Does Russia and Canada have any incentive to stop global warming?

Discussion in 'Environmental Discussion' started by burritos, Aug 12, 2008.

  1. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2005
    15,261
    1,601
    0
    Location:
    off into the sunset
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Centuries-old water reserves are drying up, glaciers are melting, we have summer droughts in the rainforest, and invasive species are moving North. Caribou, salmon, and polar bear populations are declining, and one little bug that now lives through the winter has utterly destroyed vast forests. And when all that permafrost melts, releasing huge amounts of methane, things will really get 'interesting'. I think the answer is a pretty definite NO, Canada will not benefit from climate change.
     
  2. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2004
    13,439
    641
    0
    Location:
    Winnipeg Manitoba
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    How about the recent talk of building that super-port in Churchill, MB? Even an international freight airport are planned. The only snag: the permafrost Churchill sits on is very deep, and any foundation or site is subject to thermokarst.

    This can become a very unstable condition, very quickly, the result is usually a sinkhole. These sinkholes are appearing in Siberia.

    The giant diamond mine in NWT is also subject to thermokarst if things do heat up.

    It's tricky -at best - to put infrastructure in permafrost areas. The US Army CRREL has many interesting technical documents about this, and many warnings too

    One thing hardly mentioned is the impact on Arctic crude and natural gas production if the permafrost becomes unstable