Polar Bears: A Barometer of Change or The Canary in the Coalmine?

[Subdivisions]

Plenty of debate is occuring over the existance of Global Warming with scientists, on the one hand, stating that http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/index.htm "> Global warming does indeed exist and is the result of human activity, and Exxon/Mobil funding the http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=20512 "> anti-global warming agenda on the other.

On Wednesday, the nation's leading scientists and evangelicals met in Washington, D.C. to urge action in reversing rapidly escalating environmental problems, including global warming and species extinction. Hmmm... "Global warming" and "species extinction".

Three weeks ago on December 27 and smack-dab in the middle of the holiday season when no one was looking, the Department of the Interior quietly issued a http://www.doi.gov/news/06_News_Releases/061227.html "> press release in which Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne says regarding the addition of polar bears to the Endangered Species List: “Polar bears are one of nature’s ultimate survivors, able to live and thrive in one of the world’s harshest environments. But we are concerned the polar bears’ habitat may literally be melting.” With that, he announced an initiative "to aggressively work with the public and the scientific community over the next year to broaden our understanding of what is happening with the species."

Which brings me to the point of this post.

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Just as the former practice of keeping canaries in coal mines to alert miners to the danger of lethal gases, so is the polar bear a harbinger of the implications of global warming. If the gases were present, the canaries would die and the miners would know to avoid the danger. The polar bear is the canary alerting us to the dire changes taking place in the Arctic.

Read the entire article http://www.solarhorizons.com/?page_id=6 "> here.

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[Junkdrawer]

1. Tipping point: If (or when?) the Arctic is ice-free during the summer...

It will cause the Earth to absorb MUCH more solar warmth. That will really cause a big rise in global temperatures. And if Greenland goes....

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2. So right. That's a whole 'nother article! n/t

[Junkdrawer]

3. ...and the Polar Bear extinction is the direct warning signal...

that this tipping point is almost upon us... :scared: