Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : The Environmentalist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Crocodile who wrote (3118)	2/7/2004 3:38:37 PM
From: Elmer Flugum	Respond to of 36917

Thanks for sharing that Croc.... When the waters start rising maybe the rest of the world will start paying attention. len

To: Crocodile who wrote (3118)	2/17/2004 9:46:47 AM
From: Crocodile	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 36917

Part 3 of "The Nature of Things" series on the impact of global warming in the Canadian Arctic was entitled "People of the Ice" -- once again, another good episode. They followed quite a number of Inuit peoples as they went about their travels on the pack ice and also on open water. Most of the show consisted of conversations with the Inuit as they explained some of the things which they've been seeing such as Robins showing up in summer in the Arctic (this is far beyond their normal summer range). Likewise, Arctic game such as seals are growing more scarce. The diet of Inuit peoples still consists of a great deal of wild game such as caribou, and seal are fed to their sled dogs, so the decline of Arctic wildlife populations is a serious threat. Without Arctic game, the people would have to import meat from the south at very great cost as all food shipped to the Arctic is often 3-4x the price that it is in the south. One of the very interesting parts of the show was when the Inuit spoke about the weather and how unpredictable it has become in recent years. All of the knowledge of weather which they have accumulated during their lifetimes spent moving on the pack ice or in their boats isn't of much help in trying to figure out what will happen from day to day now. The pack ice has become more treacherous, with more faults in it, and open reaches of water. There are more icebergs frozen into the pack ice, and these are always dangerous as they can often begin to turn over and will fracture the pack ice for great distances with very little advance notice. The winds have become more violent and changeable in recent years, and have been responsible for a number of freak storms which have stranded hunters out on the ice, or capsized boats that were too far from shore to make it back safely. In the Arctic, the water is too cold to survive in, so the rise in boating accidents have resulted in quite a number of deaths in recent years. Another recent problem has been that the snow and ice are not as clean as they once were. At one time, Inuit people used to be able to go out and cut some ice to melt down for water, but now the snow and ice are becoming dirty. The only decent ice is far out on the pack ice, so they have to take their sledges quite far out to cut ice for making tea, etc... Pollutants are being found in great amounts in the Arctic animals -- much of the reason isn't entirely understood, but in part, has to do with air and sea currents bringing toxins into the Arctic where they then become bound into the environment due to the cold. (Note: Last year, I read a study on toxins in fish that are eaten by raptors living at high altitude in the various ranges of the Pacific. Contrary to what we might think, some of the most toxic game are living up in the most pristine-looking mountains, and this is chiefly because of the dynamics of weather, cold, elevation, etc...). Part 4, entitled "Washed Away" airs on Feb. 18th (to be rebroadcast on Sunday, Feb. 22). It is about impacts due to rising water levels caused by melting polar ice. So far, it's been an excellent series. Rather unfortunate that our CBC television shows don't seem to be picked up by any of the US channels. Perhaps they're just not the kind of "reality TV" that people down there want to see. (o: