The Laptev Sea, part of the Arctic Oceanby Thomas Neuburger "Joe Biden will not ban fracking." —Kamala Harris, October 7, 2020This is your friendly, periodic reminder that while Joe Biden dithers about fracking and support for fossil fuel, the planet is changing rapidly as we speak. How rapidly? The planet is changing so fast that Biden may still be alive when the error of his ways becomes obvious to us all.2020 Is Looking Like the Worst Year for Arctic Sea Ice Ever Above is a map of the Laptev Sea, a part of the Arctic Ocean. The Laptev Sea is suffering the same fate as the rest of the Arctic — it's losing its ice at an alarming rate. As you can see from the graph below, 2020 is shaping up to be an unprecedented year — even surpassing in icelessness the previous worst year, 2018, marked in yellow. (Chart courtesy of climatologist Zach Labe.)The same things is happening in the Siberian Sea (again the previous worst year, 2012, is marked in yellow):
Nothing even comes close to 2020 in our records for sea ice along the Siberian #Arctic...[*Note that the basin is geographically constrained (same maximum sea ice cover = flat line)] pic.twitter.com/gFelUw3xSq— Zack Labe (@ZLabe) October 21, 2020
This is, of course, a natural result of record high air temperatures over the Arctic:
Record high temperatures in the Siberian #Arctic over the last 3 months!(and record low sea ice https://t.co/bwHNUDYmEL) pic.twitter.com/U4PfBmO15p— Zack Labe (@ZLabe) October 20, 2020
Not only is the extent of sea ice rapidly diminishing; the volume of ice — which takes into account its thickness — is also shrinking to a shadow of its former self: Climate Deniers Push Biden to Stay With Fracking for "Strong Environmental" ReasonsWhile this is going on, Team Biden is being lobbied (or quietly encouraging others to lobby them) to stay the course on fracking because fracking "could actually help the climate." You read that right. As a recent Politico piece argues, "abruptly ending fracking today would make [the] decarbonization process harder, not easier."The Politico piece is propaganda (of course) written by two men associated with the Breakthrough Institute, an energy company-friendly think tank founded by known climate denier — and Republican-invited witness at the most recent House science hearing — Michael Shellenberger. A sample from Shellenberger's House testimony: "If the Greenland ice sheet were to completely disintegrate, sea levels would rise by seven meters, but over a 1,000-year period. And for that to happen, temperatures would have to rise far more than anyone imagines." No, Mr. Shellenberger; if the Greenland ice sheet were to completely disintegrate — and it's disappearing 600% faster than models have predicted — global sea level would rise by seven meters within a few years or less, not ten centuries. If you fill a bathtub, it doesn't take a week for new water to reach the back. Water doesn't get stuck like that — it flows.The end of winter Arctic ice is coming. Ten bad years could do it. Joe Biden may even live to see that day, especially if he helps cause it.