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Melting Arctic a U.S. concern
Brookings Institution expert says nation needs to act aggressively to combat climate change
RICHARD BRIAN / SPECIAL TO THE SUN
Charles Ebinger, director of the Brooking Institution’s Energy Security Initiative, speaks Wednesday at Greenspun Hall Auditorium about the melting of the Arctic.
Friday, Oct. 16, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Beyond the Sun
- Brookings Institution: Charles K. Ebinger
- Brookings Mountain West
In glum terms, an expert on Arctic politics told an audience at UNLV this week that if nothing is done to combat climate change, the United States could be thrown into an epic battle for Arctic supremacy.
With the Arctic — the ice mass at the top of the world that separates Russia from Alaska, Greenland and Canada — melting at a rapid pace, its usually frozen waterways are opening up and sea levels are rising. This could expose the U.S. to a variety of problems, from oil wars to fights over territory to the inundation of dozens of major American coastal cities, said Charles Ebinger, director of the Brookings Institution’s Energy Security Initiative.
The melting of the Arctic ice cap could mean the submersion of entire countries and the relocation of tens of millions of people, including residents of American islands and territories who are vulnerable to the rising sea.
Because of Nevada’s untapped renewable energy potential, the state could play a role in the solution, Ebinger said before the talk. If adequate transmission infrastructure can be built, secure, emission-free electricity could replace the polluting power sources of millions of Americans, reducing the output of greenhouse gases and slowing climate change.
Do nothing and the consequences for everyone could be dire, he told an audience of students and academics Wednesday evening. The ice pack has shrunk nearly 80 percent since the 1980s, causing ocean temperatures to change. That could destroy the Gulf Stream and the stability of key allies such as Great Britain, which depend on it for its temperate climate.
At the same time, rising seas would flood islands from Hawaii to the Azores, threatening people, wildlife and even strategic military bases.
The government of Maldives, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean that is expected to be the first lost to rising water, is one of the few that is acting on the threat, Ebinger said. This year it embarked on a land purchasing junket in India in preparation for rising water.
India, meanwhile, is building a wall to protect its borders from the millions of Southeast Asians expected to lose their homes to rising seas, Ebinger said. And as the Himalayan glaciers melt, India is threatening war with China over access to water, he said. The two countries’ nuclear arsenals just add one more layer of concern.
In the Arctic, sea routes are opening up for longer periods of time and the region is expected to have ice-free summers by 2015, which would strain military, border patrol, and search and rescue resources.
It could also mean a battle for fish: As fish move northward with the warming seas, fishing operations are looking for new international fishing grounds.
Energy companies are queuing up, too. They think massive oil and gas reserves lie below the Arctic and as more ice melts and deep sea oil extraction technology advances, drilling in the Arctic will become more likely.
That’s leading to scrabbles over Arctic territory, Ebinger said. The Arctic 5 — the U.S., Russia, Canada, Norway and Greenland/Denmark — expect to retain control over the region. But they’re arguing over a few islands and straits that have opened up in recent years. Russia and Norway are harassing each other with military jets across the region over territorial disputes. And Russia and the U.S. have agreed to disagree with Canada over whether the Northwest Passage, the sea route between Canada’s northernmost islands, is open sea or part of Canada’s territorial waters.
Some nations believe the Arctic should be opened for anyone to claim; others contend the Arctic is so ecologically special it should be protected from everyone.
The Arctic 5 are powerful and appear to have the strongest claim in the area. But the U.S. seems the least invested. The four other Arctic nations signed onto the United Nations 1982 Law of the Seas Convention — a treaty that, among other things, would allow the Arctic to be split among the countries by an independent organization based on the locations of their continental shelves. The Senate has not adopted the treaty because of fears of some senators that the U.S. would not get as much territory as it deserves, Ebinger said.
“The real absurdity is that while the Senate dithers, other nations are rushing in to snatch up areas that could be ours,” he said.
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"Energy companies are queuing up, too. They think massive oil and gas reserves lie below the Arctic and as more ice melts and deep sea oil extraction technology advances, drilling in the Arctic will become more likely."
Obama does not believe in getting new oil sources so this is an insipid arguement. We will not fight for it.
