Climate Change - It's on-going and it might not be all bad

We have heard all the dire predictions that global warming will ruin earth's environment and spell doom for all living things. For a number of years, many people have denied that changes now noticeable are indeed, global. Further information on retreating land glaciers and marine polar ice caps, however, is diminishing the number of skeptics who insist that changes in climate are only local cyclic activity. Some Pacific island peoples are already facing rising seas that inundate their villages, gardens and former safe habitat. They know they are going to have to move to save their lives. Something real is happening, and as usual, human beings around the world are divided as to the cause(s) and the  effects of this change.

Many scientifically knowledgeable observers note that the tropics are areas of great biological diversity, and of course, they are keen to preserve these areas from the adverse impacts of forest clearing, mining, and industrialization. Others have predicted that if there is a period of global warming in our immediate future, say within the next century, we may expect both vegetation changes and changes in patterns of human disease, coastal inundation, and perhaps crowding of people into areas previously less densely inhabited.

But at least we humans are beginning to understand that scientific research is a vital part of our adaptation to changes in our environment, and it is becoming evident that not all changes associated with global warming are necessarily uniformly disastrous. Native people in northern Canada are aware that the summers are warmer than ever before noted, and while some outsiders predict dire consequences for the polar bear, locals note that the warmer weather may bring some advantages also. It may be possible to fish through open water for longer stretches of time than formerly. It may be that tourism could develop in northern areas for longer stretches of temperate weather, and therefore local people would benefit from tour activities, increased trade, and perhaps, longer periods of time when hoofed game could feed and sustain themselves without having to migrate as far.

David Ljunggren has written (Arctic ocean depths teeming with life, say explorers - a Reuters report) that current research on the Canadian Arctic sea floor has indicated that the area is teeming with a diversity of life that has surprised scientists with its uniqueness and abundance. "High numbers of cod" as well as squid, octopus and other creatures were found by a team of international scientists who are engaged in a ten year "global census of marine life". The scientists are noting that far from deteriorating, the ocean floor in the northern Canadian environment is providing habitat for a surprising and unexpected number of species not previously noted "in an icy environment". So it is possible that through international cooperative research, we may all learn exactly what is going on, how species are adapting to change in various places, and that perhaps global warming is not the total disaster that some have claimed.

The only rational way to approach such a subject is through analysis of data from on-going serious scientific research, rather than through the politically correct rantings of those who claim that human industrial development must be drastically quelled. Of course, it is incumbent upon us all to control pollution from our activities, whether it is "bad for business" or not. We don't want to wantonly soil our world, because it is the only one we have. Yet, we humans will be expanding our living spaces, fishing our waters, and farming our lands as long as climate allows. Let us determine to do so within the bounds of rational scientific recommendations and keep our vision sharp with the best science available.