At Some Point, We Should Take This Seriously

Another inconvenient truth-

The Bush administration has decided to propose listing the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, putting the U.S. government on record as saying that global warming could drive one of the world's most recognizable animals out of existence.

The administration's proposal -- which was described by an Interior Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity -- stems from the fact that rising temperatures in the Arctic are shrinking the sea ice that polar bears need for hunting. The official insisted on anonymity because the department will submit the proposal today for publication in the Federal Register, after which it will be subject to public comment for 90 days...

This just further reinforces that, privately, the administration does recognize the serious impacts of this crisis. Publicly, in terms of actual policy, we get bupkis. In fact, we get policies that exacerbate the problem.

Tim F. at Balloon Juice has a good post on the polar bear issue. After discussing things we can do to stem the tide of climate change, he adds this depressing-- if realistic-- caveat: "[D]on’t expect to save the polar bear... The fate of Arctic sea ice was sealed some time during the Clinton era if not sooner. We should enact serious carbon mitigation policies not for the animals which are already at the brink, most of which will soon be gone, but for the endangered species we don’t know about yet." What he said.

Finally, a major ice shelf has snapped free south of the North Pole in the Canadian Artic.