The Northwest Passage exists after all!

The fabled Northwest Passage DOES exist. Or at least as of early September of this year it did. All those explorers were just early!

The BBC reported on Sept. 21, 2007 that the NW passage is open, and we might see an ice free arctic by 2040. The scariest part of this article is that in it someone says "yay, now we can get to more oil"...

Alternative estimates for an ice-free summer arctic range from 2015, 2023, 2040 to the end of the century. Corresponding sea level rise? somewhere between 1m (now considered outdated, after this summer's melting) and 25m. Or 80m, depending on where you look.

At what point do we all sit down, stare at each other and say "Oh CRAP!" ? Take a look at this google map. Look up where you live, and where your friends & family live....

Here's an interesting article regarding one reason why maybe we haven't heard an appropriate alarm about this: when scientists raise a big red flag, their funding gets cut off. Damn. Makes it hard to do any research that way.

As of 2005, NASA says that sea level has risen 16mm. Not that much. Read the above article though. I can't find any sea level data more recent than 2005. I'd love to get my hands on that.

The National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) posts updates every few days regarding the shifts of sea ice/melting of sea ice. It changes THAT quickly that they update surface area figures & such every few days. Amazing. Here is their "melting season wrap-up" for this past summer - published yesterday. They detail the NW passage, and also note that the date of lowest ice extent in the year is getting later every year. And the winter re-building is shorter & not as extensive.

Apparently all these changes are already impacting the indigenous cultures in the arctic. They use the sea ice to travel & hunt. If there is less of it, they have to completely alter how they survive, and it's already happening. The Polar Bears are being impacted, and I imagine seals are also being impacted.

I've just been told all this is on the front page of the NY Times....