When you really get down to facts we have a leader that has accomplished zilch and a congress that can't find its rearend with both hands at noon on a bright sunny day. Anyone that expects results from this group is a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
I'll continue to drive our Pontiac GTO and "pollute" the Earth with our low emissions car. ;)
It seems as though we have another article here that suggests we must sacrifice the arid land ecosystems so we can save the Artic!
Who said that the polar bear is better than the tortoise? The tortoise and the bear!
Why do you propaganda specialists feel that you always have to give us the choice between the desert and the artic? There are ways to build renewables in smart ways that protect habitat.
But if you are only going to give me one choice between the Mojave Desert and the Artic, I am choosing the Mojave Desert. In spite of it's arid climate, it has 4 times more biodiversity per square mile than the Artic! But how sad that misinformed newspaper reporters try to turn this whole energy fiasco into a race between two natural areas. Very childish and stupid.
Leave it to our "brilliant" Sun reporters to ignore the special features of thier own home in favor of saving the Artic-a place the Sun reporters will probably never see.
Great job, Sun! You do not seem to know or care about the special features you are blessed with in Nevada. If all the people who hate Nevada would just move, we would not have all of these water problems!
Too bad Alexandra Berzon left. She was smart enough to show both sides.
How much of the Arctic does Al Gore own?
The sad truth is we will not be replacing fossil fuels with renewables ever-- wind and solar must be backed up by coal, natural gas, and hydro. I have been told nuclear cannot be used to back up intermittent sources because you cannot rev up and power down a nuclear power plant. Coal, unfortunately, is the best baseload, even though it can be energy-consumptive to rev up and down when the sun shines and clouds move over, or when the wind blows.
When will folks get out of their fantasy world?
The best way to deal with arctic melting is efficiency and energy conservation.
In his: "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in 1797, Coleridge wrote: "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink."
Over the last eight years, unbridled liberties and concessions granted to certain "Special Interest", administration benefactors, to "pollute as you will", has allowed for an unabated corruption of our environment.
Ergo, I would submit that if Coleridge were to have written his Poem today, it might read: "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop worth drinking." "Nor", he might add, "air worth breathing."
Whether Coleridge was merely a Poet or a Prophet, only Time -which has been obviated by Greed, will tell?
Tom Nass
5th Marine Division - WWII
Aside from all of the debunking of the Renewable Energy and Global Warming claptrap, we need to ask "What is the Brookings Institution?
From http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/group..., titled "A Guide to the Political Left":
"Brookings has been involved with a variety of internationalist and state-sponsored programs, including the Global Governance Initiative, which aspires to facilitate the establishment of a U.N.-dominated world government, based in part on economic and Third World considerations. Brookings Fellows have also called for additional global collaboration on trade and banking; the expansion of the Kyoto Protocol; and nationalized health insurance for children. Nine Brookings economists signed a petition opposing President Bush's tax cuts in 2003."
Moreover, Brian Greenspun, the editor and publisher of this newspaper is a member of the Board of Trustees of Brookings.
Doesn't this tell Americanists that Brookings is another conspiratorial think tank, like the Council on Foreign Relations, dedicated to leading the United States into a New World Order region of a World Socialist Police State?
Connect the dots, folks, and wake up!
"The ice pack has shrunk nearly 80 percent since the 1980s"
Shouldn't the speaker have related to us just how much the oceans have risen from the 80% loss of artic ice and why the remaining 20% will cause a much larger rise?
Statements such as this leave a huge credibility gap in the logic of the global warming theorists.
The solution is simple. We must stop unfettered reproduction immediately. Lower the population, ease the stress on our environment. Stop men and women from having kids because they're "cute", like pets. One child per family, like the Chinese. If you want to have 6-8 kids, go to Central America, where they'll live a miserable life, and die young. Simple....
Geee. When dinosaurs where on the earth it was really hot and tropical, then and ice age took over, then the earth thawed out.... Could it be that the earth is just going through its natural climate change? We're freaking out about whats taking place over the last hundred years or so, when the earth is millions of years old. Its kind of like the 99% payback slot machines, you can't put in a $100 bill and expect a $99 return, your play is just a small sample of hundreds of thousands of pulls.
There is a good possibility that the Earth will continue warming until the start of the next ice age...
Comment removed by staff.
