What Happens at the Poles Doesn't Stay at the Poles
By Our Green Team | Jul 1 2009, 12:07

These days, it seems like all the news we hear about the Earth's polar regions is bad news: Antarctica's Wilkins Ice Shelf is breaking up, carbon dioxide levels in the Arctic have reached record highs, sea ice around the North Pole is newer and thinner than ever, and polar bears desperate for food have even started eating one another.

But what if you're not, say, a Yup'ik resident in the Alaskan town of Newtok, which recently decided to relocate en masse to escape flooding caused by rising seas? And what if you know you can always still find a few polar bears in the world's zoos? Does climate change at the poles really matter in terms of your daily life, either right now or in years to come?

In a word, yes. And here's why:

Ice and snow cover in the Arctic affects weather patterns around the globe. That's because light-colored surfaces reflect more incoming sunlight back into space, while dark open ocean waters absorb light (and heat). It's called the albedo effect, and it's the reason the Arctic is warming more rapidly than any other part of Earth... but other parts of the planet will increasingly feel the effects as well.

Less ice means more water. While melting ocean ice won't cause sea levels to rise (just like melting ice cubes in lemonade won't make your glass overflow), melting ice over polar land areas like Greenland and Antarctica will... and are. Global sea levels have increased by 3 millimeters per year for the past 15 years, and the newest climate models indicate that rise will accelerate in years to come. One study predicts the world's oceans could be one meter or more higher by the end of this century. That would have a major impact on coastal cities - and their hundreds of millions of residents - around the world.

An ice-free Arctic could spark a new era of international competition or conflict. Why? Two reasons: fossil fuels and shipping. There's a lot of oil and natural gas under the Arctic that's long been out of reach thanks to thick layers of ice and snow, and neighboring nations already sense potential riches there. Russia recently announced plans to deploy a fleet of floating nuclear power plants in the Arctic to aid in its energy explorations. And just two years ago, the famed Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific opened for the first time in modern memory; it's expected to stay open longer in years to come, and shipping interests around the world are eagerly watching.

More warming could make some places much colder. Even though it's pretty far north (London is at almost the same latitude as Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan) , Europe enjoys a fairly mild climate. That's thanks to something known as the Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation, a powerful ocean current that carries warm tropical water toward Europe and helps moderate temperatures. Add enough cold meltwater from places like Greenland into the ocean, though, and there's a small but real chance that "conveyor belt" could shut down. Ironically, the odds of such a shutdown - and a much colder Europe - increase the warmer the planet gets.

The whole Antarctic food chain could be at risk. Tiny, shrimp-like creatures called krill form the foundation of marine life in the cold southern oceans, providing - directly or indirectly - food to fish, seals, seabirds and even whales. These krill are also very sensitive to climate change: if they go, many other species could quickly follow, and even human fisheries could be affected.

Water, Water Everywhere? Not So Fast
By Our Green Team | Jul 2 2009, 15:33

Imagine the nightmare of being surrounded by water, yet unable to drink it. It's a scenario Samuel Taylor Coleridge described well in his epic poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner":

"Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink."

While Coleridge was describing the plight of sailors on a cursed and becalmed ship in the middle of the sea, his words could also reveal the possible future we face if we don't start using our water resources more responsibly.

Could society really run short of water? It seems unthinkable at first. But consider this: 97 percent of Earth's water by volume is found in the oceans - in other words, undrinkable saltwater. The small percentage of freshwater we have is mostly locked away in ice caps and glaciers, or found below ground in precious aquifers, with less than one percent readily available above ground in streams, rivers and lakes.

Now consider these threats to those water supplies: We're draining many aquifers faster than natural cycles can replenish them. Climate change is expected to cause many regions of the world - including Australia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Southwest of the US - to become much drier than they already are. Removing salt from seawater requires lots of energy and is massively expensive. And much of the "natural" water we already tap has been found to contain a cocktail of pesticides, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals with uncertain health and environmental effects.

Isn't it time to start treating water as the precious resource it is?

How? Fortunately, conserving water is a lot easier and cheaper than, say, installing solar panels on your roof or buying a new fuel-efficient, hybrid car. By taking steps like the ones following, you can dramatically lower your water consumption and become a more responsible steward of this vital natural resource:

• Take quick showers instead of baths;
• Don't let the water run while brushing your teeth;
• Cover pots while cooking, and save any water left over for broths or even watering plants;
• Buy a low-flow toilet or put a heavy plastic bottle in the tank to reduce the amount of water used with each flush;
• Practice "selective" flushing;
• Wash dishes in the dishwasher rather than by hand, and always wash with a full load (the same holds true for washing machines);
• Repair leaky faucets as soon as possible;
• Insulate your water pipes and make sure your water heater's temperature isn't set higher than it needs to be;
• Sweep your driveway clean instead of hosing it down;
• Save "graywater" (anything that's not toilet- or sewage-related) for use outdoors;
• Install a rain barrel to collect runoff for watering plants;
• Consider using a product like Zero H2O® DriWash to clean your car without wasting water.

Strategies like these can help bring down your daily water use considerably - a step well worth taking when you consider that the average citizen of a country like the US, Canada or Australia uses many times more water per day than a typical person anywhere in the world, or that more than one billion people in the world don't even have access to clean drinking water.