at once.
Read more. [Image: Belzebub II]
Badass much?
Today in icebreakers.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mawxzkK7gw1qcokc4o1_500.jpg)
A Climate Change Adventure: The Arctic’s Melting, So These Guys Sailed Across It
Every winter, like clockwork, the sea ice that covers the Arctic thickens and grows. And then every summer, the Earth tilts its Northern Pole toward the sun and some of that ice melts away.
But not all of it. Even in the summer months, many of the northern channels and passages that connect the Atlantic to the Pacific are blocked off by ice. For centuries European explorers searched for a passage unsuccessfully, until 1906 when an expedition led by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen made it across. Since then, better boat and navigation technology have enabled more regular crossings, but the most northern routes have remained off-limits for all but the strongest, diesel-powered, extra-fortified, ice-breaking boats.
Until this year, when three men made the complete Northwest crossing through the M’Clure strait (the northernmost of the direct routes) in the Belzebub II — a sailboat with no fortification. Previously, the only boats that had made it through M’Clure were ice-breakers, and none had been able to complete the pass through Viscount Melville Sound after shooting through M’Clure. Usually only either the sound or the straight are open to boats, but not both at once.
Read more. [Image: Belzebub II]
Badass much?
Today in icebreakers.
- Feminized Fish: A Side Effect Of Emerging Contaminants
- Polluting The Water With Toothpaste, Shampoo, And Drugs
- Are LEDs Coming Soon To A Light Socket Near You?
- Pharmaceuticals In Northwest Waters
- People for Puget Sound Shutting Its Doors
- Multnomah County Begins Health Study On Coal Export Risks
- Wind Tower Manufacturer to Close Plants
- Unexplained Hoof Disease Spreads Quickly In Washington Elk
- Latest Threat To Honeybees: Attack Of The Zombie Flies
- Keeping Drugs Out of Northwest Waters
The last below-average August temperature was August 1976 and the last below-average temperature for any month was February 1985.
via For the 330th Month in a Row, It’s Been Hotter Than the 20th Century Average
what a beautiful place.
the affect of climate change means more people can visit, but that is not necessarily a good thing.
Svalbard: Norway’s ‘Galapagos’ in the North
French photographer Samuel Blanc has been leading tours to Svalbard, Norway’s archipelago in the Arctic, since 2007.
Climate change is having a direct impact on the unique ecosystem isolated on these islands more than 400 miles north of Europe.
This year the reduced sea ice allowed his expedition aboard the 12-passenger Polaris to circumnavigate the northern islands in early July rather than mid-August.
The NYTimes rebukes Bloomberg’s climate efforts as weak and slow. With countless people’s lives and livelihoods and billions of dollars in property at stake, adaptation projects need higher priority, the author argues.
Officials in New York caution that adapting a city of eight million people to climate change is infinitely more complicated and that the costs must be weighed against the relative risks of flooding. The last time a hurricane made landfall directly in New York City was more than a century ago.
Many decisions also require federal assistance, like updated flood maps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that incorporate sea level rise, and agreement from dozens of public agencies and private partners that own transportation, energy, telecommunications and other infrastructure.
“It’s a million small changes that need to happen,” said Adam Freed, until August the deputy director of the city’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. “Everything you do has to be a calculation of the risks and benefits and costs you face.”
And in any case, Mr. Freed said, “you can’t make a climate-proof city.”
So city officials are pursuing a so-called resilience strategy that calls for strengthening the city’s ability to weather the effects of serious flooding and recover from it.
Via NYTimes
11 Sept 2012
A thing to change:
There’s new hope on climate change, with 20% of the world’s electricity being produced by renewables. China’s aggressively invested billions in solar energy, making it almost as cheap as fossil fuels. But, instead of meeting that investment, the EU and US may be about to slap tariffs on Chinese solar panels, preventing a green revolution. Sign the petition to stop a trade war, and hold talks to save solar:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/a_ray_of_hope_on_climate/?bZBrOab&v=17606
White House, Gage Skidmore (Romney), Jill Stein for President/CC BY-SA 2.0
There may be a stark difference between Obama and Romney in their climate change rhetoric (let’s turn a blind eye for a second to climate change action), but what about on energy policy? After all, in different degrees both Obama and Romney pay lip service to supporting both fossil fuels and renewable energy. And what about Dr Jill Stein, the presidential candidate from the Green Party?
Let’s take a quick look at several key energy issues and what Obama, Romney and Stein propose doing about it.
Obama, Romney, or Stein: Who Has the Greenest Energy Policy?
Are animal-borne diseases on the rise?
Deforestation, climate change and movement of people may be contributing to the rise of the hantavirus, Wile Nile and even the plague.
Climate change is hitting the parks hard.
It’s not the only problem they face, but instead one of many.
Light and noise pollution are also culprits.
Will Budget Strapped National Parks Be Able to Respond to Climate Change?
Environmental changes confronting the National Park System are widespread, complex, accelerating and volatile.
The assessment is not good and on closer inspection, things only get worse.
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Brian Merchant explains the significance of Mitt Romney’s joke about addressing climate change.
See the video and read the rest: In Romney’s Tone-Deaf Climate Comment, Hints of a Coming War on Science : TreeHugger
(via treehugger)
