Postcards from the Planet

Warming of the Arctic is leading to big changes in the Sea Ice!
Recently, the National Snow and Ice Data Center put out a press release on the decline in sea ice extent and volume. Summer melting of the Arctic sea ice continues the 30 year trend, and the amounts of open water and thin first year ice continue to grow. Read the press release here: NSIDC October 2008
The thawing also affects Arctic land. You can also see what’s happening in this amazing video of Alaska’s eroding coast. The melting trend causes previously frozen land to thaw and break away. Check out the story and watch the changes happen: Dot Earth Video

More and more people worldwide are thinking about ways to reduce their personal or business carbon footprints. Your carbon footprint is basically how much CO2 you are putting into the atmosphere. There are so many ways that we contribute that CO2, ranging from home energy use (heating, cooling, lighting, cooking) to transportation (car, train, bus, plane) and consumption (manufacturing use, how far goods — including food — travel) and it’s hard to calculate your personal share. If you look online, you’ll find many different carbon calculators. Two that are frequently recommended are the EPA Carbon Calculator and the “Inconvenient Truth” Carbon Calculator .
Once you figure out your carbon footprint, you can begin to work on ways to reduce it, whether by using more renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, or by cutting your energy use. You can also find eco-footprint calculators, which rate your impact on the global ecosystem in other areas, such as pollutants and toxic chemicals.

“The polar bear, whose summertime Arctic hunting grounds have been greatly reduced by a warming climate, will be placed under the protection of the Endangered Species Act,” says the New York Times in this article: Polar Bear is Made a Protected Species .

To me, what is most interesting about the listing of the Polar Bear as “protected” (which is a legal term that indicates certain laws fall into place) is that the Interior Secretary, Dirk Kempthorne, would clearly have preferred NOT to list the Polar Bear. While the listing acknowledges that the reduction in Arctic sea ice (caused by global warming, according to scientists) threatens the Polar Bear’s survival, long-term, the comments made by the Secretary make it clear he doesn’t think anything needs to be done about global warming–at the same time, the ruling doesn’t change the regulations on the oil and gas industry one bit.

Scientific efforts to find out what’s happening to the Arctic ice cap and to the polar bears who live there are continuing. In 2009, the Arctic Survey project plans to send a team of explorers to travel across the Arctic on foot, measuring the thickness of the ice. The team will be led by Arctic explorer Pen Hadow. The “on the ice” measurements will help scientists see what is actually happening and refine their computer simulations. Current predictions show the ice disappearing in the next 5 to 100 years, which will change the face of the Arctic completely. Read about the planned expedition — the Arctic Survey . 

Andrew Revkin’s New York Times blog, Dot Earth, published a story about this animated CO2 map. Watch the purple blob demonstrate rising CO2 levels.  Link to Breath of a Nation.

A Reuters article today says that climate change is already causing health problems, including contributing to an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever.

Health Damage from Climate Change

Coastal marshes are in danger worldwide if global climate change causes sea levels to rise.