Parliament may have just days to go before it dissolves into sugarplums and dewdrops, but the business of politics goes on. Now the Bloc Quebecois is threatening to pull the plug and force us all into an election. The Arar affair boils on. Allegations of environmental mismanagement filll the air.
We have stuff fresh enough to excite the crowd at the Tim Horton’s in Napanee!
For fresh video, courtesy of MPtv, click here.
For fresh headlines, from our NewsDay service, click here.
For fresh new insults on Garth’s blog, click here.
50 comments ↓
Dear Mr. Turner,
Are you as sick and tired as I am about our country continuing to tolerate the Bloc and its nefarious agenda? I mean seriously, what does it take to get rid of these guys once and for all? No other country in its right mind would tolerate such a ridiculous premise as an official national status political party whose sole purpose is to destroy the country.
Here’s my suggestion: Some brave MP should introduce a private member’s bill to revoke the national party status of the Bloc Quebecois. This should be immediate, unconditional, and irrevocable, on the grounds that the Bloc is unfit to sit in the Parliament of Canada as an entity that does not represent Canada. After all, they do not run candidates in any part of the country but Quebec. If this does not happen, Canada will forever be saddled with minority governments (after the PC’s and Canadian Alliance merged) and endless elections, backsliding, compromise, and mollycoddling of the separatists. I would love to see any MP try to explain to his/her constituents why he/she voted against such a bill.
I would love to hear your feedback on this issue.
Best regards,
Richard
Richard: I don’t agree with the Bloc, but I fully support the right of citizens to vote for what ever party they wish. As for the notion that no other country would tolerate a separatist party, check your facts. Many democratic countries have had members of separatist parties elected to their parliaments. Finally, as to the issue of minority governments in Canada, given the way Harper has been sinking the Tories in the polls and the way the Liberals have been rising, I don’t think we will be stuck with a minority government much longer.
I did read an article today in the Toronto Star, that the issue the Bloc would use to bring down the government is Afghanistan; and Dion said he’d probably back them, but would like to see the motion first.
Personally, I think the opposition will lose any election called over Afghanistan. All the Harper team would have to do is trot out the pictures of him, when he visited the troops. The issue could then be turned into patrotism, with Harper painting his opposition as unpatriotic. The bit regarding Dion’s citizenship could also be brought to bear.
A much better issue where the opposition- specifically the Liberals could gain traction would be the Environment.
-Laura
And yet ANOTHER REASON why we need proportional representation. Only then would the bloc’s representation be as small as it should be.
Think about it: If provinces like P.E.I. or N.S. wanted to have their own federal party (like Quebec) they would never be able to compete as there are much fewer writings.
So how is that current system democratic?
The ONLY democratic way is to have ONE nation vote on how many seats a party gets… not two nations, nor three hundred-somewhat writings.
So there would be no more room left for independents as the horizon turns green… hint hint
BCE drops plan for income trust conversion
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 | 9:32 AM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2006/12/12/bcetrustconvert.html
Mr. Flaherty’s collusion with BCE to not “send our G-d damned shareholders all our f—ing money” worked. Now they can make the whole exercise of destroying billions of dollars of investors wealth pointless by allowing a dividend tax credit for tax deferred accounts “leveling the playing field.” Well done!
To Bring Back Bowie sign here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/bowie123/petition.html
He’s a great blogger even if he blogs for those evil Liberals
Off-topic – an issue into which you could sink your teeth, Garth, is pay for poisoned veterans. There was a great editorial in the Sun today and the writer made a lot of sense. I would like to see you go after this particular issue and move our government to compensate these veterans.
The former government treated the merchant marines terribly and this current issue could become the same thing. Use your talents and drive to this positive end.
Richard,
” Some brave MP should introduce a private member’s bill to revoke the national party status of the Bloc Quebecois.”
A most intriguing idea. I, however, believe that Tobias has the answer with proportional representation. It certainly would be far less difficult to enact.
As to any party holding a majority I am TOTALLY against it. The NWT Legislature, i.e., works without parties and by consensus, which is what government should be doing in the first place.
Those that want a majority government really just want things their way regardless of the needs and desires of others. They seek power, not solutions.
Yes, it will mean MP’s will have to discover civility, intellect, and a cooperative manner…So, what is stopping them? (wink…EGO!)
