17/02/2006 - Greenland — Greenland's glaciers are melting even faster than previously thought and contributing more and more to sea level rise caused by global warming. If you live near the sea and think global warming isn't a problem for you, it's probably time to think again.
The latest reports on increased levels of glacial discharge, in the journal Science, reports the amount of ice being dumped into the ocean from the Greenland Ice Sheet has doubled in the last 5 years. Scientists had thought that global warming did not yet significantly threaten the ice sheet and it would take over a thousand years to break down. A full breakdown would result in a catastrophic global sea level rise of 7 meters. That's bye-bye most of Bangladesh, Netherlands, Florida and would make London the new Atlantis.

The new evidence indicates the sheet is disintegrating quicker than expected, and backs up our discovery of a disturbingly fast retreat of the Kangerdlugssuaq glacier from our expedition there in 2005.

Sea level rise, caused by melting ice from Greenland and other glaciers across the world, is already threatening some of the most vulnerable communities in the world - small island states in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, in Bangladesh as well as the hundreds of millions living in low-lying coastal areas around the world.

Already, the first global warming refugees are preparing to leave their homes. In November of last year the Papua New Guinea government decided to start moving ten families at a time from the horseshoe-shaped Carteret atolls in the Pacific to Bougainville, a larger island some 60 miles away. The Carterets are only 1.5 metres high and are projected to be completely uninhabitable by 2015.

Scientists are concerned -- but politicians are not taking action. How much more evidence do we need before we begin taking steps to avoid catastrophe? The US Administration and Australian Government continue to block effective international action, other world leaders talk a lot about global warming but avoid action because it might cost too much. But is the cost of New Orleans and half of Florida being under water an acceptable price for America's oil addiction, President Bush?

If our leaders won't jump, it's up to every one of us to take positive action to avoid the worst consequences of global warming. We can all take some, or, even better, all, of our suggested 12 steps to help the climate. If possible, buy your energy from a renewable energy supplier. If your politician doesn't act on global warming - vote for someone else who will.

Only when politicians feel the heat from voters will governments shift their investments from dirty fossil fuel technologies to clean, renewable energy sources that do not cause glaciers to melt, seas to rise and more people to die from increased extreme weather events. We cannot wait for an illusory 'silver bullet' of future technology to 'solve' the problem. We have the tools to start; what we are missing is the political will.

Even in the US, inaction on global warming at the top is being met by change from below: cities, churches, businesses, trade unions, students and the general public are not waiting for the White House to wake up - the US renewable energy industry is booming, almost half of US states and 200 cities have either adopted renewable energy targets or have pledged to meet their own 'Kyoto' commitments through action taken locally.

What's needed is an energy revolution -- one which overturns the ancient fossil fuel regime and brings forth a new vision. Revolutions don't come from the top. They come from the people. The cost of inaction is, quite literally, the Earth.