The sad thing is, the US is actually counting on the ice caps melting, as evidenced by their jockeying for position in the Arctic. They want to tap those resources that will become available when they’re no longer covered in ice.
So, wait. Republicans assert that climate change is a myth, but they’re deliberately trying to end climate record-keeping?
That makes perfect sense.
I love this David Horsey cartoon!!
-Tyler
The sad thing is, I’m pretty sure she believes that in a literal sense.
Sometimes I really really love the Huffington Post
Fuck, I was beginning to think Romney was the only electable person among the GOP contenders, but no. NO. I’M ASHAMED THAT YOU ARE FROM MY STATE.
Give him an iota of credit, Sage. He tacitly admitted that climate change is real, which among Republicans, is heresy.
This is my opinion on climate change.
Whether it’s real or not does not matter to me. Pollution is undoubtedly real, and a growing problem that we must deal with at some point in the very near future. Furthermore, the growing apathy of the conservative population in the face of data substantiating major climate upheaval is frightening.
From the report:
“It is the Committee’s intention that no funds shall be used to create a Climate Service at NOAA.”
And so science wept, and American scientific competitiveness took another arrow to its heart.
What the fuck is going on?
They did this because the United States, and dozens of other countries, are bidding for the resources that are now available due to the melting of Arctic ice. Our government does not care about the effects that will result from the plundering of the Arctic, all it sees are dollar signs.
Per CNN:
On a small, floating piece of ice in the Beaufort Sea, several hundred miles north of Alaska, a group of scientists are documenting what some dub an “Arctic meltdown.”
According to climate scientists, the warming of the region is shrinking the polar ice cap at an alarming rate, reducing the permafrost layer and wreaking havoc on polar bears, arctic foxes and other indigenous wildlife in the region.
What is bad for the animals, though, has been good for commerce.
The recession of the sea ice and the reduction in permafrost — combined with advances in technology — have allowed access to oil, mineral and natural gas deposits that were previously trapped in the ice.
The abundance of these valuable resources and the opportunity to exploit them has created a gold rush-like scramble in the high north, with fierce competition to determine which countries have the right to access the riches of the Arctic.
We all know full well that our leaders are going to ignore all of the problems until it’s politically necessary to face them. The real god of this country, greed, means much more to these men than the gods to which they pay lip service every election cycle.
Unfortunately, by the time this becomes a campaign issue, the damage will already be done.
Per Yahoo:
Life in the oceans is at imminent risk of the worst spate of extinctions in millions of years due to threats such as climate change and over-fishing, a study showed on Tuesday.
Time was running short to counter hazards such as a collapse of coral reefs or a spread of low-oxygen “dead zones,” according to the study led by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO).
“We now face losing marine species and entire marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, within a single generation,” according to the study by 27 experts to be presented to the United Nations.
“Unless action is taken now, the consequences of our activities are at a high risk of causing, through the combined effects of climate change, over-exploitation, pollution and habitat loss, the next globally significant extinction event in the ocean,” it said.
Scientists list five mass extinctions over 600 million years — most recently when the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago, apparently after an asteroid struck. Among others, the Permian period abruptly ended 250 million years ago.
