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• Why teotw?
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• The Human Predicament
  • Population: The Elephant in the Room
  • Humans & Choice-Making
  • Sociobiology
• Fossil Fuels
  • Oil & Gas: Geology, E&P, Reserves
  • Peak Oil
    • Intro to Peak Oil
    • Books & Key Online Sources
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  • Coal
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• Energy, Continued
  • Nuclear Energy
  • Alternative/ Renewable/"Green"
  • EROI & Energy Analysis
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• Other Natural Resources
  • Ecosystems
  • Fresh water
  • Food & agriculture
  • The Oceans
  • Metals
• Earth's Climate System
  • The Sun
  • Earth's atmosphere & energy balance; greenhouse effect
  • The carbon cycle
  • The biosphere & ecosystems
• Climate Change
  • Ancient climate & climate change
  • Modern climate change
    • Climate Change: Introductory & General
    • Evidence
    • Analysis of denial and delay
  • Climate models & the IPCC
  • Projected impacts of future climate change
  • Mitigation & adaptation
    • Intro to M & A
    • Geo-Engineering
    • Various M & A
  • Case studies
    • The Arctic
    • California
• Economics
  • Some Basics
  • Current Crisis: History & Underlying Causes
  • Current Crisis: Outlook
  • Current Crisis: Miscellaneous
  • Current Crisis: California
  • The Real Numbers
  • Ecological Economics
• Possible Futures: TEOTW(AYKI)
  • Possible Futures: Introduction
  • The Fate of Earlier Societies
  • The Ecological Perspective
  • Dire Projections
  • Thoughtful Realism
  • Transition / A New Paradigm
  • BAU / Optimism

Case Study: The Arctic (Canary in a Coal Mine)

The proverbial canary in a coal mine, the Arctic is heating about twice as fast as the rest of the planet. Bad news for species, ecosystems, sea ice, permafrost, and us.

Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, 2004: Several years old, but an excellent starting place.

Hot Times in Alaska, 2004: Hour-long PBS video hosted by Alan Alda that focuses on four particular ecological impacts of a warming Arctic.

The Big Thaw: National Geographic, June 2007.

Cryosphere Today: Data, images, & charts. of Antarctica and the Arctic (current & historical).

Animation showing Arctic sea-ice coverage, 1860 to 2100 (Royal Meteorological Office)

Brief, non-technical explanation of melting permafrost & methane emissions.

Diagram showing projected loss of permafrost, 2050 and 2100. This stand-alone graph (no accompanying article) almost certainly assumes current warming trends.

Science Poles: Scientific web site of the International Polar Foundation.

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