It has been estimated that the planet has lost 28 trillion tonnes of ice since 1994 (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/23/earth-lost-28-trillion-tonnes-ice-30-years-global-warming). This astounding figure is a direct consequence of global warming. Some people appear enthusiastic about improved access to petrochemical and other deposits (likely to intensify global warming still further) as well as the gains associated with access to mammoth skeletons et cetera. There are also people who see financial gains in the shortening of shipping routes. The melting ice, however, clearly a danger as it will substantially increase sea levels whilst the reductions in its reflective surfaces, makes solar gain an even more effective intensifier of global warming. I suspect that some of those same people, whilst blase about the extinctions of animals that are adapted to the ice (e.g. Polar bears and penguins), might be troubled by the effects on their own species. Although one does get the impression that people in 'remote' locations are also of little concern to them (as always, the 'selfish genes' rules).
No comments:
Post a Comment