The last week has seen Greenpeace launch one of its biggest campaigns in recent times, its called "Save the Arctic" and its aim is to raise awareness of the planned exploitation of the Arctic for oil reserves (through deep sea drilling) and fish stocks, as the ice disappears due to climate change. The centre piece of the campaign is a petition that demands that the world leaders make the Arctic a global sanctuary.
The campaign was launched on the 21st of June with a day of global action code named "Arctic Rising", during which Polar Bears were spotted in major cities and monuments around the world. In the 6 days since the campaign has been launched there is already more than 271,000 signatures on the petition.
I have anticipated a campaign of this sort for some time, especially considering the effects to climate change we are experiencing all over the world, droughts, floods, wild fires, hurricanes and so on. I think the time to deny or ignore the facts that our activity on this planet is changing the climate has gone. This ignorance has to be replaced by action to improve the situation, or it will only be us who will suffer the consequences as the climate becomes more unpredictable and devastating. It is also true that these changes have happened before in the history of our ancient planet, but what concerns me is that no civilisation has lived through such significant change intact.
There is another aspect to the exploration of the Arctic for the oil reserves held deep within the sea floor that I am concerned about, deep sea drilling. Especially after the disaster that occurred at the Gulf of Mexico, a similar accident in the Arctic would be more difficult to deal with especially when you consider that oil dispersal in colder waters is more difficult to clean up.
We have to act now, before the wealthy and greedy ruin our planet and the lives of future generations of inhabitants of our beautiful planet.
Rakesh
Save The Arctic Website: http://www.savethearctic.org/
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