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Page added on September 8, 2016
Apocalypse Tourism? Cruising the Melting Arctic Ocean
On Aug. 16, the Crystal Serenity set out from Seward, Alaska, carrying 1,700 passengers and crew, and escorted by a comparatively minuscule, 1,800-ton icebreaker. She circled west and north around the Alaska Peninsula and through the Bering Strait before heading east into the maze of straits and sounds that constitute the Northwest Passage. For centuries, explorers tried to establish a sea route here between Europe and Asia. Many met with ruin. A few stranded sailors famously ate their boots—and each other. When the Crystal Serenity emerged free and clear of the maze on Sept. 5, there were no accounts of scurvy or cannibalism, only tales of bingeing on themed buffets and grumbles from shutterbugs about the Arctic’s monotonous landscape.
Operated by Crystal Cruises, the Serenity became on that day the first passenger liner to successfully ply the Northwest Passage. As climate change melts Arctic sea ice twice as fast as models predicted, more and larger ships have made their way along these fatal shores. In 2013, the Nordic Orion was the first bulk cargo carrier to transit the Passage, hauling a load of coal.
Rates on the Serenity started at around $22,000 per person. For that, passengers were anointed, by Slate, “the world’s worst people”—for venturing into a vulnerable ecosystem in a diesel-burning, 69,000-ton behemoth. Canada’s National Post described the cruise as an “invasion” of indigenous communities. Britain’s Telegraph hinted at Titanic hubris, asking, Is this “the world’s most dangerous cruise”?
As for the Arctic villages the Serenity visited, they were, depending on whom you ask, either overwhelmed or overjoyed by the ship’s hordes of curious, wealthy strangers. The communities staged dances, hawked arts and crafts, and expressed hope that the Crystal Serenity reaches New York safely on Sept. 16. Assuming it does, Crystal Cruises plans to offer the route again next year, departing Anchorage on Aug. 15. Edie Rodriguez, the company’s chief executive officer, says that a few passengers have already rebooked.
23 Comments on "Apocalypse Tourism? Cruising the Melting Arctic Ocean"
Apneaman on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 11:04 am
It’s Looking Like We’ll Never See Another Month Below 400 ppm CO2 Again
“But adding in all greenhouse gasses like Nitrogen compounds and Methane resulting from fossil fuel burning (and other human activities) and you end up with a CO2 equivalent in the atmosphere close to 490 parts per million. Such a level of forcing correlates more closely to an even more ancient climate period called the Middle Miocene of about 15 million years ago when global temperatures were between 3 and 4 C warmer than they are today.”
https://robertscribbler.com/2016/09/07/its-looking-like-well-never-see-another-month-below-400-ppm-co2-again/
Add in all the rest of the destruction of their life support systems and it’s looking like the humans will not see another century. Good riddance retards.
ghung on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 11:09 am
Love the photo of the Ulukhaktok elder with her nose in her smart phone.
Lots of BIG photos, BTW. Slow to load.
Apneaman on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 11:16 am
There is nothing that will stop humans from chasing another dopamine hit.
Tourists Are Flocking to the Great Barrier Reef Because It’s Dying
“Like Venice and The Galapagos Islands, Australia is finding itself at the forefront of the hospitality industry’s most tragic sector: last-chance tourism.
The Great Barrier Reef experienced its worst coral bleaching on record this year, with one scientific study estimating up to 93 percent of the reef shows signs of bleaching, largely due to climate change.
Earlier this summer, the Australian government successfully suppressed information about the unhealthy state of the reef, worried that it would drive away tourism, a $5.2 billion industry. Now, a survey in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism found that nearly 70 percent of visitors to the Great Barrier Reef list the desire “to see the reef before it’s gone” as the primary reason for their journey to the 3,200km World Heritage-listed site off the coast of Queensland.”
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/tourists-are-flocking-to-the-great-barrier-reef-because-its-dying
aidan on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 11:40 am
The most significant thing about the photographs is that these are old people – Boomers – the very generation who have produced more CO2 than all previous generations in human history combined.
I’m not judging – just commenting
Cloggie on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 11:52 am
Disaster tourism: one would almost hope that the Crystal Serenity hits a (rare) ice berg.
PracticalMaina on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 1:46 pm
Man in a purple suit with a goddamn bald eagle puppet riding on a ship on a quickly warming, extremely important ecosystem, how I hate our species….
If a virus is going to come out of the permafrost soon, let it hit these dbags first.
Sissyfuss on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 5:14 pm
Go ahead and judge, Aidan. We boomers are the most entitled and wasteful generation of Homo Despoilus ever. The bozos on this cruise must be even more clueless than your average American which is saying something, not sure what.
bug on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 5:29 pm
Thanks Practical, you beat me to it.
These clueless dolts mentioned in the article need to go first.
The photos make me want to barf
onlooker on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 5:43 pm
How bizarre as we make a spectacle and entertainment of the demise of a habitable planet. A fitting irony to the demise of the supposedly smart primate. More like the peculiar primate
Apneaman on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 5:56 pm
New Report: ‘Blowtorch’-Like Ocean Warming Advances Killer Seas, Shifts El Nino, Heats Hydrates
“If there’s one simple fact about past Earth climates that should keep you awake at night, it’s this — warming the world ocean eventually produces a killing mechanism that is unrivaled by any other in Earth’s deep past. Great asteroids, gamma-ray bursters, earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanism — none of these can rival the vast damage to life on planet Earth that is resulting from ocean warming.”
-The Extreme Amount of Heat Energy Piling up in Our Warming Ocean
-Heating Seas Ultimately Become Killer Seas
-El Niño Shifted, Ocean Hydrates Threatened
https://robertscribbler.com/2016/09/08/new-study-blow-torch-like-ocean-warming-advances-killer-seas-shifts-el-nino-heats-hydrates/
peakyeast on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 6:54 pm
Yep – that is the generation that still feel superior and that there are no problems we cant solve.
