Clinton in Arctic to see impact of climate change

[limpyhobbler]

TROMSOE, Norway — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took a first-hand look Saturday at the way a warming climate is changing the Arctic, opening the region to competition for vast oil reserves.

Experts here estimate the value of the Arctic's untapped oil alone -- not including natural gas and minerals -- at $900 trillion, making it a huge prize for the five countries that surround the Arctic if they can reach it.

And with climate warming opening up some 46,000 square kilometres (18,000 square miles) a year that had once been bound in ice, the region is expected to burst open, not just with oil exploration but with East-West trade along a more accessible northern route.

Returning from a tour of the Arctic coastline aboard a Norwegian research trawler with scientists and government officials, Clinton told reporters that she learned "many of the predictions about warming in the Arctic are being surpassed by the actual data."
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hohEAK0N-vo6jGS-JsZM1KBNISZg?docId=CNG.85a11c5c2c24b3ba3c4589466d52917a.181

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OK so polar ice melting due to climate change is "opening the region to competition for vast oil reserves" ?

Ironic no?

In related news, Alcoholic's wife leaves him, freeing up more time for him to hang out drinking under the bridge.

[XemaSab]

1. Exactly

She's not there to look at climate change so much as she's there to scout that action out for oil and gas interests.

[limpyhobbler]

2. That's sad.

For the amount of time and resources that industry and governments spend fighting over who gets to control which patch of oil, they could be using that time and energy to come up with some sustainable solutions instead. Oh well.