First, let’s get our bearings. Unlike the Northwest passage, which traverses the icy north above Canada, the Northeast passage is an entirely different route, shown on the map in red.
Source: UK Register graphic
From The Register: Also called the Northeast Passage or North Sea Passage, it’s a trade route that in summer months links the North European and Siberian ports to Asia, around the Arctic Circle. Orient-bound traffic heads east, then South via the Bering Strait. The route offers significant gains over the alternatives via Suez or the Cape, it’s shorter, quicker and cheaper. But until technological advances in the early 20th Century it was considered too hazardous for commercial operation.
The merchant ships MV Beluga Fraternity and MV Beluga Foresight arrived this week in Yamburg, Siberia. Ownership is Beluga Group Shipping Gmbh. From the company website: “During the passed days which led through the East Siberian Sea, the Sannikov Strait and the Vilkizki Strait as northernmost part the Beluga vessels were part of a little convoy behind the Russian Atomflot-ice breakers “50 let Pobedy” and “Rossia”.”.
Icebreaker & Merchant ship - from the company website
“We are all very proud and delighted to be the first western shipping company which has successfully transited the legendary Northeast-Passage and delivered the sensitive cargo safely through this extraordinarily demanding sea area”, Niels Stolberg said, President and CEO of Beluga Shipping GmbH, after the masters Captain Aleksander Antonov and Captain Valeriy Durov had notified that they had dropped anchor at their port of destination. “To transit the Northeast-Passage so well and professionally without incidents on the premiere trip is the result of our extremely thorough and accurate preparation as well as the outstanding team work between our attentive captains, our reliable meteorologists and our engaged crew”, said Stolberg.
One newspaper is making the most of this “first ever event”, according to a story in the UK Register:
The Times has liberally papered London underground carriages with a fascinating new ad campaign. One poster shows a ship navigating some treacherous icy waters, with the accompanying copy reading:
Climate change has allowed the Northeast Passage to be used as a commercial shipping route for the first time.
The Times advertisment
Impressive – if only it were true.
According to the ad copy:
To help you navigate the changing world we have more dedicated science and environment correspondents than the Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail or Independent.
Only one problem: The Northeast Passage has been opened for commerce since 1934 – and never ‘closed’.
Over the years hundreds of thousands of freighters have passed through, and after Russia put Soviet-era politics aside it was extended to foreign commerce in the 1990s. As the Register reported two weeks ago.
It’s a disaster all right, a disaster of bad journalism. I won’t mince words. It’s crap.
But we all know the MSM can’t get much right these days. My guess is that the MSM simply confused the difficult and almost always closed Northwest passage with the Northeast passage.
Bloggers once again were the leaders in discovering the real truth instead of paid journalists. Is it really so hard to use Google? For example the EU referendum had details and pictures of many previous transits of the Northeast passage. In this story, they show the history of this shipping lane.
Read the details of the latest failure of journalism turned advertising opportunity in the UK Register, here.
Thanks to Andrew Orlowski of the register for his assistance with this story.
===
Readers, especially those in the UK, I’d like to make a suggestion. Let the Times know they screwed up, not only for the journalistic failure, but also for the touting of the failure as advertising. Letters to the editor, letters to the managements, and to the advertising office might be a good start. If nobody calls them on it, they’ll never learn.
There’s also the UK Advertising Standards Authority, that works to keep advertising legal, decent, honest and truthful. The ad being run by the Times is failing most of those points. Here’s where you can complain:
The merchant ships MV Beluga Fraternity and MV Beluga Foresight arrived this week in Yamburg, Siberia. Ownership is Beluga Group Shipping Gmbh. From the company website: “During the passed days which led through the East Siberian Sea, the Sannikov Strait and the Vilkizki Strait as northernmost part the Beluga vessels were part of a little convoy behind the Russian Atomflot-ice breakers “50 let Pobedy” and “Rossia”.”.
superDBA (09:01:41) : If this were an isolated incident it would be one thing, but it’s not. So why do we continue to allow these idiots to run the world?
