Melting Could Open Northwest Passage

Melting Arctic ice is expected to open up the legendary Northwest Passage, a 4,000-mile shortcut across the top of North America through previously frozen seas, which could save ships tremendous amounts of time and money. At the rate the Arctic ice is melting, scientists predict the Northwest Passage could open as early as 2015. When the passage begins to clear, ships will take advantage and use it. This is where the danger lies. Floating ice, which is most commonly known as ice bergs, can cripple or destroy a ship. This damage would also lead to oil spills, shipwrecks and other environmental catastrophes. Although most shipping companies wouldn’t take the chance until the risk of ice bergs are low, “there is always someone who rolls the dice.”
Global warming isn’t something we’re worried people aren’t listen to anymore. It’s already here. The U.S. and Canada have recently been arguing over who has jurisdiction over the waters. Canada Clearly owns the passage but the U.S. believes that it is an international shipping lane and should be open to all navigation.
”Canada's claim is weakened by its lack of resources to patrol and manage the passage. Currently, there are no Canadian icebreakers that can make the journey during winter, no search-and-rescue helicopters stationed in the area, no military unit that can deploy quickly in the Arctic, and no submarine capable of traveling under the polar ice cap. Canada has promised to build three new icebreakers and to construct a deep water port at Iqaluit, the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, but none of those projects have been funded.”
When and if foreign ships begin using the Northwest Passage, Canada will lose its jurisdictional claim. And for now, the only thing stopping ships from making the journey is the melting ice. "If a foreign vessel wanted to come through here right now, it could. It's a big welcome mat for all the fly-by-night companies."

Can We Stop the Rise of Sea Levels?

Sea levels have been rising for the past few decades, most due to global warming which is caused by the production of greenhouse gases, as we all already know. On average, the oceans are about 6.3 inches higher now than they were in 1930. The main cause is the expansion and therefore warming of sea water, from the melting caps and glaciers.
A new study has shown that reservoirs play an important role in the sea levels rising. Rather than adding to the problem, they are reversing it by storing more water on land. Reservoirs have prevented a total of about 1.2 inches of seal level rise since 1930. Without dams, the ocean would be 30 percent higher than it is today, according to a researcher from the National Central University of Taiwan.
Researchers tallied up the water stored behind the nearly 30,000 dams built worldwide. It was estimated that human-made reservoirs can store on average about 2,600 cubic miles of water. That’s nearly as much as Lake Superior holds. The water underneath the reservoirs also soaks into the ground, adding to the amount of water locked up on land.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080313-dams-water.html

Greenland and Antarctica together comprise nearly 99 percent of the earth’s landlocked ice. These two polar landmasses contain enough frozen water to raise sea levels some 80 meters. Even if only 10 percent of this ice melted, it would flood the world’s coasts at those comparable to those seen in pos-Katrina New Orleans. A scenario that glaciologist and climate scientists are piecing together is that rather than slowly but steadily melting, the ice sheets could break apart into massive chunks.
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/01/global-warming.html

Rising Waters along the East Coast

Sea-level rise along the Atlantic Coast of the United States was 2 millimeters faster in the 20th century than at any time in the past 4,000 years. Land in this area is being lost because of the huge weight of the melting ice sheets during the last glacial period. The coast-lines of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland are sinking twice as fast as areas north and south of these locations. The subsiding of the coast-line increases sea level rise and eventually will lead to shoreline erosion and a loss of wetlands. This causes a huge threat to coastal populations.
"Researchers have come to a universal agreement that sea level will rise as a result of global warming but by how much, when and where it will have the most effect is unclear" said Ben Horton, assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at Penn.
National Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) have shown that coastal businesses, homes, wildlife habitat, transportation systems, and some of our states most treasured places are highly vulnerable to sea-level rise. The 20 communities "most at risk" range from York and Kennebunkport to Jonesport and Beals. These places could suffer in the loss of up to 30% of a towns land and cause millions dollars worth of damage to property and infrastructure. If global warming continues unabated, then portions of Maine’s coastline will be forever changed.