Global Warming's Silver Lining

[Dogmudgeon]

Fewer frozen street people. More calamari.

Oh, for those exotic romantic evenings on the Alaskan Riviera, as the sweet perfume of the biologically active peat bogs wafts in on a breeze, whispering its secrets in a hushed snap-crackle-pop, making us light-headed as the ambient methane levels approach 900 ppm.

I can hardly wait.

Another economic boost could come from the establishment of new trade routes as a direct result of global warming.

As rising temperatures melt glaciers in the Arctic and particularly in Alaska, threatening indigenous creatures like the polar bear, a new, faster trade route could open up. The Bering Strait, a legendarily difficult passage for ships, could become an oceanic highway between the hemispheres as ice sheets disappear.

While the indigenous Inuit may lose exotic animals, business investors in the Arctic region (a former oxymoron) are anticipating an influx of everything from tax revenue to tourism. The seldom-used strait is set to become the Suez Canal of the north, cutting down travel time between Europe, America and Asia by as much as one-third.

Experts predict the passage will be open for year-round travel within a decade. Less fuel will be consumed using this route, but Davies warns that increased use will foster the exploitation of Arctic mining and fisheries, further eroding the environment.

Read more at Wired

--p!

[Teaser]

1. The author of that piece needs to get smacked.

Wow...talk about looking for shinola in a shitpile.

[phantom power]

3. Some day in the not-too-distant future..

this guy will be in the grocery store, paying $10 for a loaf of bread, and he'll remember writing this little fluff piece. And the Schadenfreud fairy will give another angel her wings. Or something.

[Teaser]

4. People are going to be hanging from lampposts...

when the full effect of global warming is felt...conservative think tank apologists and GW deniers, hung from every lamppost on the block.

you think they'd ponder that whilst the undermine good science.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Hmmmm.... and the rest of the story is...

As temperate regions become dustbowls or flooded by rising sea heights, agriculture and housing compete for the newly livable Arctic regions of Canada and Russia.

Those not killed off by cold winters will be largely the ill or elderly, while the younger and able-boddied will be killed off by the wars and revolutions over the remaining land.

But, there's always the possibility that all that cold Greenland water from the melting icesheet could reverse the Gulf Stream, causing an almost instant freezing of North America and Europe. That would solve the problem.