Polar Ice Caps
Cleanup On Aisle Earth
“As human beings, we are vulnerable to confusing the unprecedented with the improbable. In our everyday experience, if something has never happened before, we are generally safe in assuming it is not going to happen in the future, but the exceptions can kill you and climate change is one of those exceptions.”
Al Gore
According to the National Snow and Ice Data (NSIDC), since 1979 the arctic sea ice minimum extent has shrunk by more than 50% and even greater amounts of ice have been lost in the corresponding thinning of the ice. Many scientists are now agreeing that the Arctic may be completely ice-free during the summers as soon as the end of this decade. This will undoubtedly cause the type of environmental blow-back that threatens to result in various extinctions of many integral species of mammals and sea life as well as a catastrophic change of climate and potentially irreversible impact on the Arctic Ocean and consequently, the rest of the world. At this rate, it appears to be only a matter of time before the ice caps are completely depleted. The question is... What can we expect and how soon can we expect it?
It is important to understand the root cause of rapid climate change like we are currently seeing in the Arctic. Some claim that it is preposterous to attribute the changes in weather patterns, increased environmental catastrophes, and rapidly deteriorating ecosystems to humans. At this point in human history, every known living system is in a state of steady decline and we are the culprit. Climate change is happening first and fastest in the Arctic. We are starting to see that things are happening even faster than what scientists have indicated. By the end of the century, perhaps even in a few decades, the Arctic will be quite ice free, especially in the summertime. (Schmidt and Wolfe 2009)
The UN estimates that by the middle of the century, there may be a 150 million
“As human beings, we are vulnerable to confusing the unprecedented with the improbable. In our everyday experience, if something has never happened before, we are generally safe in assuming it is not going to happen in the future, but the exceptions can kill you and climate change is one of those exceptions.”
Al Gore
According to the National Snow and Ice Data (NSIDC), since 1979 the arctic sea ice minimum extent has shrunk by more than 50% and even greater amounts of ice have been lost in the corresponding thinning of the ice. Many scientists are now agreeing that the Arctic may be completely ice-free during the summers as soon as the end of this decade. This will undoubtedly cause the type of environmental blow-back that threatens to result in various extinctions of many integral species of mammals and sea life as well as a catastrophic change of climate and potentially irreversible impact on the Arctic Ocean and consequently, the rest of the world. At this rate, it appears to be only a matter of time before the ice caps are completely depleted. The question is... What can we expect and how soon can we expect it?
It is important to understand the root cause of rapid climate change like we are currently seeing in the Arctic. Some claim that it is preposterous to attribute the changes in weather patterns, increased environmental catastrophes, and rapidly deteriorating ecosystems to humans. At this point in human history, every known living system is in a state of steady decline and we are the culprit. Climate change is happening first and fastest in the Arctic. We are starting to see that things are happening even faster than what scientists have indicated. By the end of the century, perhaps even in a few decades, the Arctic will be quite ice free, especially in the summertime. (Schmidt and Wolfe 2009)
The UN estimates that by the middle of the century, there may be a 150 million
References: (Epstein and Ferber 2011) Epstein, P and D. Ferber. 2011. Changing planet, changing health: how the climate crisis threatens our health and what we can do about it. University of California Press. 1 (Hengeveld 2012) Hengeveld, R. 2012. Wasted World: How Our Consumption Challenges the Planet. University of Chicago Press. (Schmidt and Wolfe 2009) Schmidt, G and J. Wolfe. 2009. Climate Change: picturing the science. W. W. Norton & Company (Udo 2011) Michel, Udo. 2011. Global warming and security: The security implications for NATO and the EU of a melting polar ice cap in the high north. Connections : The Quarterly Journal 10, (4):11-50, http://search.proquest.com/docview/1113780291 (VOAN 2009) Voice of America News / FIND 2009. Scientists offer more evidence of polar meltdown. Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. http://search.proquest.com/docview/190615326