[meemoe_uk]

Life in britain would be a lot better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZGvCvrcedA
If I could wave a magic wand and raise global temps by 3C, I'd do it.
Don't see any bikinis or poolside frolics today in the wind and snow and 1C temps where I live.

[TheDude]

Alright in honor of the so called holiday today I am trying to be optimistic. Therefore please use this thread to put news and views on the POSITIVE effects of living in a warmer world.

First plus, its will be a lot easier to explore for resources in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Offshore North Slope Alaska and northern Canada are expected to yield a lot of mineral resources that people desire to exploit.

Actually on the North Slope work is limited to a 3-4 month period in winter when the ground is sufficiently frozen for seismic and drilling operations, which will be impacted by sustained warming of the environment. This limited window of opportunity to work is one reason why exploiting ANWR would take almost a decade, minimum. Another is the fact that shipping routes are only open 2-3 months in the summer; certainly with vastly reduced sea ice this period could increase, but you would then be faced with an unprecedented number of icebergs to deal with. Billion-tonne iceberg could be Arctic shipping hazard

In 2005, a 66-sq.-km chunk of the Ayles Ice Shelf on Ellesmere Island’s northern coast broke free and began drifting south. Federal scientists kept a close watch on the resulting Ayles Ice Island as it tracked a worrisome route toward the Beaufort Sea, a hot spot for oil exploration.

But in August 2007, the five-by-15-km slab turned down a dead-end channel between Meighen and Axel Heiberg islands, where scientists expected it to slowly break up — probably over decades — and become an anonymous part of the Arctic pack ice.

EIA - Analysis of Crude Oil Production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

[Tanada]

But less ice also spells opportunity. Under a 1982 international treaty called the Convention on the Law of the Sea, Arctic nations can claim sea floor as national territory if they can prove, by mapping the ocean floor, that the areas are extensions of their continental shelves. The implications are staggering because an estimated 22 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas reserves lies beneath Arctic seas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Energy and ocean policy consultant Paul Kelly calls the potential expansion “the greatest division of lands on earth possibly ever to occur, if you add up claims around the world.”

The United States, which stands to gain territory the size of California, is woefully behind in the race to develop its territorial claims, critics say. Russia and Norway have already submitted claim applications to a United Nations-based commission that will help determine ownership. Russia and Canada have beefed up their Arctic military forces, and Canada has installed sensors on Devon Island in the high arctic to detect rogue ships.

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-n ... z0gNFcjk6k

[Tanada]

http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere ... dw.000.png

It sure looks to me as if the Northwest passage is open for business today.

[Tanada]

A new one occurred to me this morning looking out the window at the fields now almost bare of snow. The Weather sure isn't boring any more, it changes so fast and so hard that it keeps you on your toes.

[dohboi]

Yes, Lovelock used to talk about what an exciting time it will be--that is if you are not starving, dying of thirst, being hacked to death by a ravenous mob, or being washed out to sea by a super storm!

[Tanada]

Yes, Lovelock used to talk about what an exciting time it will be--that is if you are not starving, dying of thirst, being hacked to death by a ravenous mob, or being washed out to sea by a super storm!

I dunno about you but being chased by a mob of hungry, thirsty, machete armed people through a hurricane sounds pretty exciting to me

[dohboi]

LOL--no, really, I did laugh out loud at that one. Thanks. We all need a chuckle now and then, no matter how gallows the humor.

[Plantagenet]

Life in britain would be a lot better....
If I could wave a magic wand and raise global temps by 3C, I'd do it.

Of course London would be mostly underwater due to sea level rise but things would be peachy other than that

[Subjectivist]

Dohboi, sometimes we laugh because it hurts too much to cry.

Plantagenet, London under water might suit a lot of the people on Great Britain, after all Scotland is having a vote one of these days about resuming a separated relationship from the United Kingdom.

[Keith_McClary]

Yes, Lovelock used to talk about what an exciting time it will be--that is if you are not starving, dying of thirst, being hacked to death by a ravenous mob, or being washed out to sea by a super storm!

