Climate change is in the Arctic

Only idiots would now argue whether there is change in the Arctic or not -- and apparently, idiots abound -- but this post is not about them. Change is happening. Climate change is here -- has been here. The only question is, what will the result be. Science can only be speculative with its forecasts. The models just aren't good enough because of the number of variables. We don't know for sure what will result from the great melt -- but the great melt is happening and we're not going to be ready for it. There will be economic impacts. There will be social impacts. And there will be a whole lot of environmental impacts. Some of these we will be able to cope with, some we will lament, and some we will grin and bear arms to deal with.

If history is any indicator -- and it is a damn good indicator -- we will lose more than we will gain from this change. We will be unresponsive until it's too late, in the unending hope that certain disasters would be averted by our sheer willing them not to happen.

For more, see here.

in reference to:

"Barber compared the impact of losing sea ice in the Arctic to the loss of trees in a tropical rain forest. The Arctic sea ice isn't just a cap on top of the ocean, Barber said. "The sea ice breathes," he said. "It pumps carbon dioxide in and out." The researchers also found pollutants in the sea ice. "The Arctic is not as pristine as you would like to think it is. It's actually a dumping ground for a lot of contaminants," he said."
- CBC News - North - Arctic ice melting faster than feared: study (view on Google Sidewiki)