Posted on 09/02/2007 11:46:29 AM PDT by OCMike
Aug. 31, 2007 — The Svalbard archipelago near the North Pole is already seeing the dramatic effects of global warming: the mercury is rising twice as fast as elsewhere on the planet, posing a serious threat to the ecosystem.
The Arctic sea ice has never been as small as it is now. This year, it shrank to less than 1.93 million square miles — a grim record for the planet.
"And there is still a month of melting in September," says an alarmed Nalan Koc, head of the Norwegian Polar Institute's polar climate program.
In Svalbard, a Norwegian territory twice the size of Belgium which is home to the northernmost permanent population in the world, the effects of climate change can be seen with the naked eye.
For the past two years, the fjords on the west coast have been totally ice-free, even in winter.
In Longyearbyen, the capital, the lack of ice means residents can no longer race their snowscooters on Isfjorden (Ice Fjord), which may have to be renamed one day.
Meanwhile the Esmark glacier, a mass of white ice jetting into Isfjorden, has shrunk by 2.17 miles since 1966 though researchers are unable to say whether the change is due to global warming or the glacier's normal cycle.
Despite its remote location in the far north, Svalbard, which was located near the equator 250 million years ago, is habitable today because of the Gulf Stream which raises the region's temperature by 10 degrees Celsius.
But the temperature could soon get too warm.
Scientists predict the mercury could rise in the Arctic by between 3.5 and six degrees Celsius by the end of the century, or "two to three times as much as the global rate," Koc said.
By 2050, the ice cap may have entirely disappeared in summer.
The melting ice is a blessing for oil companies which see a potential treasure opening up before their very eyes.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas is thought to lie under the Arctic seabed.
The melting ice could also open new maritime routes, such as the Northwest Passage, to year-round international shipping, offering a much shorter route than the Suez and Panama canals.
But the change would be a catastrophe for many Arctic species and risks disrupting the entire ecosystem.
"Animals have dealt with change in the past but it's the rate at which the climate is changing and is expected to change which is frightening," says Kit Kovacs, the head of the Norwegian Polar Institute's biodiversity program.
For species that are accustomed to living in polar conditions, "there is nowhere north for them to go," she adds.
Once the ice sheet is gone, the ringed seal's habitat will be gone too — a dramatic consequence for a mammal that has never set its flippers on land.
The same fate awaits the polar bear, whose life depends on the ice in order to roam and hunt for food.
When polar bears come out of their hibernation to find the ice sheet receding ever earlier in the season, as is increasingly the case, they are able to swim to the ice as they are strong swimmers. But newborn polar bears are not, and often fail in their attempts.
Unless climate change is halted, "the polar bear faces extinction by 2050," Kovacs warned.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas is thought to lie under the Arctic seabed.
The melting ice could also open new maritime routes, such as the Northwest Passage, to year-round international shipping, offering a much shorter route than the Suez and Panama canals."
WOW! Sounds like we need a polar bear relocation program.
I’m looking forward to the day when archaeologists, etc. can actually study the Bering land bridge and find artifacts about our far distant ancestors! ;-)
Poor widdle polar bears. Gwobal warming is so bad for dem!!!
/sarc
What a load of crap! They can come and live in your house or better yet let them eat penguins.
guess whose coming to dinner kodiak/polar bear style.
There ought to be criminal penalties for such outrageous abuse of history, science, and language.
And, the satellite picture from today shows Svalbard will soon be enveloped in the sea ice (which will go along nicely with the glaciers in the middle of the island.) [Svalbard is the just above the centre of the picture. Greenland on the right side.]
Greenland on the LEFT side, sorry.
Evidently Al Gore and his friends, scientists all to be sure, haven't read this from the quite respected, in liberal circles, Harvard climate research team.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/06/1049567563628.html
The review, by a Harvard University team, examined the findings of studies of temperature proxies such as tree rings, ice cores and historical accounts that allowed scientists to estimate temperatures.
The findings prove that the world had a medieval warm period between the ninth and 14th centuries, with world temperatures significantly higher than today's.
They also confirm claims that a little Ice Age set in about 1300, during which the world cooled dramatically. Since 1900, the world has begun to warm up, but has still to reach the balmy temperatures of the Middle Ages.
The end of the little Ice Age is significant because it implies that the records used by climate scientists date from when the Earth was relatively cold, thereby exaggerating the significance of today's temperature rise.
According to the researchers, the evidence confirms suspicions that today's "unprecedented" temperatures are simply the result of examining temperature change over too short a period.
It looks like Eskimos were at one time, beachbums who just refused to leave.
Probably this should be thought of as re-opening. The NW passage has been frozen shut since about 1400 AD.
If they become extinct, its because they drink too much of this!
Perhaps Greenland will go back to being green with vegetation again, which is why it was called Greenland in the first place!
We’ve still got the rest of our lives to deal with this, even after 2100. We’ll just have to work a lot slower.
“Arctic Ocean Getting Warm; Seals Vanish and Icebergs Melt.”
“...great masses of ice have now been replaced by moraines of earth and stones...at many points well-known glaciers have entirely disappeared.”
Washington Post Nov. 2, 1922
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070814/NATION02/108140063
God bless global warming, it’s a beautiful thing. Warmer winters, means less money to waste on heating oil. And as the polar caps melt and the east coast and west coast disappear, the land that I’m planning to buy a few hundred miles inland, will now be valuable ocean front property.
According to the sources I have read, while the polar bear populations have declined in certain areas, they have greatly increased in far more areas and the total world polar bear population has just about doubled in the last twenty years.
Nunavut hunters can kill more polar bears this year
Last Updated: Monday, January 10, 2005 | 10:32 PM ET
CBC News
Hunters in Nunavut are celebrating an increase in the polar bear quota for 2005, prompted by reports that the animals are prowling the streets of some Arctic communities.
The territory’s government has approved a 28-per-cent increase in the polar bear quota for this year.
That will let Inuit hunters shoot 115 more bears, for a total of 518. Some will be harvested for their meat and pelts, and others will be killed in sport hunts.
more:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/01/10/polar-bear-hunt050110.html
I guess they didn’t watch Ice Road Truckers, 2007 most trips in History. (History of the Ice roads)
The only hope is to extinguish the Sun.
THAT will put an end to all this foolishness!
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