Liquid Planet
Image Credit: http://www.intute.ac.uk/sciences/worldguide/html/image_2061.html
Climate Scientists reported yesterday that they've detected an enormous break up in one of the six remaining Arctic Ice Shelves. Approximately 500 Miles South of the Pole in Canada, The Ayles Ice Shelf broke off the shore of Ellesmere Island. The size of the Iceberg that broke free was estimated at 41 square miles. CNN has a full article and a pieced together video presentation made from satellite imagery of the area, available here: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/12/29/canada.arctic.ap/index.html
For the impact on the environment this is no doubt likely to cause, I'd like to direct your attention to Physorg.com. Sites like this one are important when presenting science, as they provide the proof of the experiment and the data to independently verify the test. In this article from 2005, Dr. Peter Noerdlinger of St Mary's University in Nova Scotia, Canada, provides evidence that melting from existing free floating ice alone could raise global sea levels by over an inch. The full article is available here: http://www.physorg.com/news5619.html
When taken into consideration with the new evidence provided above, that the ice shelves are continuing to melt and are re-supplying the arctic seas with icebergs as older bergs melt, it is easy to see the trend in events. We must take action to reclaim our polar ice.
Just out today is a supporting story from the Anchorage Daily News, in Alaska. In this article, George Bryson reports on Alaska's new found interest in growing wheat. Following global trends on climate, Alaska's citizens are concerned with the melting of their environment. Prudently, they look ahead to using agriculture as a means to benefit the common wealth. Alaska is in a unique position, containing soil conducive to growing wheat. This crop could not be grown in the rocky terrain that presides upon most of Western Canada. The full article is here: http://www.adn.com/front/story/8534165p-8428088c.html
When the Earth is warm enough to grow grains in Alaska, where will that leave the farmers of the United States? It is possible, although admittedly unknown, that California's agricultural industries would remain intact, due to their proximity to the ocean. States like Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky do not have this luxury. What will happen to the corn and potato fields of Iowa and Nebraska? What will become of the ranches and cattle farms of Wyoming and Montana? Can we continue to risk such a devastating catastrophe to our agricultural industry?
One would think that the American Government would be concerned with such vital national interests. Unfortunately, one would be wrong. The Bush Administration's method of dealing with global warming is to pretend that it doesn't exist. Sadly, unlike the monsters that we all thought hid in our closets as children, the evidence for global warming cannot be ignored without real world consequences. Our current administration has gone far beyond ignoring the data, and has actively sought to distort and discredit data suggesting that global warming is indeed underway. Examples of this can be found by the thousands via google, but I'll throw one out also that particularly caught my eye:
From The New York Times...
'Climate Expert Says Nasa Tried To Silence Him'
"The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming." The full article can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/science/earth/29climate.html
?ex=1296190800&en=28e236da0977ee7f&ei=5088
One of the things that we as a nation need to get accomplished in 2007, is to proclaim loudly to our new Congress, that global warming is an issue the public feels strongly about. We need an independent investigation (independent from the oil companies) commissioned by the Senate, on steps that can be taken on a federal level to curb global warming. This would necessarily cover automobile trends, and the implementation of alternative fuels on a national scale.
Need help finding your representatives? Go here, and see the side bar search feature. Just enter your zip code and you're ready to go! http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
Make sure to send us a copy of your letter, if you'd like to see it published here at P&M. I'll be back later this week with much more, ladies and gentlemen, and until then I'll be doing some behind the scenes work on the new design format. If there are any changes you'd like to see made, please let me know.
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Related Tags: weather, global warming, climate, climate change, nathan morrison, powersandmorrison.com, ice shelf
Nathan Morrison is a Political News Columnist for Powers&Morrison.com For further information on this or any article printed herein, please contact: Morrison@PowersAndMorrison.com http://www.libertyinchaos.powersandmorrison.com
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