Canada loses nearly half her Arctic ice shelves to record melts. In a deteriorating change that is being characterized as likely irreversible, researchers at the nation's Carleton University and the University of Ottawa recently reported that the nation's millennia-old Arctic ice shelves have steeply diminished in volume due to global warming in just the past six years.
They noted that during the summer of 2011 alone, Canada's largest ice shelf, the Ward Hunt, split into two, with some 3 billion tons of ice disintegrating into drifting masses.
Meanwhile, the Serson Ice Shelf almost completely melted, and the frozen Ellesmere Island shrunk by 480 square kilometers.
Remarking on the unprecedented loss of such natural wonders, Dr. Derek Mueller of Carleton University stated, "These unique and massive geographical features that we consider to be part of the map of Canada are disappearing and they won’t come back."
Our appreciation, Dr. Mueller and fellow scientists, for this alert to the alarming effects of continued global warming.
May we all take heed and unite to protect our cherished earthly home. During a November 2009 videoconference in Washington, D.C., USA, Supreme Master Ching Hai addressed the disturbing consequences of climate change in the Arctic and other areas, as well as what must be done to safeguard these precious landforms.
Supreme Master Ching Hai : In the Arctic, North Pole, so much ice has already melted that scientists are forecasting an ice-free summer within as little as 3-6 years, which would be the first time in one million years - first time in one million years!
Glaciers across the globe are shrinking more quickly than researchers ever expected, leaving rivers and lakes gone, disappearing or drying, with no water for crops and billions who face food shortages due to water shortages, as well.
You may ask, what is the main cause of this damage and destruction to the environment? Perhaps surprisingly, it’s not the coal industry or cars or planes or trains or boats or ships. It’s methane, which is produced primarily by the livestock industry.
So, sir, to solve this, we do need to move quickly. Be vegan.
http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0928-hance_canada_shelves.htmlhttp://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110928/arctic-ice-shelves-110928/20110928/?hub=EdmontonHome http://www.earthweek.com/2011/ew111007/ew111007b.html http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/09/30/333277/canadas-ice-shelves-continue-rapid-disintegration/Extra NewsA technology developed by a British university student that generates electricity from footsteps on pavement, dubbed PaveGen, is set for initial release in helping power the lights near London's 2012 Summer Olympics when the "underfoot" system is activated by the several million visitors expected to attend.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/13/tech/innovation/pavegen-kinetic-pavements/index.html?hpt=ieu_t3http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/14/8323579-pavers-generate-electricity-from-steps?chromedomain=cosmiclog Results from an international scientific study released October 18, 2011 state that more than twice as many tons of Atlantic bluefin tuna were killed and sold than allowed in 2010 quotas, which the scientists say is compounding the dire situation of the already-overfished population.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/18/ap/europe/main20121753.shtmlhttp://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iY4KxSNjb99uTjc-nzM32_JCwquw?docId=CNG.b0b893fb04aee2445cb9d54b02462bd7.331http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15323370 A study released on October 13, 2011 by researchers in Mexico finds that almost a quarter of 270 tested wild cotton seeds had been contaminated by genetically modified cotton genes, some even carrying multiple transgenes, thus raising concerns for the environment and food safety.
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/gm-crops/news/gm-cotton-genes-found-in-wild-species-1.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_news http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05258.x/abstract