Most of them has no clue that they wasted away the opportunities of our civilisation – they actually think they had a hard time – working so much…
These people actually think they deserve living 30 years in luxury after they retire.
Apneaman on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 8:25 pm
Where the hell is Greenpeace? Shouldn’t they be up there ramming that cruise ship with a couple of Zodiacs?
Preferably loaded up with a BIG surprise like was done to the USS Cole.
I’d pay good money to watch it livestreamed.
Harquebus on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 9:30 pm
“After being dragged onto the beach with the very ropes that had ensnared it, the video shows, the creature thrashes helplessly on the sand before being pulled further still from the only thing that could actually save it — the ocean.”
http://undergroundreporter.org/narcissistic-selfie-culture-shark-death/
We are maggots feasting on a stinking corpse that was of our own making.
Apneaman on Thu, 8th Sep 2016 10:23 pm
While the rich are cruising at the top of the world here is a informative piece on what life is like for the bottom feeders.
The White Ghost Dance
“On of the more popular pieces I wrote last year was called The Dying Americans (including among spammers promoting escorts in Dubai). It seemed to hit a nerve with a lot of people.
I think some of the main points of that piece may have gotten muddied somewhat, however. I argued that given bleakness of living in the horror show that the modern-day America has become, suicide is actually a rational option for many people. For a large and growing segment of the population, there truly is no hope. I’m less surprised by the rise in the suicide rate than the fact that it isn’t even higher than it is. I’m more amazed at what makes people go on in this vicious, hellish, Social Darwinist dystopia.
Furthermore, I argued that this was by design. I argued that eliminationism is an intentional, albeit unstated, policy of the ruling class of this country. From their perspective, it really would be more convenient, all things considered, if the excess population, would, you know, just sort of take care of themselves and not cause too much bother on their way out.”
http://hipcrimevocab.com/2016/09/08/the-dying-americans-2/
Dredd on Fri, 9th Sep 2016 12:49 pm
They look high on Kochaine (Kochenstein Kochaine).
PracticalMaina on Fri, 9th Sep 2016 3:00 pm
Let that boat sink when she is low on fuel and form an artificial reef.
Apneaman on Fri, 9th Sep 2016 4:30 pm
This should help keep our dollar store and Walmart goodies, we would fall down and die without, reasonably priced right up to the apocalypto days. Sigh of relief.
That pricey Arctic luxury cruise was just the beginning. Up next: Arctic shipping
“So it’s official: The formerly remote Arctic is now open to summer cruise ships, and you can go along if you’re willing to pay. And to hear scientists tell it, this is only the beginning.
Cruises are one thing — but as Arctic sea ice melts and covers less of the ocean for less of the year, we should see all kinds of maritime incursions. Most significant, perhaps, is shipping — being able to use the Arctic could save a great deal of time and money for companies currently using the Panama and Suez canals for transit between Asia and the United States, or Asia and Europe.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/09/09/first-came-an-arctic-luxury-cruise-next-comes-arctic-shipping/?utm_term=.98a8df73a02a
onlooker on Fri, 9th Sep 2016 11:47 pm
Yes low cost shipping. Never mind that an ice free Arctic heralds Armageddon
To the very end we will be fooling ourselves. All this is just SURREAL
shortonoil on Sat, 10th Sep 2016 4:34 pm
Consuming the last remnants of resources that earth has to offer to escape the eventuality of their own deaths.
What brutally, biter irony!
Apneaman on Sat, 10th Sep 2016 4:53 pm
Short, check out this quote below from on of the rich assholes on the cruise.
“We’re going off on a wildlife adventure right now, and that, to me, is what it’s all about in our twilight years—kind of experiencing things before crazy humans destroy it,” Bob Lentz said.”
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-09-giant-cruise-ship-historic-voyage.html#jCp
Does anyone require any more evidence to realize that the humans are totally fucking hopeless? Fuck I laughed for a good 60 seconds after reading that quote. Could not make this shit up if I tried…..ba hahahahahahaha.
shortonoil on Sat, 10th Sep 2016 8:39 pm
“We’re going off on a wildlife adventure right now, and that, to me, is what it’s all about in our twilight years—kind of experiencing things before crazy humans destroy it,” Bob Lentz said.”
Cruising around on a $100 million dollar cruise ship, the likes of which was the problem to begin with, to view the death of a planet has to be the absolute epitome of narcissism. Its a good thing that they don’t think, or their heads would blow off!
makati1 on Sat, 10th Sep 2016 9:51 pm
The “crazy humans” are mostly on the cruise ship. Intelligence not required.
I am 72 and more and more, I am certain that I will live to see the end of homo sapiens.
Apneaman on Sun, 11th Sep 2016 3:23 pm
I just love reports like this one.
Fasten your seat belt – turbulence is on the rise
Severe turbulence, which recently forced the emergency landing of a transatlantic flight, is on the rise. But why and what can be done?
“It is predicted there will be more and more incidents of severe clear-air turbulence, which typically comes out of the blue with no warning, occurring in the near future as climate change takes its effect in the stratosphere,” Dr Paul Williams, a Royal Society research fellow at Reading University, said last week. “There has already been a steady rise in incidents of severe turbulence affecting flights over the past few decades. Globally, turbulence causes dozens of fatalities a year on small private planes and hundreds of injuries to passengers in big jets. And as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere keep on rising, so will the numbers of incidents.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/11/cost-bumpy-flights-air-turbulence-global-warming-united-airlines
I hope some super heavy turbulence takes down the next plane load of these rich fucks while on their way to the embarkation port for their AGW, top of the world end times crusie.