Peak Oil is You
Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)
Page added on March 15, 2016
A Big Win for the Arctic Ocean
President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau announced an ambitious, broad array of initiatives that herald a new day in our cross-border partnership to combat dangerous climate change, transition to a cleaner and more prosperous economy, and protect our shared Arctic environment while supporting the indigenous communities who call it home.
For the Arctic Ocean, the announcement is a giant step forward for conservation of the Arctic marine environment and the people who depend on it.
The commitment of the two leaders to protecting more than 10% of the US and Canadian Arctic Ocean by 2020, and to play a leadership role in creating a pan-Arctic network of MPAs, is particularly heartening.
The Arctic is warming faster than any other region on the planet, resulting in the dramatic loss of sea ice, which underpins the ecology of the Arctic marine environment. Walrus, narwhal, polar bears, polar cod, ice seals, arctic birds and arctic fish reside or feed on or under the ice, their life cycles exquisitely timed to its seasonal ebb and flow. The loss of summer sea ice is taking with it with it the future of these animals and the people who depend on them for sustenance and cultural survival.
Disappearing sea ice also means that previously inaccessible areas are rapidly opening up to development, particularly oil and gas extraction, shipping and fishing. Accidents, oil spills, pollution, invasive species, overfishing, bottom trawling, underwater noise, and a host of other impacts related to industrial development pose major additional threats to a region already under severe stress from global warming and ocean acidification.
A shrinking window exists to protect key marine ecosystems from major new industrial activity made possible by the rapid loss of summer sea ice. Marine protected areas – sanctuaries for ocean wildlife – are an important tool to help maintain the biodiversity and resilience of Arctic marine ecosystems and communities that depend on them as they face profound changes. Only a tiny fraction of the Arctic marine environment has been protected to date (in contrast, roughly eight percent of the Arctic terrestrial environment enjoys some level of recognition and protection). Because many species of whales, fish, birds, seals and other Arctic marine wildlife are highly migratory, it is not enough to pursue MPAs independently on a country-by-country basis. Coordinated international action is needed to ensure that the full spectrum of key habitats for different species are protected.
The announcement today reflects a recognition that cooperative, transboundary action to create a pan-Arctic network of MPAs is urgently needed. Together with other elements of the announcement, including the two leaders’ intent to pursue low impact shipping corridors, which will minimize the effects of ocean noise and other ship-borne pollutants, along with a broader agreement on a moratorium on high seas fishing, the joint commitment to protect fragile and globally unique marine habitats represent a historic step forward for the Arctic Ocean. Looking forward, full protection of these MPAs will also require ending the threat of oil spills, which can travel thousands of miles on Arctic currents and ice floes. But that does not detract from the magnitude of today’s path-breaking announcement.
See blogs by my colleagues reacting to other aspects of the joint initiatives announced today.
18 Comments on "A Big Win for the Arctic Ocean"
makati1 on Tue, 15th Mar 2016 7:06 pm
BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! More hot air from the puppets. Nothing will change. It is too late. The dominoes are falling and nothing will stop them.
GregT on Tue, 15th Mar 2016 8:18 pm
“our cross-border partnership to combat dangerous climate change, transition to a cleaner and more prosperous economy, and protect our shared Arctic environment while supporting the indigenous communities who call it home.”
What an utter and complete load of BS.
Apneaman on Tue, 15th Mar 2016 8:35 pm
BS indeed. Any time a big “environmental” NGO gets behind some half measure fake policy like this one – BS indeed.
“Social engineering in the digital age is amazingly simple for those who have the money and the media at their disposal. Wall Street’s Mad Men can easily herd millions of progressives via social media to support catastrophic environmental policy, war, and crimes against humanity. Sold as conservation, “humanitarian intervention”, or development, globalization can then be marketed as a progressive choice, albeit leading to totalitarian corporate control of all life.
The driving force behind privatization through social engineering is the non-profit industrial complex, funded by Wall Street derivatives, and disbursed through tax-exempt foundation grants. Hundreds of millions have been invested by these foundations in the last decade to convince progressives that war is peace, conformity is unity, and capitulation is resistance.”
http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/2016/03/13/youtopia/
Apneaman on Tue, 15th Mar 2016 9:24 pm
Given that the the Arctic is already melting in winter it doesn’t matter what “they” do or pretend to agree on.
That U.S.-Canada Climate Deal Isn’t as Good as It Looks
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-03-11/u-s-canada-climate-deal-isn-t-as-good-as-it-looks
There is a lag time from emissions to warming. One paper says 37 years and a more recent one claims 10 years. Either way it’s a shit load of inertia we waiting on……considering.
Global Warming Fact: More than Half of All Industrial CO2 Pollution Has Been Emitted Since 1988
http://blog.ucsusa.org/peter-frumhoff/global-warming-fact-co2-emissions-since-1988-764
rockman on Tue, 15th Mar 2016 9:35 pm
I guess no one bothered to check on the details. This great plan INCLUDES President Obama’s APPROVAL of his Interior Dept scheduling one lease sale in the Arctic in the next 5 years. But his press sec did say the POTUS might change his mind…but only during v the remainder of his term. Of course if he had rejected the proposal it would not have meant anything: as explained elsewhere each POTUS has the authority to approve any leasing plan regardless of the position of any prior POTUS.