I don’t want the Liberals back in power, but when Stockwell Day makes comments (re the environment) such as the ones quoted in this article, I really have to wonder.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061211/day_blog_061211/20061211?hub=SciTech
Can a Minister of the Federal government really be that stupid? How can someone dismiss crucial issues such as the pine beetle invasion with a joke?
Next Stockwell Day will tell drowning Polar Bear jokes.
I’m just shaking my head in disgust, in hearing that people are still trying to balance weither or not they’re gonna vote Conservative or Liberal….
It’s like there’s never going to be an end to all the BS and screw ups that are shoved right up our arses.
Hypothetically, if we all decided to vote for a minority goverment with a different party, such as Green or NDP, or whatever, and even if it didn’t last and they screwed up and we’re voting again shortly after…. it’d be the biggest message we could send our poloticians that we’re tired of their BS, and both the Conservatives and the Liberals would get the message that they’re not in a comfortible position as they think they are.
They both keep saying “Vote for us, don’t vote for them…. if you vote anything besides either of us, you’re just throwing away your vote.” ~ Which they have been hanging onto for years.
Well we wouldn’t be throwing our votes away if we collectivly voted for a different party, plain and simple. Then these two parties would no longer have a monopoly over the elections, and just by chance, we’d start seeing more options coming our way as citizens…. we’d start to hold more control over matters.
Call me crazy, but I think the last 20 years have been crazy enough.
… It’s time for a change….. a drastic one.
RC, you’re asking if Stockwell Day can be that stupid?
I might have missed something, but wasn’t that made clear by his wetsuit claden campaign?
As for the pine beetles, thats a complex problem. Its not just global warming, its also forest fire control and the poor urban planning that builds houses in the middle of forests that are supposed to burn down on a regular basis.
There’s also no ‘invasion’ of pine beetles from B.C. to Alberta. They’ve always been in Alberta, just like they were already in B.C. The problem with em, is like any other pest, keeping the populations in check.
This probably means two things; 1) cutting down every infected tree in sight and 2) letting forest fires take their logical course.
That logging is still allowed to occur in pristine forests like that of Vancouver Islands Carmanah-Nitnat region, while that much pine goes to waste is just bad environmental stewardship.
Whats really interesting is how logging is conducted in an out-of-sight-out-of-mind manner.
Want to see how bad it is? Go download a copy of Google-Earth or Nasa Worldwind. Now, goto Vancouver Island, look at all the clearcuts — notice how few are near any public roads? That’s politics at work.
ENVIRONMENT ALERT
I am a collector of information. From time to time, some of this information should be shared with others. This is one of those times.
In some of my recent commentary posts, I have mentioned upcoming Big Events, and I have tried to encourage the readers of Garth’s Weblog to do some research for their own benefit. I am not trying to be a Fear Monger, unlike our government leaders who are allowing UN-sponsored pied pipers to lead their populations down the false path of man-made Global Warming. Pied pipers who also say that this man-made calamity can be averted – all you have do is sacrifice.
Moreover, under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, some populations will be forced to sacrifice, while others will not. Kyoto is a duplicitous program to deceive the population about the REAL TRUTH. Climate Change is a natural cycle in our Universe, and there is nothing we can do to stop it.
However, there are some things that our governments could do to help us prepare for some of the major events that are about to befall us. This assumes that there will be some Canadians who will be in a position where they are trying to survive a major change in their life-style. Setting up some survival centers across Canada is one way to help these future survivors.
The Elite-controlled Harper Government is fooling the Canadian people by coming up with an Air Pollution program and a Toxic Chemical program. The only program that might be of benefit to possible future survivors is a Water Development program.
I have advised the Harper Government about the upcoming Big Events, and I have provided them with some suggestions on how to implement a Water Development program in Canada. You, the voters, should begin writing to our government in order to persuade them that it time to do something positive for the people of Canada.
I have also advised them to explore the possibility of constructing a variety of Concrete Domes that could be used as shelters, but could be built with some other primary use in mind, i.e. an indoor stadium or an indoor ice facility.
Visit this site for information: (www.monolithic.com/)
As far as I can tell, they have not done anything on either of these issues. It appears that Harper is just operating a caretaker government while he waits for the North American Union to come into effect. Once that happens, all of the policies promised to Canadians will no longer matter as the new Ruling Council of Elites will takeover.