No Worries. They won’t be running the place for long. Those folks grounded in the real world and with reality centered policies will take over after they out produce us and buy up the rights to the world. Did I mention that China is negotiating to buy a hugh chunk of Nigerian oil production? They all ready bought up 20 years worth of Brazilian production. They have NO intention of “cutting back” and every intension of using what they have bought. The Brazil deal was about $200 Billion IIRC. 5 of those and they have no US dollar holdings to care about…
Jeff Alberts
October 7, 2009 7:46 pm
Stephen Brown. (12:33:57) :
They not only need to remove the ads, they need to replace them with a correction, which does NOT contain a reference to global warming.
David Q.
October 7, 2009 9:28 pm
JimInIndy (17:56:35) :
During the MWP, Vikings used the Northeast Passage to reach the mouths of Russian rivers, thence into the interior as far as Constantinople. (Nat. Geo., 2004)
Hmm, the whole point of this article was to research your statements. Swedish Vikings crossed the Baltic, primarily from Gotland. They entered several different rivers that flows into the Baltic. From there they traveled east and south all the way to Bagdad and Constantinople.
There are no rivers in the Northest Passage that leads to the south. So, please check your facts, or a decent map. You will find that you are a bit off.
Sorry for being picky. Swedes take some pride in their effect on Russian history. It didn’t include the northeast passage.
Norwegian vikings went to Island, Greenland, but primarily to the British Islands and other points south (Paris, etc.).
Even if, even if all this blithering MSM nonsense were partially true, wouldn’t it be a Good Thing to have faster, better trade routes? Deeper, too, right, as the seas rise from melting Greenland? Another bonus plus of global warming!!!
I still have no problem with AGW; in fact, I yearn for it.
Thomas
October 7, 2009 11:20 pm
haha
wow at this guy. Is he deluded? Lying through his teeth or what?
Here’s the post I made on an earlier thread on this topic:
========
From the story I read two days ago they were assisted by two nuclear-powered icebreakers, not one. Other points:
All these Beluga company vessels were built specially reinforced against ice. They thus, presumably, cost more than ordinary vessels and have less cargo capacity.
It would be risky to have sent ordinary vessels through the route in company with them currently, since ordinary hulls and propellers would likely get dented and dinged by small ice debris left in the wake of an icebreaker.
The two Beluga vessels that transited the Passage made their voyage because they were delivering heavy equipment from a manufacturer in Asia to a Siberian port. They then continued westwards to their homeport in Europe. They were not doing so because the NE passage to Europe is shorter and more economical.
They had to wait in port in Asia (paying crew’s wages and port fees) for weeks before they got the green light from the Russians that the coast was the clearest it was going to get, and that their icebreakers were available. And speed was reduced during the portion of the voyage that required the icebreakers to clear a path ahead. These factors mean the route is not nearly economical yet for ordinary shipping.
The Passage will only be as open as it was for a couple of weeks. Thereafter traversal will get harder. There’s only a brief open window at present.
The BBC story didn’t mention that arctic ice extent has risen over the last two years. It spoke exclusively of a declining long-term trend and implied, by the choice of persons it quoted, that ice extent would continue to retreat until the Passage is open year-round:
“The steady rise in temperatures over the last 20 years has seen the ice thin and retreat substantially. This means that the passage may soon become navigable for most of the year. Dr Peter Wadhams, of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, UK, said that the long sought dream of a North East shipping route “could become reality in as little as 10 years time”. … Dr Wadhams said that satellite images showed arctic sea ice receding towards the North Pole at a rate of 5% per decade.”
Here are brief quotes from the AP story, “2 German cargo ships pass through ‘Arctic Passage’,” by Matt Moore and Seth Borenstein, linked to above. Note the misleading spin:
“In July, new NASA satellite measurements showed that sea ice in the Arctic was not just shrinking in area, but thinning dramatically. …
“This year is shaping up to have the third lowest amount of Arctic sea ice on record, just behind the worst year set in 2007 and in 2008. But just because 2009 is slightly up from the past two years, it is not an upward trend or a recovery, Serreze said. It reflects a change in local weather patterns that occurred in August, he said. “It’s certainly part of the overall decline of sea ice that we’ve been seeing,” Serreze said.
“Niels Stolberg, the president of Beluga, … said the shipping company was planning more voyages through the area in coming months.”
