Finally! That Pesky Ice Won't Get In Our Way

Come on in, the water's fine. Now we can have that super North Pole water park we've always wanted. Yay global warming!

-Maltok 5

North Pole could be ice-free this summer, scientists say

• Story Highlights
• Ice retreated to a record level last fall when the Northwest Passage opened briefly
  
• Weather patterns will determine whether the ice cover melts completely this summer
  
• Scientists say the Arctic meltdown is not part of a historic cycle
  

By Alan Duke
CNN

(CNN) -- The North Pole may be briefly ice-free by September as global warming melts away Arctic sea ice, according to scientists from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.

Scientists say it's a 50-50 bet that the thin Arctic sea ice will completely melt away at the geographic North Pole.

"We kind of have an informal betting pool going around in our center and that betting pool is 'does the North Pole melt out this summer?' and it may well," said the center's senior research scientist Mark Serreze.

It's a 50-50 bet that the thin Arctic sea ice, which was frozen last autumn, will completely melt away at the geographic North Pole, Serreze said.

The ice retreated to a record level in September when the Northwest Passage -- the sea route through the Arctic Ocean -- opened up briefly for the first time in recorded history.

"What we've seen through the past few decades is the Arctic sea ice cover is becoming thinner and thinner as the system warms up," Serreze said.

Specific weather patterns will determine whether the North Pole's ice cover melts completely this summer, he said.

Governments Claim Timeshare Rights in Melting Arctic

It's staggering to think of the ramifications of what this article reports on. A new land rush of governments to claim waterways and land for when you humans melt all that ice up on top (and bottom) of your planet. Just think, a timeshare on the beach with imported GMO palm trees planted outside a wonderful fake plastic igloo condo building! Now that's a place to party, eh? One giant step for mankind...

Sleep well. - Maltok 5

From OnThe Commons.org

Reclaiming a True Global Commons in the Arctic Melt

Posted by Kathryn Milun on Wed, 05/09/2007 - 1:22pm

New territorial claims on islands and sea-routes emerging as the Arctic icecaps melt might make you laugh if you could forget the last 500 years of Euro-American expropriation and colonization. (See “Arctic Ice Melts Create New Land Rush” by Robert J. Miller, May 7, 2007.) With global warming we have a ludicrous display of national patrimony along with the usual international theft. Denmark, Canada and Russia are dispatching warships to hoist flags on frozen tundra. Bottles of brandy have been buried as proof of discovery and claim. The U.S. is also making claims in the region on behalf of an international community eager to see the emerging waterways as “neutral,” open access global commons whose assets are ready for the taking by First World nations and multinational corporations. Folks, what is this nonsense of flag raising and bogus international commons all about?

In the wake of global warming there is a vast water and land grab now taking place under the guise of international law. Who are the rightful owners of the right-of-way, resources, and wealth potential now surfacing along with the disastrous effects of global warming in the Arctic region? Can the legal tradition of a global commons be invoked at the international level to secure justice in this new domain? [more]