For example, Harper did not even consider rewarding the voters of the Quebec City Region for their support in the last Federal Election. A new stadium for Quebec City and some new economic development for the larger local region would have been a just reward for their support, if Harper was really planning on winning a majority in the next Federal Election. He could have shown Quebecors that he was someone who could deliver the goods. Instead, to some extent, he has turned his back on Quebecors.
[Note: It is now Stephane Dion's opportunity to offer Quebecors the biggest prize that they desire, if he really wants to win a majority in the next election.]
Unfortunately, Conservative voters will now be disappointed to learn that a Harper-caretaker government no longer requires Quebec voters. As I have stated elsewhere, Harper is running to lose the next election to the Liberal Party.
[Note: In Alberta, Ralph Klein ran a caretaker government (while he also waited for the NAU) for a period of 3-6 years; look at how many voters he lost. The Elite-sponsored Jim Dinning was supposed to become the new caretaker.]
Now in regards to the Alert. There is a possibility of a major Solar Flare that could hit Earth directly. Last week, the Sun began to generate some flare activity again (X9), when it is now in a Solar Minimum mode. That is unusual. There is also a rumour that another large comet (Comet C/2006 P1 McNaught) may be coming up from behind the Sun and may pass very close to the Sun. If so, this could be the cause of this unexpected flare activity. It is hard for the common person to keep track, since NASA tends to shut off their SOHO cameras anytime something really interesting happens around the Sun.
[Note: Some honest info about comets may be obtained from this Website: (www.jmccanneyscience.com/.]
There is an outstanding prediction from a Remote Viewer about a Solar Flare “Killshot” that would hit Earth shortly after a shuttle flight. We are now in an “open window” for this event.
[Note: There are still some future shuttle flights on the NASA schedule, so time will tell.]
To add some support to this prediction, the members of this Remote Viewer’s team decided to do some research. They started by doing a statistical study of earthquake activity on Earth since 1850. The first 100 years or so was stable with 2-4 major EQs per year. Beginning in the 1960s, the average number of EQs have been increasing exponentially. Currently it is over 150 major EQs per year.
Smaller EQs in the 4.0 to 5.5 range have also been increasing exponentially. In September, there were 305 EQs, in October 335, and in November, there were 436. The total for the first week of December shows that the December total will be even higher.
Their forecast is that water is going to dry up very quickly within a few years. What they call the “shake and bake” starts slowly, with on and offs, and then increasing in frequency and intensity. There may also be a possibility that some “Higher Source” may remove some persons from the surface of this Planet beforehand. They do not know if this is an “Exodus” or a “Harvest” operation.
[Note: I use the term "Harvest" because we are living in an experimental farm that raises humans for a "Higher Source".]
Conclusion, the earth’s core is heating up from cosmic sources and not just from our Sun. Their research is pointing at some type of gravity wave outside of our Solar System and that this is a Cyclic Cosmic Event. Main stream science knows very little about gravity waves. Regardless of the type of Wave that our Solar System is moving toward, it is a different field of energy in the Universe, from what we are used to on Earth. Therefore, we can only look at what happened in the past in order to estimate what might happen in the future.
This research also adds support to the 2012 crossing of the galactic equator. The group offers a timeline hint – no more solar maximums to watch for.
Enjoy the holidays.
Become Aware!
I really don’t care if you call it climate change or global warming – we need to clean up our dirty air, dirty land & dirty water – can we not agree on that much? Can’t all levels of government work together for this one common goal?
Shane,
I’m absolutely on your side. BUT this can only be accomplished if there is change in terms what electoral system to use. In Canada alternative parties need decades to win ground. And after over 20 years the Green Party still has not one single representative on the hill.
As long as Canada chooses to have representatives run in local writings (with the party in the back ground) rather than having the party run on a federal level, there’s little hope for change.
DEFEND CANADA
In response to your blog statement:
“They must be taking cues from Geoffrey Laxton, a rabid income trust proponent, who posts vigorous messages over at Garth Turner’s blog.
The truth of the matter is, that immediately after the Income Trust announcement, fools like Geoffrey Laxton, that had no business investing in the stock market to begin with – got nervous and sold. Despite the fact the changes to the tax rules have a four year grace period, many people panicked and sold. But you have to remember for every seller, there is a buyer. After the market dipped, it actually came back even stronger.”
I just wanted to say that I did not sell my large position in a closed end diversified income fund. As I hold it in a non-registered account the tax consequences will be neutralized by the newly enhanced dividend tax credit. Also, closed end funds do not pay tax as they are not corporations. The whole issue is this: Jack Mintz the orchestrator of the the tax leakage theory is also gunning for a dividend tax credit for tax deferred accounts. This will neutralize the whole mess.
