In warmer world, Inuit buy air conditioners

[scandium]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060807/...JlYmhvBHNlYwM-

OSLO (Reuters) - With signs that the world is warming, even Inuit peoples of the far north are ordering air conditioning.

Better known for building igloos during hunts on the polar ice, Inuit in the village of Kuujjuaq in Quebec, Canada, are installing 10 air conditioners for about 25 office workers.

"These are the times when the far north has to have air conditioners now to function," said Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a leading campaigner for the rights of 155,000 Inuit in Canada, Alaska, Russia and Greenland.

"Our Arctic homes are made to be airtight for the cold and do not 'breathe' well in the heat with this warming trend," she said. Temperatures in Kuujjuaq, home to 2,000 people, hit 31 Celsius (88 Fahrenheit) in late July.

88 F is probably a nice cool day to you Southern folk, but having lived in the north (ie: the true north, where nothing grows but moss) that is insane heat - I can remember, as a kid in those climates, wearing gloves and a sweater in June & July (which was the entire summer where I was).

[SUBMAN1]

Quebec humidity is the problem.

It probably feels like 100+

Go to AZ, its just the opposite. I went out into the desert all day in 90 degrees and didn't break a sweat.

[STEED]

We got that problem here in England, humidity is what knocks the heck out of you. But we have another problem as well with more and more people buying fans and air conditioners it's puts a great strain on our electricity, parts of London have had power cuts by the electric company's and we could face black outs on a national scale.

And if that was not bad enough North Sea oil and gas are running low now and we have to import from Europe and all the time the consumer bills are going up and up. I think we are heading for big problems and no one has got any answers.

Soon people will be colonizing Antartica...

[STEED]

Originally Posted by Rilder

Soon people will be colonizing Antartica...

Sounds good better claim my spot before it fills up.

[Takeda Shingen]

This would be the 'scary stuff around the corner'. The Middle East, 'Big Brother' are but phantoms, however, climate change is the real deal.

We have ten years. The clock is ticking.

[SUBMAN1]

Climate change is not all that big yet. What scientist mean by global warming is only 1 to 2 degrees at a time - which can devastate the ice shelfs.

You are just getting lucky with such a nice summer which comes around every 12 years due to the ocean currents. In a couple years you will be saying, remember that good summer we had a couple years back?

One more thing - don't think that global warming means hotter sunny summers. What it really means is more evaporation of the oceans which leads to more cloud cover and that cloud cover will also contribute to warmer temps. Its a big cycle.

-S

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

Climate change is not all that big yet. What scientist mean by global warming is only 1 to 2 degrees at a time - which can devastate the ice shelfs.

Yet. However, your information lacks a critical element. Scientists mean global warming is on a global average of 1 to 2 degrees. The repercussions of this are far greater than melting ice: Desertification, widescale flooding, an increased threat of major storms and hurricanes, larger and more frequent wild fires, a rise in sea level and a wide-spread extinction of various plants and animals.

This is only the beginning.

PS You are correct about the cloud cover, but I do not recall suggesting otherwise.

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

This would be the 'scary stuff around the corner'. The Middle East, 'Big Brother' are but phantoms, however, climate change is the real deal.

We have ten years. The clock is ticking.

Considering that in 6 years according the Myan callander the worlds supose to end :p ... il be 22....

[Marcantilan]

There´s not many left after all (if any), maybe the "last of the mayas" would die in 2012.

If you are not a Maya, don´t worry about the Mayan calendar.

[scandium]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

Yet. However, your information lacks a critical element. Scientists mean global warming is on a global average of 1 to 2 degrees. The repercussions of this are far greater than melting ice: Desertification, widescale flooding, an increased threat of major storms and hurricanes, larger and more frequent wild fires, a rise in sea level and a wide-spread extinction of various plants and animals.

This is only the beginning.

PS You are correct about the cloud cover, but I do not recall suggesting otherwise.

I agree with the 10 year figure; that is, we have about 10 years to halt the climate change process before it reaches a "critical point" where we will have two stark choices, and either of which will result in a radical transformation of civilization as we know it.

And, like you say, it is a global average of 1 to 2 degrees, and what that means in reality is that some parts of the world are being subjected to previously unknown heatwaves while others are seeing record cold spells (because the warming effect is not uniform across the globe).

One expert I've seen on the BBC, when asked about solving this problem, put it this way: "don't be under 40".

[Yahoshua]

too late.....I'm 22 years early.

Or something along those lines.....

One expert I've seen on the BBC, when asked about solving this problem, put it this way: "don't be under 40".

Or else you might believe this!

[Rockstar]

Originally Posted by scandium

I agree with the 10 year figure; that is, we have about 10 years to halt the climate change process before it reaches a "critical point" where we will have two stark choices, and either of which will result in a radical transformation of civilization as we know it.

And, like you say, it is a global average of 1 to 2 degrees, and what that means in reality is that some parts of the world are being subjected to previously unknown heatwaves while others are seeing record cold spells (because the warming effect is not uniform across the globe).

One expert I've seen on the BBC, when asked about solving this problem, put it this way: "don't be under 40".

Anyone old enough to remember in 1975 the rising concern and the idiotic schemes devised to prevent the coming ice age? Experts said it was on the way and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. People and 'experts' alike were amazed governments refused to prepare for it. Yes the world was told back then to bundle up or freeze to death!

At the time I lived in Minesota and thought yipeeee ice fishing all year!

[scandium]

Originally Posted by Rockstar

Anyone old enough to remember in 1975 the rising concern and the idiotic schemes devised to prevent the coming ice age? Experts said it was on the way and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. People and 'experts' alike were amazed governments refused to prepare for it. Yes the world was told back then to bundle up or freeze to death!

At the time I lived in Minesota and thought yipeeee ice fishing all year!

There is no longer any scientific dispute over climate change or the catastrophic consequences that lay just over the horizon if the process is not halted. The only debate remaining is in precisely how long we have until the critical threshold is passed (the point of no return), and in the details surrounding exactly how events will unfold once we pass that point.

End of the scientific part. The rest lies with the public and policy makers in exactly how we're going to go about stopping this process before its too late - only that debate isn't taking place. And by the time it does it'll probably be too late anyway.