Arctic Island - First Time in History

Early morning fog deep in the valley woods-beautiful.


For the first time in human history the Arctic is surrounded by water- an island by definition. The HITS (heads in the sand) grumble that there's been water in the arctic before and this is just overreacting warming gobley gook. That is true - every summer a little ice melts only to refreeze in the winter. But the ice has been melting more than is refreezing so the net loss has resulted in 2 passages opening that have not been free from ice at the same time for 150,000. That's why the headlines all over the world say "First Time in History".

The major articles are amazing, scary and definitely worth the read, so be sure to click through to the original articles in this sentence. They include how shipping companies are now able to re-route their ships some 4,000 miles to save money (less energy). This melting IS a big deal. Why?

These two passages being open at the same time isn't since just a few years ago, a 100 years ago , 2,000 years or 10,000 years ago. This hasn't happened since way before man/woman as we know him/her. This is since 150,000 years ago. Our current genetics is from around 60,000. Humans didn't venture from Africa until about 54,000 years ago (unless of course you believe the earth was created 7,000 years ago). This really drives the point home about the magnitude of this earthly event. So yes, we can say the passages have been opened before, but hello, we have to go back before the beginning of the last ice age.

So both passages open at the same time and scientists reporting (remember they report evidence, they don't make it up) that the entire Arctic could be water within just a few years should be a wake up call to action. Action needed to reduce our green house gases. (see previous blog) How much of a bang on the head do we need anyway?