Mr Zalischuk , how can you take ED ” Dr. Doom” Dames seriously? This guy is a nut bar!
He appears on ” Coast to Coast” as a regular guest for entertainment purposes only.
He claims to be a “remote viewer” and every few months appears on this popular late night radio/internet talk show.
He makes 100’s of predictions and hits at about a 3 % rate.
I would think the average person, regularly reading the media could score much higher.
Sorry to burst your bubble ….. the man who you refer to is a “showman” and this is how he makes his living. BTW I do agree with you that climate change can be directly caused by solar system wide environmental changes.
“We” still need to clean up the environment. It is our duty to the next generation and beyond.
Tobias ~ “As long as Canada chooses to have representatives run in local writings (with the party in the back ground) rather than having the party run on a federal level, there’s little hope for change.”
———————————-
Whatever is needed to get to that point, I’m behind it.
“All the Harper team would have to do is trot out the pictures of him, when he visited the troops. The issue could then be turned into patrotism, with Harper painting his opposition as unpatriotic. The bit regarding Dion’s citizenship could also be brought to bear.”
Laura
“PICTURES OF HARPER” posing with the troops. Surely you jest. That, and questioning Dion’s Citizenship (The man was born, raised and lived here all his life) would be a sure fire way to defeat Harper and the Conservatives.
John Zalischuk on 12.12.06 1:59 pm
Could I nominate some people for the “Higher Source” to harvest.
Jeremy,
I do know a tad bit about science and such techy things. Great terms this guy uses…Just absolutely phenomenol actually, he probably has a day job as a Barker at a travelling fair.
I am going to spend a little research time and then will post my findings using a technique called science. LOL
There is a very long cycle of about 26,400 years, so I guess, wtihout further reading, he has picked up on that. It is a favorite of the anti- Global evrything crowd.
Maybe I should just save all that time and watch the animation ‘Ice Age: The Meltdown’ again. We, at least, can know that it was due entirely to a looney squirrel seking the Great Acorn!
I guess anything is possible nowdays even a Mammoth that thinks it is an o’possum!
Do they give Air Miles ?
Uber Income Trust cut and paster Geoffrey Laxton forgot to include this article in today’s rabid posting session.
I wonder why? Probably because it illustrates that nobody in Canada apart from those few in his same state of denial, really cares about his obsession!
Excuse me for resorting to his tactics.
Income trust tax rebellion fails to impress voters
ROB CARRICK
From Tuesday’s Globe and Mail
The income trust resistance movement is gunning for the federal Conservatives.
These intrepid investors, analysts and investment types refuse to accept Ottawa’s arguments for cracking down on trusts, and they’ve been madly crunching numbers to make their case. Now, it’s time to add some political calculation to the mix.
To do that, let’s check in with Darrell Bricker, president of the polling firm Ipsos-Reid. His view is that Ottawa’s effort to rein in trusts simply isn’t an issue with the broad electorate.
“It’s just not,” Mr. Bricker said. “If you compare it to things like the environment, health care, Afghanistan, it’s pretty far down the list.”
Finance Minster Jim Flaherty announced on Oct. 31 that the government would no longer allow corporations to convert themselves into income trusts, and that that trusts would be taxed like corporations in another four years. Trusts pay little or no income tax currently, although the cash they pay out each month is taxed in the hands of the investors who receive it.
The income trust resistance argues that trusts aren’t a drain on federal tax revenue, and that they’re a productive part of the economy and not the slugs they’re sometimes made out to be. These people want Ottawa to, if not rescind the trust tax, at least give trusts 10 years to adjust to the new tax.
An angry electorate would give the Conservatives reason to consider making these changes, but there simply isn’t one in the estimation of Mr. Bricker. Right after Oct. 31, his firm did some polling that failed to uncover any decline in the popularity of the Conservatives. “We really haven’t seen the Tories fluctuate really since the last election,” he noted.
Some trust investors lost a lot of money when the entire trust market plunged after Mr. Flaherty’s announcement. The S&P/TSX capped income trust index is down about 9.5 per cent, although it was off as much as 18 per cent at one point. Meanwhile, the broader stock markets (trusts are stocks) have been on an incredible run lately. Investors with properly diversified portfolios have been making scads of money, even if they own trusts.