But these won’t be full traversals of the Passage, just incursions and returns into the less-icy parts of the Arctic Ocean.
Kate
October 8, 2009 1:22 am
“… Britannic no-see-um (13:10:50) :
Where comments are allowed, the tenor is so hostile in the UK now that many of the ‘environmental’ page pieces have withdrawn the readers comments facility. They actually are digging their own grave.”
…Yes, I’ve noticed this as well. The Telegraph, for instance, has been posting some of the stupidest global warming stories I’ve ever seen lately and none of them have comment boxes when most non-global warming stories have comment boxes. They obviously know these stories are a load of hysterical lying propaganda and don’t want the public telling them what they already know.
Al Gore's Holy Hologram
October 8, 2009 1:41 am
How do I print this article out without the comments?
Al Gore's Holy Hologram
October 8, 2009 1:45 am
“Dave Andrews (14:02:43) :
Mike McMillan’
No point writing to the Guardian. The paper I have read for over 40 years is, unfortunately, wedded to climate change. Its journalistic standards have dropped dramatically over those years, especially the last decade.”
I would have stopped reading the Guardian (or ther Manchester Guardian as it was known) decades ago when it was publishing George Bernard Shaw’s defence of Stalin’s progroms if I was alive back then.
Patrick Davis
October 8, 2009 2:31 am
Ah the good MSM in the good ol’UK. No matter what you do, you will not get an apology for such sloppy reporting. In fact I am sure the author will get a pat on the back, maybe an Aston Martin, for the pro-AGW stance, no matter how totally wrong it is.
“Kate (01:22:48) :
“… Britannic no-see-um (13:10:50) :
Where comments are allowed, the tenor is so hostile in the UK now that many of the ‘environmental’ page pieces have withdrawn the readers comments facility. They actually are digging their own grave.”
…Yes, I’ve noticed this as well. The Telegraph, for instance, has been posting some of the stupidest global warming stories I’ve ever seen lately and none of them have comment boxes when most non-global warming stories have comment boxes. They obviously know these stories are a load of hysterical lying propaganda and don’t want the public telling them what they already know.”
Happening here in Australia too. You have to register to comment on SMH now, whereas previously you didn’t. I can’t gte my, usual public use, e-mail account registred.
Al Gore’s Holy Hologram (01:41:01) :
“How do I print this article out without the comments?”
Highlight [select] the story but not the comments. Copy. Paste into any word program. Print.
Vincent
October 8, 2009 4:38 am
Well, I just submitted my complaint to the advertising standards. I suggest all you Brits think about doing the same.
Rhys Jaggar
October 8, 2009 6:01 am
I think to use the word journalism about this piece is stretching credibility a bit.
A story by a professional journalist requires two independent corobborations of the story. Not two lying fraudsters who want some publicity. Two people who:
i. Have sufficient knowledge to comment accurately.
ii. Have a sufficient professional reputation to protect.
iii. Are prepared to put their professional reputation on the line to verify the claims of the story.
Let’s think about how you might ‘corroborate’:
1. Are all commercial vessels required to log their proposed routes with any shipping organisation?? If so, that would be the place to ask how many boats went through the NE passage over the past 100 years. Quite a lot, I would lay a lot of money………
2. Does the Russian Government retain records on Russian commercial traffic through those waters? Archangel port authority?? Vladivostok??
3. Are there media archives going back 150 years on microfiche/commercially available search engines to find earlier stories on this topic??
4. Do residents of NE Siberia e.g. Kamchatka, Chukotka have sightings of ships over the years?? Asked any 80 year olds how long they’ve seen shipping going into the NE passage??
Places you SHOULDN’T look:
1. Greenpeace.
2. United Nations.
3. Any Government aggressively promoting global warming.
4. The Suez Canal Authority.
5. The Panama Canal Shipping Authority.
The thing is, right now, papers are being hammered financially. Really hammered. So they won’t be taking on journalists, they’ll be laying them off.
Hardly an auspicious time for high quality journalism, is it??
Phil M
October 8, 2009 6:22 am
So the first ‘Commercial, Non-Russian’ convoy got morphed into the ‘first convoy’
– LoL!
