Four the Future - December 29

The first of a two-part 'Four the Future' to end the year in an attempt to influence your New Year's resolutions. Today, the effects of climate change; next time, what some people are doing about it.

• NOAA: Warming Arctic unlikely to return to how it was
  Source: McClatchy; October 21, 2010
  Summary: NOAA’s annual arctic report card states that the changes to the arctic are likely to be permanent, and the weather in the United States will be affected as a result. The melting of the arctic caused last year’s extreme cold in eastern North America, northern Europe and east Asia. Greenland had its warmest year on record, and sea level rise will be greater than predicted. Sea ice cover was one of the lowest on record.
  
  
  
  Opinion: Last year when climate change deniers like Senator Coburn (R-OK) were laughing about how last winter’s extreme cold in Washington D.C. (“Snowpocalypse”) was making a fool of Al Gore, they were actually observing the effects of climate change.
  
• If an island state vanishes, is it still a nation?
  Source: Yahoo! News; December 6, 2010
  Summary: As the sea level rises, nations such as the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Tuvalu are on the verge of literally disappearing. When it happens, do those countries still exist? No nation has simply disappeared of the face of the earth. Consequently, international law is silent on the issue. And what of the people: are they stateless? And what of their exclusive economic zones owed them due to their nations’ existence? Do they lose the right to fish and prospect in those areas? And what of their seats in the United Nations?
  Opinion: We make assumptions all the time about what the world will be like in the future. The nature of sovereignty in international law apparently still requires the occupation of dry land. Is that necessary? Is the nature of sovereignty such that you must have dirt to exercise it? Of course, it may all be moot. Other nations might want to acquire the oceans that these atoll nations currently possess, so they may be sacrificed, along with these native people’s rights, unless there are other alternatives.
  
• Columbia dam plan ‘ugly,’ fish backers say
  Source: Spokesman-Review; October 30, 2010
  Summary: NOAA has been sued (again) for failing to deliver a salmon recovery plan for the Columbia River. They are charged with failing to offer a plan based on science. While NOAA’s plan does include information regarding climate change, the latest charge is that there is no plan to mitigate any of the anticipated changes.
  Opinion: This has been going on for years, and it appears likely to go on. The judge for this case has rejected earlier plans for lack of scientific basis, so if the charges are true, this will go on.
  
• International investors issue global warming warning
  Source: Los Angeles Times; November 16, 2010
  Summary: 259 asset managers and owners representing one quarter of the world’s capitalization urged the world, and especially the United States, to deal with climate change or face massive economic disruptions.
  Opinion: Asset managers are only interested in the financial success of the companies in which they invest. They see the world being less worthy of investment if the dire consequences of climate change are not addressed. They are now making the economic case for dealing with climate change. Next time, we’ll see what’s been happening lately.
  

Part two....