See http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=ajiBydD5EHNs

See also http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5314592.stm

for that same figure. Index of ecology stories with a focus on climate (but not exclusively) is at http://economicdemocracy.org/eco/ (most recent stories at top…and going back to 1999 or so) which links to these two stories.

For every exaggeration (if any) there are facts that the science has been showing are much WORSE than predicted, or in this case, even worse than the website is claiming.

But people care more about short term money making and their portfolios of stocks than about a liveable planet for their kids, so they go into denial

Another thing: the polar air temperature has been going down slightly for the last few years, so there’s been no warming. The ice might have been driven out of the area before the wind or ocean currents, then melting as it reached warmer regions. But it cannot be melting from local warming, since there has been none. Please don’t say it has been warming in the arctic!

It is untrue that the Northwest Passage has been “frozen solid” “since the start of the last ice age”. It was navigated by Amundsen in 1903, while the Northeast Passage has been known since the mid 19th century. See Wikipedia for both references. Your assertions (and your emphasis of “again, they’ve been frozen for 125,000 years”) are negligent in the extreme.

The satellite surveillance of the polar regions is only about 30 years old. From that short record nobody knows what is “normal” for air and water circulation systems that are thousands of years old. To describe last year’s “record” low sea ice extent as “terrifying news” says more about your weak nerves, or your lack of judgement, than the state of the arctic.

Cheers,
Richard Treadgold,
Convenor,
Climate Conversation Group.

(oh ghod, we’re all fried)