– easy mistake to make!
tty
October 8, 2009 6:56 am
David Q. (21:28:06) :
The norse (“vikings”) actually did go as far east along the Arctic coast as the White Sea and the mouth of the Dvina river (“Bjarmaland”).
ShrNfr
October 8, 2009 7:25 am
Something tells me that somebody is totally unaware of the 19.6 year lunar cycle that pumps warm water up towards the north and then goes away. And it peaked in (let see, now) 2006. The decreased ice and increased ice are not a surprise.
IanM
October 8, 2009 8:01 am
ShrNfr (07:25:53) WROTE”
Something tells me that somebody is totally unaware of the 19.6 year lunar cycle that pumps warm water up towards the north and then goes away. And it peaked in (let see, now) 2006. The decreased ice and increased ice are not a surprise.
This is very interesting information. It adds to the fact (as I understand it) that ice disappearance is due to both water temperature and air temperature, in addition to wind. I refer to ice “disappearance” rather than “melting”.
Where can we get more information about this water flow?
IanM
John Wright (10:31:31) :
Yes, and it has occurred to me that according to the NSIDC sea ice index, had the NW passage been in the state it was this year, Amundsen in his Gøa would never have been able to get through in 1905.
You have it backwards, Gjoa could have sailed through end to end this year whereas in 1905 it couldn’t.
More newsworthy, this year re the NE Passage was traversed by two yachts, unaccompanied by ice-breakers.
To–
Michael (09:43:37) :
“Create the problem, Steer the reaction”
and
Barry Foster (09:49:50)
Although poorly educated
morons may
write a tsunami of
hit pieces promoting agw —
they are not remotely their own masters–
the poor writers are also vigorously
impelled to prevarication
by the financial gatekeepers of their publications
(the prospect of unemployment easily trumps
any writer inclinations toward
even handed research into
areas unpalatable to publishing moguls–
writers with scruples are
unwmployed writers)
and those publishing moguls are
beholden to the nuclear power industry-
Now, suprise not–
US Climate Change Bill Promotes Nuclear Industry–
http://alethonews.blogspot.com/2009/10/us-climate-change-bill-promotes-nuclear.html
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Obamas-hidden-bailout-of-General-Electric_03_04-40686707.html
http://townhall.com/columnists/TomBorelli/2008/07/26/general_electric_and_al_gore_scheme_to_undermine_domestic_oil_drilling
http://junkscience.com/oct07/al_gore.html
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/How-GE-puts-the-government-to-work-for-GE-8154266-54820577.html
Strange how some people can see phoney cap and trade
but cannot see phoney nuke power promotion–
how some people see deadly windmills but
the same people never saw a nuke reactor
that could not hug(nuke huggers)–
stop blaminmg the leftists–they are just
usefu; idiots–
GE is playjng the agw tune–
the big juice behind the agw fiasco is the
nuclear industry led by GE–
GE tells Gore and the media
what to say and do–
Gore is just a small time piker–
GE is the big player in nuclear power.
GE IS A BIG PLAYER IN CAP AND TRADE–
Gore is a big player in GE–
YOU do not have to make the correct connection–
but most people will manage it–
The usa gov pays GE to do what it wants to do–
which is to support AGW and promote
nuke power
as the best alternative to carbon dioxide—-
but is it not strange that those who oppose agw
do not oppose nuke power–
they attack hockey sticks but not the
actual financiers of the agw system–
they leave nuke power alone
untarnished on the table–
unapposed by the warmer media-
unapossed by both sides of the debate
(with the muzzled nuke power
opponents –who get even less press than
agw deniers and skeptics–
being painted as terrorists by the media and the law)
a- GE is deeply involved
with and backs cap and trade
b- GE gets 100 billion dollars
from the usa govt–
and
c- GE BUILDS and sells and maintains
and services BIG NUCLEAR REACTORS–
d- GE will be a central trader for
carbon credits.-
e- GORE HAS 50 MILLION dollars
invested IN GE stocks–
f-US Climate Change Bill Promotes Nuclear Industry–
CAP AND TRADE IS BEING USED TO PROMOTE
NUCLEAR POWER and GE.
http://www.ge-energy.com/prod_serv/products/nuclear_energy/en/new_reactors.htm
http://www.ge-energy.com/prod_serv/products/nuclear_energy/en/index.htm
http://junkscience.com/oct07/al_gore.html
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/How-GE-puts-the-government-to-work-for-GE-8154266-54820577.html
http://seekingalpha.com/article/158542-what-s-good-for-ge-is-good-for-america
http://cjunk.blogspot.com/2009/08/putting-to-rest-big-oilskeptics-myth.html
http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/07/03/05/ward.htm
http://townhall.com/columnists/TomBorelli/2008/07/26/general_electric_and_al_gore_scheme_to_undermine_domestic_oil_drilling
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Obamas-hidden-bailout-of-General-Electric_03_04-40686707.html
http://alethonews.blogspot.com/2009/10/us-climate-change-bill-promotes-nuclear.html
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/374ac7b0-aea4-11de-96d7-00144feabdc0,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F374ac7b0-aea4-11de-96d7-00144feabdc0.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rense.com%2F
thatcher started agw to encourage nuke plants
http://solarcycle24com.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=globalwarming&action=display&thread=823&page=1#28567
http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/206366
Bush favored cap-and-trade–and it was not
because of his affection for windmills– he liked the part
about promoting nukes
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/60231-book-bush-favored-cap-and-trade
GE supports and pays for the global warming
lobby and will profit immensely from cap and trade–
the reality is that
Global warming is a fraud front
for GE uranium development and nuclear plant promotion.
agw and nuke power are synonymous.
they are the same edifice of lies
built upon a foundation of deception.
superDBA (09:01:41) : If this were an isolated incident it would be one thing, but it’s not. So why do we continue to allow these idiots to run the world?
No Worries. They won’t be running the place for long. Those folks grounded in the real world and with reality centered policies will take over after they out produce us and buy up the rights to the world. Did I mention that China is negotiating to buy a hugh chunk of Nigerian oil production? They all ready bought up 20 years worth of Brazilian production. They have NO intention of “cutting back” and every intension of using what they have bought. The Brazil deal was about $200 Billion IIRC. 5 of those and they have no US dollar holdings to care about…
Stephen Brown. (12:33:57) :
They not only need to remove the ads, they need to replace them with a correction, which does NOT contain a reference to global warming.
JimInIndy (17:56:35) :
During the MWP, Vikings used the Northeast Passage to reach the mouths of Russian rivers, thence into the interior as far as Constantinople. (Nat. Geo., 2004)
Hmm, the whole point of this article was to research your statements. Swedish Vikings crossed the Baltic, primarily from Gotland. They entered several different rivers that flows into the Baltic. From there they traveled east and south all the way to Bagdad and Constantinople.
There are no rivers in the Northest Passage that leads to the south. So, please check your facts, or a decent map. You will find that you are a bit off.
Sorry for being picky. Swedes take some pride in their effect on Russian history. It didn’t include the northeast passage.
Norwegian vikings went to Island, Greenland, but primarily to the British Islands and other points south (Paris, etc.).
Even if, even if all this blithering MSM nonsense were partially true, wouldn’t it be a Good Thing to have faster, better trade routes? Deeper, too, right, as the seas rise from melting Greenland? Another bonus plus of global warming!!!
I still have no problem with AGW; in fact, I yearn for it.
haha
wow at this guy. Is he deluded? Lying through his teeth or what?
Not sure if this has been linked before, but not only is the North Sea Passage used for more then half a century, it has been ice free before:
http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/ARCHIVE/19950901.png
Here’s the post I made on an earlier thread on this topic:
========
From the story I read two days ago they were assisted by two nuclear-powered icebreakers, not one. Other points:
All these Beluga company vessels were built specially reinforced against ice. They thus, presumably, cost more than ordinary vessels and have less cargo capacity.
It would be risky to have sent ordinary vessels through the route in company with them currently, since ordinary hulls and propellers would likely get dented and dinged by small ice debris left in the wake of an icebreaker.
The two Beluga vessels that transited the Passage made their voyage because they were delivering heavy equipment from a manufacturer in Asia to a Siberian port. They then continued westwards to their homeport in Europe. They were not doing so because the NE passage to Europe is shorter and more economical.