Al Gore is the biggest con man in American history. As a factual matter over 60% of the worlds top scientists have uncovered global warming for the hoax that it is. Global warming is not a scientific movement but rather a political movement. Anthroprogenic means cannot ever change the climate in a million years. The worlds ice packs are larger then they have ever been and the sea and tide levels are the highest they have ever been since man has recorded them.
If Al Gore and his "token" scientists want to impress me, they can get around on bamboo bikes and stop flying in evil planes powered by the devil hydrocarbon.
BTW - Carbon offsets are for small minded fools. If we truly want energy independence (we really don't) let's go nuclear or as W would say "nucular".
Global Warming was renamed Climate Change when the effects of the kool-aid wore off. Now that the happy greensters are sober they need a new rallying point; hence, the name change.
This is what the libs call progress.....sad huh?
Beware of the Prophet who is out to make a profit.
Gorbal Warming was created by and for Prophet Al Gore...
Al Gore made Billion on speeches on Globle Warming,He should go to China and run for Office.
"BTW - Carbon offsets are for small minded fools. If we truly want energy independence (we really don't) let's go nuclear or as W would say "nucular"." But if we didn't owe our soul to the oil industry who would make political contributions and help write energy legislation. If we didn't support Big Oil who would make the Middle East nations rich with our money? Me; I would kind of like to keep some of our resources for America (USA) but then that is just me.
What a load of huey. Stoke up the fireplace honey. I'll be in the garage workin' on the hemi. Tomorrow is open burn day. I'll be one happy camper. Al Gore can kiss my 91 octane gas can.
Another bunch of alarmist hooey. Copenhagen is coming in December so expect boat loads of smelly propaganda coming down the ways. Obama got the peace prize in hopes he can deliver the US to the climate change woodshed.
The Arctic ice is sea ice. If every bit of it melted the sea level would not go up. All those countries claiming they will be overrun with water are posturing for cash payments from us. Same with those African nations that claim they will be harmed by AGW. The wiff of free money. It is also a convienient scare tactic by the Gore crowd to sow panic in the public arena.
The amount of ice in the Arctic at the end of the melt season was at it's lowest in 2007 since satellite records have been kept starting in 1979. Not a very long time. What you don't hear is that the last 2 years have made large recoveries in the amount of ice that did not melt. On the flip side, no one ever tells us how much ice there is before the melt season starts. If it was truely bad we would have heard about it long ago.
In the Antartic, there is more ice now than in recorded history, which also starts from 1979. Something Als apostles will not tell you.
Let's follow the money. I'm sure you have all read the headlines calling for 10 TRILLION dollars to be spent on combating climate change. Money from us taxpayers and ratepayers. Everyone that can is jumping on the climate change bandwagon looking to hit it big. We have people and corporations that own a stand of trees getting in line to get carbon credits they can sell if cap and trade goes through. Trees take carbon out of the air so in their minds they deserve, as owners of the trees, to get in on the bonanza. Ahnold is Kalifornia recently signed legislation, or endorsed it I forget which, that would grant credits for trees.
You guys crack me up!
I suppose you think Al Gore is up in the Arctic with a blow torch.
Why has climate change become a partisan issue?
How in the world can CLIMATE CHANGE be a left/right ideological split? One word: MONEY. The uber wealthy want to keep rolling in it, so we've got to "Just Drill, Baby!"
Of course, the misdirection & subterfuge being foisted upon the public by Fox & Friends tells a whole different story, doesn't it? The whole ridiculous notion that "Al Gore made the whole thing up so he could become a bazillionaire!!!" is astoundingly addlepated rhetoric.
In the last few days the news media has played up the Catlin Ice Survey. This was a group of 3 people who were dropped of in the Arctic early in 2009 1000 km from their goal, the North Pole. Along the way they were going to take ice thickness readings with a ground radar set that they towed on a sled while they walked and skied the ice. The set never worked properly so they were forced to drill holes and measure the ice depths. The groups leader, in a press conference before leaving, predicted they would probably have to swim at least 150 km of the way because of open water. In reality no open water, no swimming. In fact it was so cold the group gave up before the half way point. They trecked only 453km of the planned 1000km. In their preliminary findings they said that the older the ice the harder it was to travel so they traveled on the thinner and flatter first year ice to have easier going. Amazing how their final report did not mention this. Amazing how their final report showed how many of their measurements showed first year ice and, in their press release, a huge cause for alarm.
