Slashdot Mirror
Global Warming's Silver Lining For the Arctic Rim
Pickens writes "According to Laurence C. Smith, an Arctic scientist who has consistently sounded alarms about the approach of global warming, within 40 years the Arctic rim may be transformed by climate change into a new economic powerhouse. As the Arctic ice recedes, ecosystems extend, and minerals and fossil fuels are discovered and exploited, the Arctic will become a place of 'great human activity, strategic value and economic importance.' Sparsely populated areas like Canada, Scandinavia, Russia and the northern United States — the northern rim countries, or NORCs — will become formidable economic powers and migration magnets. Predictions in Smith's new book The Earth in 2050 include the following: New shipping lanes will open during the summer in the Arctic, allowing Europe to realize its 500-year-old dream of direct trade between the Atlantic and the Far East, and resulting in new economic development in the north; NORCs will be among the few place on Earth where crop production will likely increase due to climate change; and NORCs will become the envy of the world for their reserves of fresh water, which may be sold and transported to other regions."
... The Earth changes and had always been. Entire ecosystems have many times went through great extinction events. What were once sea bed, are now mountain tops and vice versa. Rivers, lakes, even entire oceans had dried out. We humans will adapt or we will be replaced by other more successful species.
What's different this time is we caused it. And have the power to avert it. Only we won't because of silly things like "who has the bigger car" and "open windows with air condition on".
I have no doubt, though, that we will adapt. Our children will be missing out on large parts of nature, though, something that you may or may not give a shit about. Just consider that it won't be easy to replace 4 billions years of evolution.
My UID is prime. Hah!
To give an idea of how different it is, we don't actually have solid evidence that humans are causing global warming on Earth.
I think the problem is that those in denial follows it up with "... so we shouldn't do anything about it".
Hey, teabaggers and other nay-sayers, it's not proven that your vote will have an effect, so by your logic, there's no need to vote...
+2 insightful. Really, you can't call yourself a scientist when you still believe in an imaginary friend.