They had to wait in port in Asia (paying crew’s wages and port fees) for weeks before they got the green light from the Russians that the coast was the clearest it was going to get, and that their icebreakers were available. And speed was reduced during the portion of the voyage that required the icebreakers to clear a path ahead. These factors mean the route is not nearly economical yet for ordinary shipping.
The Passage will only be as open as it was for a couple of weeks. Thereafter traversal will get harder. There’s only a brief open window at present.
The BBC story didn’t mention that arctic ice extent has risen over the last two years. It spoke exclusively of a declining long-term trend and implied, by the choice of persons it quoted, that ice extent would continue to retreat until the Passage is open year-round:
“The steady rise in temperatures over the last 20 years has seen the ice thin and retreat substantially. This means that the passage may soon become navigable for most of the year. Dr Peter Wadhams, of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, UK, said that the long sought dream of a North East shipping route “could become reality in as little as 10 years time”. … Dr Wadhams said that satellite images showed arctic sea ice receding towards the North Pole at a rate of 5% per decade.”
Here are brief quotes from the AP story, “2 German cargo ships pass through ‘Arctic Passage’,” by Matt Moore and Seth Borenstein, linked to above. Note the misleading spin:
“In July, new NASA satellite measurements showed that sea ice in the Arctic was not just shrinking in area, but thinning dramatically. …
“This year is shaping up to have the third lowest amount of Arctic sea ice on record, just behind the worst year set in 2007 and in 2008. But just because 2009 is slightly up from the past two years, it is not an upward trend or a recovery, Serreze said. It reflects a change in local weather patterns that occurred in August, he said. “It’s certainly part of the overall decline of sea ice that we’ve been seeing,” Serreze said.
“Niels Stolberg, the president of Beluga, … said the shipping company was planning more voyages through the area in coming months.”
But these won’t be full traversals of the Passage, just incursions and returns into the less-icy parts of the Arctic Ocean.
“… Britannic no-see-um (13:10:50) :
Where comments are allowed, the tenor is so hostile in the UK now that many of the ‘environmental’ page pieces have withdrawn the readers comments facility. They actually are digging their own grave.”
…Yes, I’ve noticed this as well. The Telegraph, for instance, has been posting some of the stupidest global warming stories I’ve ever seen lately and none of them have comment boxes when most non-global warming stories have comment boxes. They obviously know these stories are a load of hysterical lying propaganda and don’t want the public telling them what they already know.
How do I print this article out without the comments?
“Dave Andrews (14:02:43) :
Mike McMillan’
No point writing to the Guardian. The paper I have read for over 40 years is, unfortunately, wedded to climate change. Its journalistic standards have dropped dramatically over those years, especially the last decade.”
I would have stopped reading the Guardian (or ther Manchester Guardian as it was known) decades ago when it was publishing George Bernard Shaw’s defence of Stalin’s progroms if I was alive back then.
Ah the good MSM in the good ol’UK. No matter what you do, you will not get an apology for such sloppy reporting. In fact I am sure the author will get a pat on the back, maybe an Aston Martin, for the pro-AGW stance, no matter how totally wrong it is.
“Kate (01:22:48) :
“… Britannic no-see-um (13:10:50) :
Where comments are allowed, the tenor is so hostile in the UK now that many of the ‘environmental’ page pieces have withdrawn the readers comments facility. They actually are digging their own grave.”
…Yes, I’ve noticed this as well. The Telegraph, for instance, has been posting some of the stupidest global warming stories I’ve ever seen lately and none of them have comment boxes when most non-global warming stories have comment boxes. They obviously know these stories are a load of hysterical lying propaganda and don’t want the public telling them what they already know.”
Happening here in Australia too. You have to register to comment on SMH now, whereas previously you didn’t. I can’t gte my, usual public use, e-mail account registred.
“J.Hansford (09:51:56) :
Tony Halpin of “The Times”, may have been the writer of this unfortunate piece of journalistic underachievement”
The intranet at The Times lists him as a Moscow Correspondant. Here’s some email address to send this article and others in the future to:
Tony Halpin tony.halpin@thetimes.co.uk
James Murdoch james.murdoch@newsint.co.uk, jrm@startv.com
The Science Dept sciencecentral@thetimes.co.uk, science@newsint.co.uk
Environment Dept sunepa@newsint.co.uk, environment@newsint.co.uk
Al Gore’s Holy Hologram (01:41:01) :
“How do I print this article out without the comments?”
Highlight [select] the story but not the comments. Copy. Paste into any word program. Print.
Well, I just submitted my complaint to the advertising standards. I suggest all you Brits think about doing the same.
I think to use the word journalism about this piece is stretching credibility a bit.
A story by a professional journalist requires two independent corobborations of the story. Not two lying fraudsters who want some publicity. Two people who:
i. Have sufficient knowledge to comment accurately.
ii. Have a sufficient professional reputation to protect.
iii. Are prepared to put their professional reputation on the line to verify the claims of the story.
Let’s think about how you might ‘corroborate’:
1. Are all commercial vessels required to log their proposed routes with any shipping organisation?? If so, that would be the place to ask how many boats went through the NE passage over the past 100 years. Quite a lot, I would lay a lot of money………
2. Does the Russian Government retain records on Russian commercial traffic through those waters? Archangel port authority?? Vladivostok??
3. Are there media archives going back 150 years on microfiche/commercially available search engines to find earlier stories on this topic??
4. Do residents of NE Siberia e.g. Kamchatka, Chukotka have sightings of ships over the years?? Asked any 80 year olds how long they’ve seen shipping going into the NE passage??
Places you SHOULDN’T look:
1. Greenpeace.
2. United Nations.
3. Any Government aggressively promoting global warming.
4. The Suez Canal Authority.
5. The Panama Canal Shipping Authority.
The thing is, right now, papers are being hammered financially. Really hammered. So they won’t be taking on journalists, they’ll be laying them off.
Hardly an auspicious time for high quality journalism, is it??
So the first ‘Commercial, Non-Russian’ convoy got morphed into the ‘first convoy’
– LoL!
– easy mistake to make!
David Q. (21:28:06) :
The norse (“vikings”) actually did go as far east along the Arctic coast as the White Sea and the mouth of the Dvina river (“Bjarmaland”).
Something tells me that somebody is totally unaware of the 19.6 year lunar cycle that pumps warm water up towards the north and then goes away. And it peaked in (let see, now) 2006. The decreased ice and increased ice are not a surprise.
ShrNfr (07:25:53) WROTE”
Something tells me that somebody is totally unaware of the 19.6 year lunar cycle that pumps warm water up towards the north and then goes away. And it peaked in (let see, now) 2006. The decreased ice and increased ice are not a surprise.
This is very interesting information. It adds to the fact (as I understand it) that ice disappearance is due to both water temperature and air temperature, in addition to wind. I refer to ice “disappearance” rather than “melting”.
Where can we get more information about this water flow?
IanM
Mike Odin –
Sounds like a fair assessment of the situation to me.
For more on on Thatcher’s involvement see: http://www.john-daly.com/history.htm
It seems that now she’s “warmed” to agw scepticism but still likes nuclear –
http://www.economist.com/member/Margaret%2BThatcher/comments
http://www.economist.com/member/Margaret%2BThatcher/comments?page=1
http://www.economist.com/member/Margaret%2BThatcher/comments?page=2
John Wright,
It appears that “Margaret Thatcher” is just a screen name, not the real MT.
I spoke too soon. The seminar at News International a few weeks ago ‘Hairshirts and the Apocalypse’ was a climate change alarmist seminar with highly religious overtones. It was presented by this guy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/jul/02/climate-change-christianity
Smokey:
That’s a laugh! So that’s why they took it off Icecap.
John Wright (10:31:31) :
Yes, and it has occurred to me that according to the NSIDC sea ice index, had the NW passage been in the state it was this year, Amundsen in his Gøa would never have been able to get through in 1905.
You have it backwards, Gjoa could have sailed through end to end this year whereas in 1905 it couldn’t.
More newsworthy, this year re the NE Passage was traversed by two yachts, unaccompanied by ice-breakers.