Rapidly shrinking Arctic ice could spell trouble for the rest of the world

So how do you think the GOP will downplay this report? We have proof of Global warming yet they do nothing. They thumb their noses at the rest of the world for trying to save our planet and pretend to claim that this will hurt our economy.

Robert S. Boyd of Knight Ridder Newspapers writes:

Alarmed by an accelerating loss of ice in the Arctic Ocean, scientists are striving to understand why the speedup is happening and what it means for humankind.

If present trends continue, as seems likely, the sea surrounding the North Pole will be completely free of ice in the summertime within the lifetime of a child born today. The loss could point the way to radical changes in the Earth's climate and weather systems.

Some researchers, such as Ron Lindsay, an Arctic scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, fear that the polar region already may have passed a "tipping point" from which it can't recover in the foreseeable future.

Others, such as Jonathan Overpeck, the director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth at the University of Arizona in Tucson, think the Arctic ice pack is nearing a point of no return but hasn't reached it yet.

The National Science Foundation, a congressionally chartered agency, last month announced an urgent research program to determine what "these changes mean for both the Arctic and the Earth."

"The pace of Arctic change has accelerated," the foundation declared. "Because of the Arctic's pivotal role in the Earth's climate, it is critical - perhaps urgent - that we understand this system in light of abundant evidence that a set of linked and pervasive changes are under way."

The concern has heightened because last summer brought a record low in the size of the northern ice pack. "The degree of retreat was greater than ever before," said Ted Scambos, chief scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. Previous lows were set in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Unfortunately they are right, it will hurt the economy. It will hurt because corporate executives will see this as a way to reduce their workforce and make their workers do even more work just to keep their low paying jobs while they vote raises for themselves. It will hurt because the upper class is too greedy to participate in a weak economy and create more jobs. Exxon's upcoming merger will generate$4.6 Billion in revenue while cutting 19,000 jobs. That's right, NINETEEN THOUSAND, up 3,000 from the previous estimate of 16,000.

This article is back from June. The Guardian UK reports that the administration's decision on Global Warming Policy and the Kyoto Treaty were influenced by Exxon, because they asked for the advice. Is it me or would you ask a scientist for science matters? Would you really ask one of the top polluters if polluting is a bad thing?

President's George Bush's decision not to sign the United States up to the Kyoto global warming treaty was partly a result of pressure from ExxonMobil, the world's most powerful oil company, and other industries, according to US State Department papers seen by the Guardian.

The documents, which emerged as Tony Blair visited the White House for discussions on climate change before next month's G8 meeting, reinforce widely-held suspicions of how close the company is to the administration and its role in helping to formulate US policy.

In briefing papers given before meetings to the US under-secretary of state, Paula Dobriansky, between 2001 and 2004, the administration is found thanking Exxon executives for the company's "active involvement" in helping to determine climate change policy, and also seeking its advice on what climate change policies the company might find acceptable.

Other papers suggest that Ms Dobriansky should sound out Exxon executives and other anti-Kyoto business groups on potential alternatives to Kyoto.

That article came out about the same time as this article that states the White House edited climate reports to make it look uncertain.

A White House official who once led the oil industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents.

In handwritten notes on drafts of several reports issued in 2002 and 2003, the official, Philip A. Cooney, removed or adjusted descriptions of climate research that government scientists and their supervisors, including some senior Bush administration officials, had already approved. In many cases, the changes appeared in the final reports.

The dozens of changes, while sometimes as subtle as the insertion of the phrase "significant and fundamental" before the word "uncertainties," tend to produce an air of doubt about findings that most climate experts say are robust.

The point I'm trying to make is, we know the white house and possibly the entire GOP have been lying to us for some time. What's important is that we know why they were lying to us.

For Money

Full article can be found here:
KR Washington Bureau | 01/10/2006 | Rapidly shrinking Arctic ice could spell trouble for the rest of the world