Climate Change

Arctic Sea ice cover has been in continuous existence for anything between 3 to 13 million years. But within a decade it will be gone for good. We are already feeling the effects. As the Arctic sea ice melts, the dark sea underneath begins to absorb more sunlight, increasing Arctic temperatures. This affects the Jet Stream which is changing direction and slowing down. It's the changing behaviour of the Jet Stream which caused extreme weather in many parts of the world this summer.

The speed of the ice melt has alarmed scientists. The NASA animation below shows how fast the ice is melting.

Paul Beckwidth, a scientist with the Sierra Club in Canada details the effects of the rapid ice melt: "Storms will change in location, intensity, frequency, and speed and everything that humans know about weather and seasons for growing food will be obsolete. Everything." These changes in weather systems are already impacting on the global food supply. For example the recent droughts in the US have led to America turning to Brazil to import maize which is like Saudi Arabia importing oil. And Teagasc experts here in Ireland forecast an increase of more than 20% in cereal prices this year is possible as a result of this year's poor US harvest. The IFA Pigs and Pigmeat Committee had an emergency meeting earlier this month to discuss the crisis triggered by higher cereal prices.

Yet the alarm which scientists are expressing is not reaching the public. "We are in a planetary emergency," says NASA scientist James Hansen, who decries "the gap between what is understood by the scientific community and what is known by the public." And the reason - media outlets are misleading the public on climate change. A recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists which looked at how two Rupert Murdoch media outlets reported on climate change found they repeatedly misled the public on the subject. Fox News 93% of the time and the Wall Street Journal 81%. In Ireland misleading reporting is replaced by no reporting as all the major outlets now routinely ignore major climate change stories. John Gibbons, the former environment correspondent for the Irish Times has commented "The comatose state of science reporting – specifically if it has anything to do with climate change – in both the Irish Times and RTE is bewildering." And Greenpeace who are trying to bring the Arctic issue to public attention are under attack by Shell who are threatening them with a €1,000,000 penalty if they don't stop their protests. The stakes are high but even if big business interests succeed in stifling debate it is Mother Earth who'll have the last word and it won't be pleasant.

For more details on how the Arctic is changing and how is is affecting our climate download Arctic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications.