This was the news last December, and it was alarming:
The hot Northern Hemisphere summer sharply increased the rate at which Arctic ice is melting and scientists now believe summer ice could be gone completely within five years.
Six months later -- not five years, six months -- we hear this:
Ice at the North Pole may disappear completely within the next few months for the first time in 20,000 years.Arctic sea ice is now retreating so quickly that scientists say there is now a 50-50 chance that it will have gone completely by September.
But we won't do anything about it, because this -- from a commenter at the second article, from the London Telegraph -- is the ignorant attitude of most people:
Global warming- Yes bring it on . I want to live in a warmer climate and save on fuel used heating the home, less fuel= less pollution. Ohh and we wont have to use the patio heater so much when were having a BBQ.
I beginning to think that James Hanson -- who is running around with his hair on fire, and no one is listening -- is an optimist:
Such phenomena, including the instability of Arctic sea ice and the great ice sheets at today's carbon dioxide amount, show that we have already gone too far. We must draw down atmospheric carbon dioxide to preserve the planet we know. A level of no more than 350 ppm is still feasible, with the help of reforestation and improved agricultural practices, but just barely -- time is running out.
Perhaps time has already run out for us.
I'm terrified, and very, very depressed.
(Technorati tags: global warming, ice-free Arctic)
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