Fossil-fuelled marine heatwaves are sweeping the seafloors on both sides of the Arctic Ocean. Ten billion Bering Sea snow crabs were climate victims over a two-year period (2018 and 2019).
Bering Sea floor temps topped 4C, more than double the polar snow crabs environment. That prolonged spike in temperature depleted oxygen. It increased the energy requirement of all bottom life, which directly led to trillions of marine creatures dying over an area 7X larger than Alaska. Moreover, that manmade heat precluded life along the ocean floor from storing carbon.
On the other side of the Arctic, the Barents Sea is hotting up 7X faster than the global average. Eastern Atlantic orcas are migrating hundreds of kilometres further north into the Arctic Ocean, struggling to find enough summer food.
This week, NOAA scientists concluded that the Bering Sea snow crab mass mortality event was 200X more likely now than before humans began burning fossil fuels, wood pellets and palm oil.
Combustion heat is currently adding the equivalent of exploding 12 Hiroshimas into the oceans, every second of the year. The oceans drive the Earth’s climate.
All earthly life is constrained within a range of liveable temperatures. Once that range is pierced, life ceases.
Obviously, dependency upon combustion heat has to be phased out quickly and Earth’s remaining life support systems resuscitated.
Yet, in face of the climate, extinction, poison crises and pending civilisation collapse, the evil world’s leaders have committed to quadruple oil and gas production before 2030. More combustion heat will obstruct the ocean floor from storing carbon, thereby accelerating collapse.
Incidentally, evidence-based scientific information is the reason that airplanes fly, mobile phones work and vaccines and kidney transplants save lives.
Preparing locally and regionally, how might society function, goals post collapse, life-style, economic organisation and governance are THE order of the day.
How do we get from where we are to where we want to go? We require a massive and clever response rather than plummeting into a ghastly future.
Agitate. Disrupt. Defend.
Reese Halter is a bees/trees/seas defender.
Unearthly Wails is a special edition, a collection of poetry
illustrated by renowned Ojibwa artist Terry McCue.
Email: HalterBooks@gmail.com to order
