Global warming is reducing Arctic ice enough to open sea lanes for months, creating shorter shipping routes across the “polar shortcut” that can save a third of the cost and half the time sending goods from Russia to China through the Suez Canal. This northern route is only open a few months per year and requires large ice breakers, but it is pirate-free. Read the full Arctic ice melt lifts hopes for Russian maritime trade story at Reuters.
Tag Archives: Global Warming
Global warming? Nine warmest years since 2000
According to NASA, global temperatures are rising and we have experienced nine of the highest average temperatures since 2000. See Full 2011 was ninth-warmest year since 1880: NASA story at Reuters.
I am all for the environment, but I studied a little math and know when someone is putting a spin on the numbers. Compare these charts:
The first chart is the change in temperature that NASA and other global warming groups show to prove the world is “dramatically” getting warmer, but on close look it says the globe has warmed by about 1 degree Celsius from 1880 to 2011.
The other two charts show the total temperature trend in Celsius and Fahrenheit. The world is getting a little warmer, but these charts do not look very “dramatic”. You decide.
Data Source: NASA Global Land-Ocean Temperature Index for the change data, though I had to use the 20th Century average temperature to estimate the total temperatures, since the actual numbers are not available.
At least 1,500 years until next ice age
Even though movies like The Day After Tomorrow scare us about a pending ice age that can strike in weeks, the scientist believe it will not happen for at least another 1,500 years and should take two to three years to set in. Learn more in the Next ice age not likely before 1,500 years: study at Reuters.
The big question is: how can global warming cause an ice age? It does not make sense – heat does not cause cold. But, the complexity of earth’s environment provides a way for it to happen. The theory is that global warming will melt Arctic ice and the resulting fresh water will disrupt the ocean’s Gulf Stream, which warms the northern Atlantic. Find out more at How Global Warming May Cause the Next Ice Age at Common Dreams.
Global warming conversation timeline
The conversation about the effects of global warming dates back to 300 BC by Theophrastus, a student of Aristotle. In 1988, the United Nations set up an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to access the scientific evidence. The Timeline: How the world discovered global warming story at Reuters tells how the world has been squabbling about this issue for the last 23-years.
I think everyone agrees the world is getting warmer, but no one really knows what it means. People in cold parts of the world think it would be a great for things to warm up a little. Others fear more cataclysmic scenarios like drought induced famine, severe hurricanes, or even a new Ice Age as dramatized in The Day After Tomorrow film.
I believe we should be cautious. Per the old English proverb, “Better safe than sorry.”