Go Speed Racer on Tue, 15th Mar 2016 10:00 pm
Yeah. What Makita said. It’s just hot air from a bunch of hair dryers.
geopressure on Tue, 15th Mar 2016 10:30 pm
“big win for the Arctic Ocean”
I doubt the arctic ocean or it’s inhabitants really care…
twocats on Tue, 15th Mar 2016 11:24 pm
or the Supreme Court or the TPP will overturn the decision. And how do you protect as a wilderness area against climate change? Temperature fences? Drop giant ice cubes into the ocean? I imagine the NRDC has been a captured non-profit for decades, but I don’t care enough to research it.
the Arctic: coming to a rising shoreline near you!
Apneaman on Tue, 15th Mar 2016 11:51 pm
European clean air policies unmask Arctic warming by greenhouse gases
“The drastic cut in sulfate particle emissions in Europe partly explains the amplified Arctic warming since the 1980s, shows a new study published in Nature Geoscience.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-03-european-air-policies-unmask-arctic.html#jCp”
This is the global dimming effect or rather what happens when it’s reduced. When a major economic crash hits the temps will shoot up like a rocket.
Apneaman on Tue, 15th Mar 2016 11:59 pm
Ag entering uncharted territory
http://www.farmweekly.com.au/news/agriculture/general/weather/ag-entering-uncharted-territory/2751916.aspx
GregT on Wed, 16th Mar 2016 12:54 am
“the Arctic: coming to a rising shoreline near you!”
More MSM distractive drivel. Rising sea levels will be among the least of our worries as the Arctic continues to warm.
Apneaman on Wed, 16th Mar 2016 12:59 am
Two scientists in conversation whose conclusions are more than doomy to say the least.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22EZ5Q7nxOU
twocats on Wed, 16th Mar 2016 1:09 am
More MSM distractive drivel. Rising sea levels will be among the least of our worries as the Arctic continues to warm. [gregt]
so sea levels aren’t going to rise due to global warming? are you saying salt water encroachment is not ALREADY a problem – which it is? Or are you saying that it’s not doomy enough for you? [even though I made no claim as to the severity of rising sea levels and I just wanted to highlight that what happens in the Arctic affects us all – like potential disruption of ocean currents, but “the arctic – coming to a swirling current near you” didn’t sound as catchy.]
tell us, oh wise GregT, what fantastic errors have I made this time?
you seem to want so badly to catch me in a mistake, let’s see if you are finally a lucky winner. I don’t like your chances.
GregT on Wed, 16th Mar 2016 2:10 am
twocats,
“Rising sea levels will be among the least of our worries as the Arctic continues to warm.”
Please provide scientific support as to why you believe that my above statement is incorrect. I’m all ears.
If you have nothing intelligent to add to the conversation, and wish to continue to play your childish little games with me, then fuck off.
Plantagenet on Wed, 16th Mar 2016 3:49 am
This is just more hot air from Obama. Nothing I this agreement will stop global warming in the Arctic
Sheeeesh
GregT on Wed, 16th Mar 2016 3:58 am
This is just more hot air from Obama.
Yes, of course, one person out of 7.5 billion is responsible for everything. Stupidity reigns supreme. Sheeesh.
Davy on Wed, 16th Mar 2016 6:01 am
There are no winners and will be no winners. This is a new age of losers because this is the age of death. Our symbolic flag should be the Jolly Roger without the grin. There are winners but not the traditional winners. These winners are those prospering now. The reason they are not traditional winners is they will not have a happy ending. They will suffer worse depravations than those who are already disenfranchised. Those well off will fall the hardest. This is a generalization but still generally true. Some of you all are always whining about the elites who are going to survive the bottleneck unscathed. You guys are just pissed-offs. Yea, there will be some lucky bastards that get by unscathed but only to die eventually. No one is getting out alive.
The number of lucky bastards is not going to be as great as you think. Think about other civilizations when they collapsed. How many elites survived? Go down to southern Mexico and check out how many Mayan priest are still up on their pyramids star gazing. No, this is going to be a generalized collapse of all classes just like all nations are going to collapse as peers. The process may be a line or groups in a line stepping off the cliff but we are all going to step off the cliff.
The Artic is “FUCKED”. We closed that door 40 or more years ago. The day we were aware of limits of growth was around the time we had a small margin of a chance to save the artic and our asses. We are “FUCKED” because the Artic represents the anchor of stable climate. Without the artic as it was just a few years ago there can be no stable climate. Without stable climate there can be no global agriculture industrial or any other. We will eventually have narrow swaths of land that are marginally adaptable for human agriculture. This is not the formula for Billions of people, try Millions and you are closer to the truth.
We are “FUCKED” folks get used to it or go live your sheeple make believe lives and forget about it. You are going to die anyway so FUCK IT. Those who care make other arrangements for maybe something for a little longer than the dumb sheeples if you are lucky. I am not sure when the shit storm is coming but it is coming that is pretty apparent. I doubt the 2100 predictions do this shit storm justice. I give it 10 years not 80.
dooma on Wed, 16th Mar 2016 7:37 pm
Apneaman, I have a mate who lives on a wheat farm in the North West of the state.
They have not had a single productive harvest in the last 3 years and this year is shaping up to be the fourth.
It quite simply does not rain there anymore. All they really need is two good downpours to reap a harvest. They can’t even get that.