I dunno about you but being chased by a mob of hungry, thirsty, machete armed people through a hurricane sounds pretty exciting to me

Were you a B-movie screenwriter in a previous life?

[Keith_McClary]

Of course London would be mostly underwater due to sea level rise but things would be peachy other than that

Gives a new meaning to "London fog".

[Tanada]

Yes, Lovelock used to talk about what an exciting time it will be--that is if you are not starving, dying of thirst, being hacked to death by a ravenous mob, or being washed out to sea by a super storm!

I dunno about you but being chased by a mob of hungry, thirsty, machete armed people through a hurricane sounds pretty exciting to me

Were you a B-movie screenwriter in a previous life?

When did you get your sense of humor surgically removed?

[nocar]

Living in Stockholm, Sweden, at the 59th parallel, obviously we could use some more warm weather.

Here is my personal list of positive effects, starting with the most important.
1. I can plant tomatoes earlier and thereby get more tomatoes worth eater (the stuff in the stores is totally tasteless)
2. Longer season of bicycling (bicycling beats skating and skiing in my opinion)

3. Shorter season of endless preparation for going out: longjohns, double socks, heavy boots, mittens, sweather, scarf, hat, heavy coat. Especially tiresome if there are children to go out with me.

4. Longer season of outdoor swimming
--------------------
Too bad that global warming will not make the sun rise earlier in the day and higher in sky in November through January.

[Plantagenet]

Every time another "polar vortex" blasts the lower 48, its sunny and warm up here in Alaska. Our weather has been beautiful this winter. We're about 20 degrees above normal with even warmer temps predicted over the rest of the week. The snowpack may even start melting by friday.

I guess thats how global warming is working.....Alaska and other places at high latitudes are warming rapidly, while the mid latitudes and getting a bit more stormy weather.

[kiwichick]

hi p

is that 20 degrees f?

[ralfy]

I think any positive side concerning global warming will have to involve a benefit that affects the global population.

[Tanada]

Every time another "polar vortex" blasts the lower 48, its sunny and warm up here in Alaska. Our weather has been beautiful this winter. We're about 20 degrees above normal with even warmer temps predicted over the rest of the week. The snowpack may even start melting by friday.

I guess thats how global warming is working.....Alaska and other places at high latitudes are warming rapidly, while the mid latitudes and getting a bit more stormy weather.

What kind of winter forecast do you have for 14-15 in Alaska Plantagenet? Here in the midwest/great lakes they are saying another winter full of polar vortex cold snowy blasts.

[WildRose]

Every time another "polar vortex" blasts the lower 48, its sunny and warm up here in Alaska. Our weather has been beautiful this winter. We're about 20 degrees above normal with even warmer temps predicted over the rest of the week. The snowpack may even start melting by friday.

I guess thats how global warming is working.....Alaska and other places at high latitudes are warming rapidly, while the mid latitudes and getting a bit more stormy weather.

What kind of winter forecast do you have for 14-15 in Alaska Plantagenet? Here in the midwest/great lakes they are saying another winter full of polar vortex cold snowy blasts.

What we've had the last many years is shorter and shorter outdoor ice-skating seasons. We used to be able to skate from late November to March sometime, now we're lucky if we have 6 weeks or so. Last year the rinks barely got started and there was a melt all through January. Might be good that our winters are milder, but not so good for skating enthusiasts and aspiring hockey players. Imagine the crowds at the indoor rinks.

That aside, positive effects I can think of are longer growing seasons, greater varieties of plants that will grow here, more species of birds, etc. to enjoy (downside being more species of bugs that may not be so pleasant, like ticks and spiders), more time to enjoy the yard. I hike no matter what the weather, so warming is not particularly a positive - I like it cooler rather than hot. We had a great yield from our garden this year because of the warmer, sunnier season, but that's only because we have water that comes out of a hose (we had hardly any rain). So, really a toss-up.

[AgentR11]

Around Alone, Northern Hemisphere Version.