Walking on Thin Ice: The Good and The Bad

Our scientists have been monitoring sea ice with satellites since 1979, and it is common knowledge that ice blocks are falling off here there and everywhere - honestly, humanity - what home wreckers. Global warming fuels the melt of the ice that moderates global temperatures and feeds through the circum-polar currents, the jet streams - this is widely accepted as not good. More, it's described as a cycle towards oblivion (Isaacson, 2015), thanks to the positive feedback that occurs as the reduced ice extent reduces the albedo, or reflectivity of the Earth, increasing the absorption of solar rays.

But, swings and roundabouts. Right?

With mass habitat degradation comes extreme stress for the residing animals, no surprises there. According to the NWF, one female polar bear reportedly swam for 9 days with her cub, losing 22% of her original body weight. But hey, at least she worked off her pregnancy fat; what a catch. Swings and roundabouts.

You may or may not know that on the base of polar ice cultures single-celled algae, which supports copepods, who support amphipods like the Eusirus holmi, which feed the fish that feed the birds and whales. Essentially, the engines of the Arctic and Antarctic are melting away, taking the fauna with them. Bright side, at least with no more wales roaming about after they sink to the bottom of the ocean out of starvation, the practice of waling will no longer be a thing. Greenpeace got there in the end. Justice is served. Swings and roundabouts.

 Land naturally sinking and subsiding on the Ganges delta will be even more susceptible to rising sea levels, while the global warming phenomena connects to increasing ENSO, which often causes severe drought (consider the  Bangladesh 2009 event). Perhaps a little more water in/on Bangladesh will actually do some good, water the crops. Can't harm the diving industry either, ask the folk of the Maldives. A little salt in the diet is healthy, ask the Americans. Swings and roundabouts.

Genuine bright side, with the Arctic sea ice melting, the Northwest passage may eventually become navigable all year round, removing an enormous physical barrier to a potentially much faster shipping route, that could also avoid the tax penalty of navigating through Russian borders. Swings.

Three cheers for climate change. My pyjamas have polar bears embellished with glittery scarves on them. The irony is gorgeous.