Green Options

Shrinking sea ice may be to blame for recent polar bear cannibalism incidents in Canada. Eight cases of adult polar bears eating bear cubs and other bears near Churchill, Manitoba, have been reported. Four of the cases were reported to Environment Canada and four to Manitoba Conservation.

As Arctic temperatures rise, precipitation rates, and snow/ice cover volumes, begin to change as well. In some cases, this has lead to an increase in vegetation, which can have the beneficial effect of reducing atmospheric CO2, but which can also cause a disruption in the trace gas exchange between earth and atmosphere. Also, many of these climate change impacts produce imbalances within ecosystems (the web of interactions between species, and between species and their environments) and these can and do [...]

A plethora of corroborative data shows that this year’s sea ice levels in the Arctic are the lowest seen in 800 years.

The new research, published in the journal Climate Dynamics, doesn’t specify a cause or reason for the retreat, but it does note that if sea ice melt continues at this level, it’s likely that the North Pole will be completely ice-free during the summer months within a few decades.

As the earth warms, the melting of the earth’s two massive ice sheets—Antarctica and Greenland—could raise sea level enormously. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt, it would raise sea level 7 meters (23 feet). Melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would raise sea level 5 meters (16 feet). But even just partial melting of these ice sheets will have a dramatic effect on sea level rise.

So far 46,000 online signatures have been gathered by the Center for Biological Diversity to support the re-writing of the Bush administration’s regulations which allow for the emission of greenhouse gases to not be considered as a threat to wildlife habitats and wildlife like the polar bear, even though global warming is clearly harming polar bears.

They also removed the capacity of the Fish and Wildlife service to monitor wildlife conservation impacts for federal projects involving timber sales, and dam construction. 

The US Fish and Wildlife Service rejected an attempt by trophy hunters to re-allow shipments of polar bear parts from countries where it is legal to kill the embattled species.

The Humane Society of the United States lobbied the agency hard against the proposed reopening of the trade. The animals are listed as a threatened species in the United States, but other countries still allow the bears to be hunted.

Score one for the environment - at least temporarily. Shell Oil announced that it will not be drilling off the Alaskan coast in the Beaufort Sea in 2009 as planned. This decision comes after a November court ruling which determined that Shell had erroneously been given permission to drill without properly assessing the environmental impact drilling would have on the fragile region.

The Arctic, already vulnerable and suffering from the effects of Global Warming, has been spared this blow by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals following a formal objection by Pacific Environment. The organization, along with a coalition of conservation groups, formally challenged the granting of Shell’s permit with an aim towards blocking the oil giant from drilling in this fragile ecosystem.

Sarah Palin says the causes don’t matter. The Bush Administration admits they do, but says that since there’s no single source of greenhouse gases, wildlife agencies should ignore global warming.

CNN recently came out with a chilling report titled; Polar Bears Resort to Cannibalism as Arctic Ice Shrinks. I can only imagine how Bill O’Reilly spins this on The O’Reilly Factor.

From our friends at ZapRoot this week: Arizona tests artificial CO2 filtering trees. Sarah Palin loves oil. We help you find ways to get rid of your junk mail.

Teachers and parents donning polar bear heads is inherently fun and effective in getting the attention of the K-8 crowd. If you can snag just ONE assembly hour to kick off this grassroots green program for climate change, KIDS can take it from there, bringing home Cool the Earth influences for micro-change into every household.

Social change agents have learned the hard way that adapting kid-friendly programs into ‘core curriculum’ is a time sink, whereas schools embrace participation as ‘enrichment,’ since it’s no hassle for teachers, ‘apolitical,’ and take place in an informal, volunteer environment with programs that are ready to run.