Nordic Nations Sound Alarm Over Melting Arctic
OSLO - Nordic nations sounded the alarm on Wednesday about a quickening melt of Arctic ice and said the thaw might soon prove irreversible because of global warming.Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland also urged all governments to agree before the end of 2009 a broader U.N. plan to curb greenhouse gases in succession to the Kyoto Protocol.
“The Arctic and the world cannot wait any longer,” environment ministers from the five nations said in a joint statement after talks in Oslo. The five all have Arctic territories.
“The climate is hurtling towards a turning point after which irreversible processes will have been set in motion,” they said of the Arctic thaw.
They noted the ice on the Arctic Ocean shrank in September to 4.13 million sq. km (1.6 million sq. miles), the smallest since satellite records began in 1979 and far eclipsing the low in 2005. The ice extent is now expanding as winter approaches.
The melt, blamed by the U.N. climate panel on heat-trapping gases emitted by burning fossil fuels, threatens the livelihoods of indigenous hunting peoples and wildlife such as polar bears and seals.
Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said the thaw of the Arctic ice might already have reached a point of no return. “We may have passed the tipping point,” he said.
Many climate scientists say the Arctic is warming about twice as fast as the rest of the globe because dark ground and water, once uncovered, soaks up more heat than white ice and snow.
The Nordic nations said a meeting of environment ministers meeting in Bali, Indonesia, in December should agree “tangible measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.”
The Bali talks are meant to launch two-year negotiations on a new climate pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol with a goal of sealing a deal at a U.N. conference in Copenhagen in late 2009.
Norway, the world’s number five oil exporter, defended itself from criticism that its main industry is at odds with its drive for environmental protection.
“We have a special responsibility to be at the technological forefront” in curbing pollution from oil, Norwegian Environment Minister Erik Solheim said. He also promised a “maximum effort” to develop cleaner technologies such as wind and solar power.
The ministers said the shrinking of the ice was one of the most visible signs of climate change and could help focus attention on other changes such as heatwaves, rising seas or floods.
© 2007 Reuters
I can see that these nations are going to be some of the first affected and their current lifestyle will suffer tremendously. Not to mention the fact that they would undergo unprecedented flooding and the possibility that a new ice age would ensue due to the Gulf Stream being reduced or even completely disappearing. I wish these nations were also screaming out against whale hunting instead of trying to sneak special permission for their own personal gain. If you’re for the survival of the planet, you’re for the whole planet including the wildlife, not just that which suits you personally.
It would appear that we have entered the feed back loop with global warming beginning to run out of control. It is not a case of whether we have a climate change catastrophe but how quickly we will deal with it in a global context.
It would appear that we have entered the feed back loop with global warming. It is not a case of whether Wall street to continues to exacerbate the business/ environmental crisis but how quickly we will deal with this fact in a global context.
Given the fact that most of the-so called-”free world” wants the economy and Wall street to continue with business as usual and to continue with the Xmas consumer society, the future Xmas holidays will look like chaos but not of the shopping kind. The gifts we give our children are poor indeed, are a desire for self indulgence as way of life at any cost, even if it be our very existence.
Too little too late in terms of action with some still in the denial phase. This goverment will not change in time. Bush’s actions, or lack of them, have caused more than a war. He is rsponsible for evading the the issue of human extinction and his contribution to it.
Limits to growth and the rush to make as much money as possible have collided.
Face it there is no way to “deal with it” you can’t get any two people to agree on most things, how are the nations of the world going to engage in any kind of coordinated process to reverse global warming? Nope we are at the mercy of nature now and there is no easy way out, just plan for survival and get ready, it is almost upon us. Removing about 6 billion humans for a start, just to get even and reach the sustainability point of the planet. Then you might begin to converse about doing something. Besides; saving the planet? It isn’t going anywhere, humans are. Like George Carlin says, Pack your bags, we are out of here. These debates about climate change are not productive because nothing is ever solved, there are always some that disagree with points. So let’s disagree all the way to the end. Remember they studied tigers when there were 8,000 of them. How many are left today? Still studying them but their numbers are declining. Study humans and watch them decline too. Party hearty it is almost over. Cheers.
Start sucking up to the trees. They’re our only way out.
Suck up big time.
Bush says it isn’t happening, so why worry about a little melting ice. Then too, we have polar bears in the Tucson, Arizona zoo, they don’t have any ice. How many polar bears do we really need. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen em all, ___ besides, they are mean, viciious creatures, not trustworthy and eat a lot of cute seals.
Bet I get whacked.
We Americans will worry about this pressing problem, as soon as we’re done shopping.
We are all addicted to the life of luxury provided by fossil fuels, and its probably too late to voluntarily change our ways. Maybe there is a silver lining in the dark cloud over Iran.
If the US bombs Iran, the worst case scenario is long term disruption of oil supplies, inflation, rationing and a global depression.
Maybe we would get used to doing without the wasteful things we do (commuting in SUVs, leaving lights and electronics on 24/7, hopping a flight for a 15 minute meeting, overnight deliveries, making ethanol to burn in cars…) while the CO2 production slows down for a decade or so. Maybe a second New Deal would employ people building the infrastructure for a carbon neutral world economy.
Maybe the neocons really will (unwittingly)usher in a new world for America. We’ll all be cold, hot, bored, unemployed, and maybe hungry for a while. We will have to prevent ourselves from cutting down all the trees for fuel.
Nationalize our natural resources — oil.
Take it out of the hands of the few private families profiting.
ELECTRIC CARS should be mandatory —
we can replace every gas-guzzlier on our roads in five years. If GM doesn’t want to do it –
let’s have Congress raise a corporation which does want to do it!!!
America can subsidize both ends of this –
manufacture and purchase.
If we truly understand the threat not only to humanity but to the future of the planet, itself, these are the things we must do.
Solar and wind — renewable energy — should have been followed thru on two decades or more ago — rather, the GOP has worked for oil interests — including down to war in the Middle East.
BRR-001 When the depression hits, and it will in the near future, there won’t be any food for the vast majority. There likely won’t be any heating oil or gas and there will be major electrical power outages. Within 30 days, there won’t be anything here as we know it, except chaos and anarchy, with armed bands roaming the land searchng for food. The millions of farmers we had in the last depresion are history. It is going to be very nasty, ____ be prepared.
A Republican acquaintance of mine, who accurately reproduces whatever is going around and around the right-wing echo chamber, still insists whatever global warming exists–not that he’s conceding that point either–is due mostly to sun spots and cow flatulence, supposedly a major source of methane. Here’s an example from the Daily Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=P4OEHT5WWXEJPQFIQMGCFGGAVCBQUIV0?xml=/opinion/2007/01/11/do1101.xml
It sure sounds silly, but does anyone know of good scientific web pages that smack down this nonsense? I’ll check around myself, but I’m open to suggestions. Reducing the number of cows on the Earth is probably a good idea anyways, but can we take on the ranching industry AND Exxon at the same time?
Norway’s comment that they have a special responsibility to be at the technological forefront in curbing pollution from oil is akin to Australia’s thinking that clean coal is the go or that somehow uranium can provide a nuclear answer.
Neither nation is willing to do anything that may threaten their energy income.
Does anyone really think we can get out of this warming mess with our economies all intact? Only in our dreams…
Militantlib: Try realclimate.org, skepticalscience.com, noaa.org, csiro.au. The solar cycle is a major contributor, but its actually at a low right now. Methane levels have actually leveled off due to better handling of natural gas, changes in rice agriculture and maybe capture and burning of methane from landfills. CO2 is increasing faster than ever. CO2 absorbs certain wavelengths of infrared energy (heat)that N2 and O2 don’t. Like throwing on an extra blanket, more CO2 slows the radiation of heat back into space from the surface of the earth, making the surface warmer.
It seems to me the skeptics first decide that global warming doesn’t fit their worldview, and then grab at whatever straws they can to discredit the theory and theorists.
KEM: I hope things don’t get that bad. My kids are 18 and 21! We will have to bring the army home to secure agriculture and food distribution, and maybe establish martial law. Maybe its time to dig a shelter that doesn’t need much heat and squirrel away a year’s supply of food and water.
BRR-001 Sorry to have written it like it will be but think it all out. For starters, the dollar is not just weak, it is practically worthless. We owe trillions of dollars to China and other countries. The stock market is on the verge of collapse, the housing and automotive industries are on the verge of collapse. Most Americans have no savings and are in debt up to their eyeballs, home foreclosures are at an all time high and that market is racing down hill. We are teetering on the brink of a depression and when we go over the edge it will happen overnight.
Now, what happens almost overnight? Credit cards will be frozen, the supermarkets will be empty in two days with no refills, most Americans will be laid off with no income. The biggest problem will be a lack of food, with rioting in every metro area from Boston to Miami, from Detroit to Dallas , San Diego to Denver and Seattle will begin. Within days the cities will be on fire, armed gangs will be roaming the streets and country side searching for food, for medicine, for baby food. Within two weeks it will be utter chaos in every state and our military and police will be unable to stop it. Remember what occurred in New Orleans and durng Katrina? It will be like that magnified ten thousand times.
Anyone who does not have at least a years supply of food will starve, people will be eating stray dogs, cats, mice and rats. Household pets will be on many menus. Some Morman communities who are well armed may survive, as will some of those who live in the mountains and know how to survive on little already. Small farmers will be targeted by gangs of people willing to kill for food, fuel and medicines. ___ Mad Max will be a fact not fiction.
Our military? Well, we will still have our atomic submarines and naval fleets operational for a period of time and many military bases will have food for a length of time, but what does one honestly expect our national guard, full time air force, navy, marine and army units to do under such circumstances. After time there will be military units taking control of some areas, it will resemble what we see in other countries such as Afganastan, Nigeria, etc. It will not be pretty or fun. ___ Be prepared.
My advice: Stop the silly grandstanding rhetoric and do something positive.
Stop yapping about Al Gore, educating the public on global warming, and winning over hearts and minds. We do not need to do that. We need to do something positive and real: to clean up the environment of the planet.
The planet is polluted from petrochemicals. That is the problem. That is what needs to be fixed first, and decisively. It is not a coincidence that the manufacturing expansion of China, and the market saturation of America with gas guzzlers–both of which reached record levels in the past decade–have coincided with the current environmental anomalies.
It’s the petroleum, stupid.
Do not listen to eco-dupes of Big Oil who read and believe their talking points. We do NOT need nuclear; we DO need serious alternative energy. We need to phase out fossil fuels altogether, and it can be done.
We should develop the following: (a)EV automobiles, (b)bio-diesel, (c)wind, and (d)solar, in that order.
militantliberal:”Reducing the number of cows on the Earth is probably a good idea anyways, but can we take on the ranching industry AND Exxon at the same time?”
I think that’s a good idea, although farmers cannot be thrown overboard. We have been taking advantage of the American family farmer for a long time. If we abandon farmers and ranchers, the likes of ConAgra will take over almost all food production, and opening the door to that is not a good thing.
Americas are obese mostly because they are sedentary–but the secondary cause, on a dietary level, is mass consumption of Beef and Corn products.
Why can’t we develop an initiative to encourage fish farming instead of cattle ranching? There are cattle ranchers and corn farmers all over the midwest, the deep South, and Texas who would be delighted to raise fish in lakes instead of livestock and grain, if they could get some sort of assistance in setting it up.
If we all must die I’m sure our leaders will make sure that none of us die high
Paul from Texas, You state “We should develop the following: (a)EV automobiles, (b)bio-diesel, (c)wind, and (d)solar, in that order.” The first two are all about maintaining America’s automobile culture. This car culture goes a long ways towards enabling American obesity which starts at childhood–children are not allowed to play outside because of the dual risks of car accidents and car-produced air pollution. Finally, bio-diesel has an astonishingly poor EROEI (energy returned on energy invested). Our development resources should be allocated towards wind and solar.