Mr. Bricker said the buoyant stock market has minimized any impact that the trust issue might have had on the average voter. “It’s a stock market story,” he said, “and the market hasn’t gone to pot.”
Business journalists have been inundated in recent weeks with e-mails from investors who are livid about the government’s move on trusts and planning to withdraw any support they might have had for the Conservatives. The tenacity of these people is impressive, but their ability to influence Tory electoral fortunes is questionable.
“In Alberta, the Conservatives are winning by so much that even if they lose a few thousand votes it’s not really going to matter that much,” Mr. Bricker said. Ontario is a different story because the Conservatives have much less support there, but Mr. Bricker questioned whether there are enough angry Tory supporters in the province.
“The bigger problem with the wider electorate was whether or not the income trust decision was a character-establishing moment for the government,” Mr. Bricker. “In other words, whether they’re flip-floppers or have character issues.”
Angry trust investors have made much of the fact that the Conservatives were unequivocal in their support of trusts through the last election campaign. “We are supporters of income trusts and we oppose tax measures that would raise taxes on income trusts,” party finance critic Monte Solberg said in the middle of the campaign. If elected, the party said in its election platform, it would “preserve income trusts by not imposing any new taxes on them.”
Mr. Bricker said the previous Liberal government’s handling of the trust issue weighed against the party in the past election, although the situation was more complicated than it is now. After leaving the market in suspense for months about what they would do about trusts, the Liberals suddenly declared that the status quo would be maintained while taxes on dividend stocks would be lightened. The details of this announcement were leaked early to some investors, prompting an RCMP investigation.
Mr. Bricker’s final take on whether the Tories will listen to critics of their trust policy and make some changes? “They’ve already taken the pounding that they’re going to take, and they’ve already seen what the impact is, which is that it hasn’t really affected their popularity.”
Meanwhile, the income trust resistance keeps on fighting by producing reports and studies that attempt to minimize all the issues identified by the Conservatives, and the Liberals before them. These arguments have to be dazzling because, from a political point of view, the Conservatives don’t have to budge on trusts.
Rob and I are having a little e-mail exchange conerning his articles. Here was my e-mail response to Rob Carrick’s article:
Rob,
Please explain the net difference between Jack Mintz saying that income trust distributions going tax free into an RRSP account is a tax leakage, but at the same time he argues that income trust distributions should be taxed like dividends going into an RRSP, but dividends shouldn’t be taxed going into an RRSP account?! I really, really, really, don’t get it! No wonder Canadians being polled on the issue go blank and their eyes glaze over on this issue! It isn’t even an issue!
Rob has not yet responded.
Er, correction, I meant Patricia Dunn – former chairwomen of hewlitt packard.
Wikipedia
Tyra, the only one suggesting that women are a stereotypically weaker sex is you. The rest of us know that the reality is quite different and has been for decades.
If anyone is the weaker sex these days its us guys. The problem is, that many of the women who have made it so far, are for a large part very anti-stereotypical, and aren’t the type of women you’d find in the average Canadian household.
You could take a few tips from Nellie McClung on how to advance womens equality.
In the mean time, how about campaigning that women don’t get special treatment in family law? Or is it just one-sided equality you’re after? Contrary to popular belief, women as a matter of law, get a lot of special treatment, yet women like you seem to be ok with that side of the inequality coin.
Nice try with the polls though Rob.
Here are some recent poll results:
Ipsos-Reid:
Liberals 39%,
Conservatives 32%,
NDP 13%
EKOS:
Liberals 40%,
Conservatives 34%,
NDP 10%
Strategic Counsel:
Liberals: 37 per cent
Conservatives: 31 per cent
NDP: 14 per cent
Bloc Quebecois: 11 per cent
Green Party: 7 per cent
Decima:
Liberals: 35 per cent
Conservatives: 31 per cent
NDP: 12 per cent
Green Party: 10 per cent
Hmmm. Are you sure Harper hasn’t made anyone mad?
The electorate trusts the Government in Canada to tell the truth in a similar way that Government of Canada are considered risk free.
Government of Canada Bonds that is…
Jeremy,
Yes, I am well aware of Major Dame’s record. However, his recent info is only another piece of a very large puzzle. It is not the final nail in the coffin, so to speak.
I do give credit to his team’s statistical study on EQs, and they apparently did some research which led them to some of the reasons that ALL of the planets in our Solar System have been heating up. There are real scientists who have been working on this issue for some years now.
I included Ed’s prediction because of the unexpected flare activity on the Sun. It does not hurt to be aware of possible dangers, and one of these days he is going to be right about one of his public predictions.
They also did some additional Remote Viewing on this issue going back to a previous event. That is where the removal of some persons from the surface came from. The picture that they drew resembled a vacuuming operation by some very large objects.
In regards to Bill and his Ice Age comment. Even if the Big Events were cancelled for some reason, the Milankovitch Cycle is calling for the next 20,000 years to be a much cooler period than now. In fact, we are at a point where an Ice Age could begin at any time – next week, in 10 years or 50 years. (According to Robert Felix at (www.iceagenow.com/ ).)
Here is an EXCERPT from an earlier comment that I directed at Justwondering and his interest in Global Warming.
I have stated that man-made Global Warming is a HOAX and that Kyoto is just a SCAM to transfer wealth from one nation to another nation. I believe in the real scientists who have been studying the physical history of this Planet. This means that the Climate Change that we and Planet Earth are about to endure is cyclical and has happened many times before. Only the intensity of these Climate Changes varies depending on what other cycles are ending at the same time.
At this point of history, we are going to have a confluence of cycles – most of which are major. This is what is going to be causing the Big Events that I have been referring to in some of my posts. (Small Hint: Precession of the Equinox and 2012)
Rather than me trying to speculate what type of calamity is going to affect us in the near future, I would instead suggest that you Google search for what happened on Earth around 13,000 years ago – plus/minus 3000 years. That will give you a hint of what to expect.
For true believers in Ascension, there might even be some type of positive transformation to look forward to, due to the higher energy region of space that we are entering into. Time will tell. (Hint: Cassiopaea and The Wave.)
I would also suggest that you start watching the sky on a regular basis – day and night. For example, on a clear blue sky day you might see an aircraft painting a long white line across the middle of the sky. This line does not go away like a normal contrail would, but instead it spreads out into wispy white patches of cloud. This is what is called a Chemtrail. Lots of information on the Internet about this including photos.
END
It takes time and effort to Become Aware.
Geoffrey Laxton on 12.12.06 4:44 pm
“Rob has not yet responded.”
No doubt he has come to the same conclusion as the rest of us.
A waste of time.
Let’s talk about this then. What evidence does Professor Stockwell Day have that refutes a team of scientists at the U.S. National Centre for Atmospheric Research, the University of Washington, McGill University, the National Science Foundation and NASA.
When the Conservatives get clobbered in the next election, I hope that it will mostly be over the stupid, flippant, ignorant remarks about global warming made by Conservative MPs.
*****
Arctic summers could be ice-free by 2040
TENILLE BONOGUORE
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061212.warctic1212/BNStory/Science/home
Globe and Mail Update
Arctic sea ice is retreating at such a rapid rate that north pole summers could be ice-free by 2040.
New research published in Tuesday’s edition of Geophysical Research Letters indicates that the next few decades could produce dramatic changes that will drastically change the ecology of the far north.
The study was conducted by a team of scientists at the U.S. National Centre for Atmospheric Research, the University of Washington and McGill University, and funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA.
The researchers analyzed the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the Arctic, then ran scenarios through powerful computers that show the extent of sea ice each September. In those scenarios, the rate of sea ice reduction is so rapid that it could be retreating four times faster than any observed record within about 20 years.
“We have already witnessed major losses in sea ice, but our research suggests that the decrease over the next few decades could be far more dramatic than anything that has happened so far,†NCAR scientist Marika Holland, the study’s lead author, said in a release.
“These changes are surprisingly rapid.â€
The team first simulated fluctuations in ice cover since 1870, including the significant shrinkage recorded since 1979.
They then simulated future ice loss, and found the Arctic was heading towards a critical point where the reduction in sea ice would create conditions that would further hasten the reduction of sea ice.
In essence, says Dr. Holland, a positive feedback loop would spell the end of summer ice caps.
“As the ice retreats, the ocean transports more heat to the Arctic and the open water absorbs more sunlight, further accelerating the rate of warming and leading to the loss of more ice,†Dr. Holland said.
That would have dramatic implications for the entire Arctic region, she said.
The model results indicate that, if greenhouse gases continue to build up in the atmosphere at the current rate, the Arctic’s future ice cover will go through periods of relative stability before experiencing an abrupt retreat.
