2013

The International Panel on Climate Change, the UN body researching global climate issues, issued an updated report on Friday, Sept. 27, 2013.  The report confirmed the previous conclusion that global warming was occurring and continuing, and that the cause was anthropogenic (human agency).  The anthropogenic likelihood was raised to 95%.  The degree range of climate warming during two projected time periods was narrowed to a more precise band.  in oral remarks, one of the lead authors observed that 90% of the carbon dioxide released during the previous decade came from burning fossil fuels.

The effect on commerce?  A Canadian bulk carrier vessel and its Coast Guard escort left Vancouver on Sept. 17 and is now off the coast of Greenland, having essentially navigated cross-polar through what has become known as the Northern Sea Route – the Northwest Passage for which so many explorers searched in the 19th century.  The vessel, the Nordic Orion, plans to dock in Pori, Finland next week.  The Canadian Arctic sea waters through which it journeyed were until recent years blocked by year-round sea ice too thick for any ice breaker or tanker.  The irony?  The Nordic Orion carries 15,000 metric tons of coal.  A further irony?  Russia has a series of Arctic ports and a fleet of ice breakers to keep open a competing Northern Sea Route; planned cargoes undisclosed.

An alarm or a green light?  Does it depend on whether you are focused on the environment or on the trade route race?  Where is the United States?