This is a political and diplomatic soup I never expected as a result of global warming, but I never was all that good at chess either.
Political dramas are playing out over the Northwest Passage, igniting fresh strife regarding who owns northern waters and the numerous islands that are revealed as ice melts.
If you’d like a look at what’s happening by way of the now-familiar backward chronology of a blog, check out BBC News’ Diary: Taking the Northwest Passage. It chronicles an actual passage by David Shukman on board ship with the Canadian Coast Guard. He includes information about the disputes that have risen in the past and may again in the near future. Shukman also answers questions from readers, with the help of Professor Jean-Eric Tremblay, the chief scientist of the expedition, in Northwest Passage: Your questions answered.
If you wonder how much global warming could change your nearest coastline in the next two decades, take a look at ABC’s What Global Warming Looks Like. It features the work of Edward Mazria, an architect who turned to spreading information about global warming and the contribution to it by the building industry. He’s produced a set of images showing what he predicts some large coastal cities in the US will look like in 2030, with projected rising water levels due to global warming.
Thanks to Georganna Hancock at A Writer’s Edge, for her post, Writing on Blog Action Day, and its heads-up that today is Blog Action Day for the Environment.
Thanks, Barbara, but yours was much better, providing useful, thoughtful information. Good on you!
Georganna, thanks. I applaud the concern for the delicate ecosystem and for preserving the Inuit people’s way of life at the edge of this meltdown. I don’t think we should view this as just another way for business to profit from a faster shipping route, or exploitation of new exposed oil fields, when the world as we know it is vanishing, to a large part because of oil and profit. I’m sick of profit-grabbing and money-centered motivations that don’t take future generations into account.
The secret to chess is to not die before the other guy.
Sincerely,
Gary Kasparov
The latest issue of “Discover” magazine had an extensive article on our south pole and Antarctica and the massive lake and riverine system on the continent underneate 2 and a half miles of ice. The Russians are drilling down to the surface of the largest lake and there is considerable concern that surfact bacteria and drill lubricant will contaminate it when they break through. I’m glad that global warming and all levels of concern for our earth, our home, are finally becoming big news and big concerns. I hope that the heightened awareness results in our taking better care of our mother.
I was so glad that Al Gore got the Nobel Prize. I have to think Americans are finally waking up to reality.