In one model simulation, the September ice shrinks so much that, by 2040, only a small amount of perennial sea ice remains along the north coasts of Canada and Greenland, with most of the Arctic basin ice-free. The winter ice in that prediction also thins from about 12 feet thick to less than 3 feet.
The research team points to several reasons for the abrupt loss of ice in a gradually warming world. Open water absorbs more sunlight than does ice, meaning that the growing regions of ice-free water will accelerate the warming trend. In addition, global climate change is expected to influence ocean circulations and drive warmer ocean currents into the Arctic.
Reducing the amount of greenhouse gas in the environment could slow that process, Dr. Holland said. While summer ice would still retreat, she said the rate would be much slower.
By the way, any Physical Geographer can tell you that after the Polar ice melts, this will trigger a new ice age immediately due to a shut down in the North Atlantic Conveyor. Whatever the cause, human, solar activity, natural cycles, it doesn’t look good.
Geoffrey Laxton,
I googled your name. I was disturbed by what I found on other blogsites.
You need to get some help. Seriously.
I won’t comment any further to your postings here.
Best wishes.
Old enough to remember on 12.12.06 5:47 pm
Here is a previous response from Rob:
“Geoffrey, I think the Conservatives will try to offset the tax damage done through its trust announcement with broad tax cuts. Not saying you’ll be impressed, but watch for it.
Rob Carrick”
Witness Rob use of the word “damage”. Flaherty caused damage!
You might think that it is a waste of time to take the Conservatives to task for lying on an election platform issue, but many senior investors that I talk to refer to Flaherty’s team as “those son’s of b*****s”. I am trying to speak for retired and near retired seniors who took Harper at his word. These are people who are experienced, shrewd investors. So enough with your comments that this is a waste of time.
Hey Garth, I’m as guilty as the next guy, but how about a comment length restriction.
Mr Laxton’s gettin outta control.
How about a KB – per thread – per person?
A most intriguing idea. I, however, believe that Tobias has the answer with proportional representation. It certainly would be far less difficult to enact.
As to any party holding a majority I am TOTALLY against it. The NWT Legislature, i.e., works without parties and by consensus, which is what government should be doing in the first place.
How can you be simultaneously in favour of PR and in favour of government working without parties? PR (as generally conceived, though the version recommended by the BC Citizens’ Assembly avoids this pitfall) is based entirely on parties.
Steve Smith (possible AKA Red Green…LOL)
Duct tape mon ami…DUCT TAPE!
Old enough to remember,
I shall take the proper Monty Python approach and ‘RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY! LMAO!
On a more serious note,
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute has been recording and analyzing the polar ice melt for years. The de-salianization of the Gulf Stream will be the trigger. Likewise, the movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow” which was initially rebuked by many naysayers, was analyzied by credible Canadian and American scientists, as well as European, and they concluded that the scenario may be real.
The ancient Megalithic Culture, better known academically as the ‘Grooved Ware People” of northern Scotland and Ireland built astronomical observatories in 10,000 B.C. to observe the 40 year cycle of the planet Venus. Here in the Muskoka we recently unearthed a white pine tree that was felled by a catalysmic event 8,637 years ago. It was 265 years old at the time a huge wave toppled it per the UofTCarbon 14 Dating department.
There appears to have been two major catastrophic events which altered earth’s climate. One about 7,640 B.C., and another around 3,150 B.C. (as best my mind recalls the dating tonight)
If one is to read “Worlds in Collision” by Immanuel Velikovsky, you will find that the answers have been known, scientifcally proven by calculation, yet rejects by the politics of the academic community.
What can we do about the future of such events? NOTHING!
What can we do about our own contributions to GW? EVERYTHING we are willing to do. Where there is a will…there is a way!
BILL-MUSKOKA
You have the right idea. We should talk about climate change now.
I am at a loss to know what you find disturbing OLD ENOUGH. I would take with a grain of salt the context in which a 20 year blogger writes.
Let’s take a look at some of the statements people make re global warming.
For example — It hasn’t been this warm for 300 years – pick a number (of course they jump to the assumption that – we are causing the warming) OK but what caused it 300 years ago?
Or. The warmest years in the last century have occurred in the last 10-15 yrs (same conclusion as above) But if the earth goes through warming and cooling cycles — say a sine wave with a 900 year period and amplitude of +/- 15 degrees and we are now on the near the top of the curve – where would you expect to find the warmest years — Yep they would be the most recent few years.