At about the same time a group of researchers flew over the ice in an airplane, Polar 5, using electronic instruments to measure the ice thickness. Not only did they cover more area, they also found the ice thickness to be much thicker than anyone thought. This was an actual research mission not the PR exercise of the Catlin mission. The Catlin survey was heavily PR hyped as a mission the earth could not afford to have fail. Having to give up before the half way point because it was too cold shows it was a dismal failure and an embarrasment to the Gore crowd. Not that you would know it from the recent dire consequences being predicted from the "findings" and outright speculation from the "unbiased" experts. The people on this survey were Arctic veterans and for them to quit early shows just how tough conditions were in the Arctic. Contrary to what the press conferences are telling us.
gmag. You need to quit palling around with mschaffer. Unless of course you are the one and only ms using a different handle. Either way, it's time to come up for air and quit reading realclimate.bs and it's pathetic ugly and insane stepsister desmogblog. Contrary to your rants, there is plenty of actual facts that debunk big Als propaganda and can easily be found if one takes off the blinders and looks. As far as the money goes, oil and utility companies have a tiny fraction of the money and sources governments have. With most governments, local and national, jumping on the "we're all gonna die from the heat" bandwagon, we all know where the big money is going.
It is funny how Al Gore and the rest of the tree huggers spin global warming into something it isn't all in the name of the almighty buck. Remove the profits they're making and the taxpayer dollars they are sucking from us and they would drum up a new theory to create mass hysteria amongst you lunatics all in the name of the all mighty buck, their GOD! What is even more amusing to us working folks, if it was raining 10" an hour and Gore and friends told you it wasn't raining and the sun is shining, you'd all believe them. What a bunch of mindless trolls!
If any of you actually understood engineering and theories and not rely solely on the lunatics, you would be surprised. Geotechnical Engineering, Tree Rings, and the Earths Strata will tell you much more than the Gore's lies and their voodoo approach.
We're not in a Global Warming pattern, the Ice Age is receding as it has been for the last 14,000 years.
"I suppose you think Al Gore is up in the Arctic with a blow torch.
Why has climate change become a partisan issue?
Not a blow torch, a large jet. proven to emit more carbon than any vehicle (unless it is a rocket).
True, it was a conservative attack campaign,but if Al Gore really CARES about his cause, should he not get rid of his jet(s).?
Climate change has become a partisan issue partly becuase of the way Obama has mishandled it. His administration have conveniently molded certian facts about it to be timed with their Wall Street/ green economy schedule. Whatever truth is out there is twisted to fit what they are trying to develop. That creates distrust among people and eventually will make climate change very unpopular, whatever the truth about it really is. Obama's way of dealing with it will possibly double you power bills. If it is indeed the biggest crisis humanity is facing, Obama is making a mockery of the whole thing. He really is about as clueless a George W. Bush...
Hey gmager... That was not blow torch Al Gore had in his hand up in the Arctic...
That was a rifle and he was shooting polar bears to thin out the population a little. He was heard to say "Shoot Baby Shoot!"
Just remember... Don't trust a prophet who is out to make a profit.
Oh please! All of you deniers are in for a big surprise. BetOnBlack said, "As a factual matter over 60% of the worlds top scientists have uncovered global warming for the hoax that it is. Global warming is not a scientific movement but rather a political movement. Anthroprogenic means cannot ever change the climate in a million years. The worlds ice packs are larger then they have ever been and the sea and tide levels are the highest they have ever been since man has recorded them." I highly disagree! You might want to back up such "factual matter". I for one know that many a well respected scientist believe that anthropogenic exacerbation of climate change is real. When there are 6+ billion people consuming resources (albeit with high disparities) on this planet, it's bound to have an adverse effect on the environment. With millions of gallons of petroleum going up in smoke each day (from cars alone), why is it so hard to believe we are not adding CO2 to the atmosphere. IT'S JUST PLAIN COMMON SENSE!! WE ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM, AND THUS NEED TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION.
correction to previous post- why is it so hard to believe we are adding CO2 to the atmosphere? I guess I was writing in a state of fury.