Or — If you take a look (close look) at the CO2 vs Temp curves you will notice that CO2 increases lag the Temp increases. So one might conclude that a Temp increase causes increased CO2 —- How might that be? Well the biggest carbon sink is the oceans of the world and when they are warmed they give of CO2 like a soda pop. This of course is a positive feedback loop and if CO2 does cause even some form of climate change –ie warmer water more CO2 to be given off = warmer temp and so on until you reach some critical point – perhaps the Gulf stream conveyor shut down which reverses the cycle. It’s happened before and will happen again.
Or — The artic ice is melting (Run and tell the king – the sky is falling) But the glaciers covering North America have been receding for 10,000 years back toward the north pole. Why do we expect that trend to stop?
Or — The sea level is changing people will have to move. — Well go to Ephesus in turkey and you will find an old port city with docks a few kilometres and a few hundred meters above the old sea level. Canada is still rising out of the sea in rebound to the weight loss of the ice being removed. New Orleans is sinking into the ocean at several inches per century. So people have had to adapt in the past and will again in the future.
My point — finally you say — is the earth has always been changing. We may be accelerating some of the changes. Can we stop the change? Who really knows. Should we try — probably as best we can. But the climate lobby should stop using just part of the science to spread fear.
Statements like The “Day After Tomorrow†MAY be accurate is like saying the price of butter in India MAY have caused the government to change the trust legislation. Yes it MAY have but what’s the probability?
Garth:
I always envied the kids around Christmas time: two or more weeks off school. Wow!
However, I think our political system tops all! Already our Parliamentarians need their Christmas break… and don’t resume for over a month. What is going on? How long does their Christmas break have to be, and at who’s cost? I won’t even mention summer.
Maybe you can recruit some more MP’s over to your “Independent” side of the House of Commons and really make things interesting in Parliament. We definitely need some reform in our Parliament, and it would be great to see about 25% or more of the MP’s sit as Independents. What a message that would send to the other political parties.
Just Wondering,
“Statements like The “Day After Tomorrow†MAY be accurate is like saying the price of butter in India MAY have caused the government to change the trust legislation. Yes it MAY have but what’s the probability?”
And statements like that MAY be due solely to DENIAL of possibilities that conflict with your own agenda!
“Bell expects it will have no significant federal cash taxes through 2010, due to organizational simplification enabling accelerated use of Bell’s R&D tax credits.”
http://www.bce.ca/en/news/releases/corp/2006/12/12/74065.html
How is it that Flaherty and Mintz claim that Bell pays more tax as a corporation than as an income trust?
Richard: Granted, they’re less influential, but the UK tolerates a plethora of speratist parties (the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the SDLP) in their parliament. Spain also has myraid separatists (Entesa, ERC, PNV, BNG, EA). You can’t just force people not to vote for separatist parties.
Bill,
You say “And statements like that MAY be due solely to DENIAL of possibilities that conflict with your own agenda! ”
It appears you are a politician and not a scientist — you attack my hidden agenda — It’s not hidden here it is –A fair and balanced look at the science of global warming. Not fear mongering and politically based hack jobs.
Take a read of the IPCC panels report on Climate Change (Not the political summary but the detailed scientists part) They concluded that the data was so random that they couldn’t predict what was happening /would happen to the climate. But their political masters wrote a summary that said the conclusions were that “man was causing†the change.
Who has a hidden agenda Bill – Is it theirs or yours?
Some one above noted the emotion vs fact based nature of discussions. You will never learn anything if you base all arguments on emotion. You will never change my opinion — if you want to — with just emotion but you may if we discuss thinks as adults. Remember the old Adult – Child transactional alalysis — not an age based thing but focus — Childlike being emotion / play/ fun / based and adult being reasoned / fact / discussion / based.
Let’s give the adult approach a go on this site just as we are asking are MP to do in QP.
Just Wondering,
You do comprehend your own words, do you not? “MAY” as an example!
Actually, as someone trained in meteorology and science I have read over numerous IPCC reports. I also see the changes happening and know that not all variables can be measured by the illustrious Lords of Science. They cannot because:
1. The planet is too BIG to do so.
2. The funding is not available for such a massive research undertaking.
We already know enough to be warned we need to take action.
The only people denying GW and CC are those who will have to modify their behaviour and business plan.
Now, what was that about a Hidden Agenda?
I am just wondering!