En route back from Amsterdam we passed under the tip of Greenland and I saw first hand the melting ice flows around that country. Everywhere it was breaking up and melting into the ocean... Global warming? Probably. I'm sure in June some of it is naturally melting but I've passed by this area before and never saw it on such a massive scale as this. Kinda scary... so good incentive to drive less, consume less energy and go green.
and fly less....flying is much more
disruptive than car travel
on my recent trips to Europe I have been
able to replace my short-hop plane rides
(example Amsterdam to Stuttgart) with the ICE
train. And you get to eat a proper meal on
board!
Posted 29 months ago.
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Although us humans don't do it much good, you
must also realise that global warming is also
a natural proces; the icecaps at greenland
are a residu of the iceage, they are not ment
to be there. Nevertheless, we must consume
much less, I agree with you on that.
Also, nice capture!
Posted 29 months ago.
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@Moody75: how do you think the ICE is
powered? It uses electricity generated by
coal/carbon feeded energy plants....
Posted 29 months ago.
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Moody75 - I agree. I think the best we can do
is do everything energy wise in moderation
where green alternatives are limited or
nonexistant. Replacing your plastic grocery
bags with cloth bag is effective.. not flying
isn't an option if you can't walk of bicycle
to your destination but limit the flying will
help. I think we all have to be realstic
about it, we can't eliminate all our energy
use but we can be more aware of it and make
choice on the spot to limit it's use more
than we do now. It's a change in mindset
that's needed and here in Canada I'm seeing
that change.
gLiTTeRbOi® - I Can't say that this is
global warming as I said ice does melt
naturally in the summer.. but from previous
flights I don't recall it ever being on this
scale.
underwaterdemolitionman - Thanks! It was an
impressive flyby from my perspective.
Greenland looked awesome.
Pat's Piks - Thanks for the comment. I
agree. I have a whole series of pics on this
I'll post later on. The best we can do is be
aware and make greener choices.. it can only
help.
Chris 1971 - Thanks! Here in Quebec we use
Hydro Power from James Bay to bring
electricity to our homes. No coal/carbon
plants in our area although we are downwind
from those plants in the US midwest so we
still get the residue but we are a greener
than most places in North America because of
the water generated electricity.. mind you it
has had an impact on the First Nation's land
in Quebec and rerouted rivers and lakes... so
even hydro has negative sideeffects.
crazyinthenight - I'm not really proposing
a theory, I only suggested it might be the
cause. The view though was quite amazing and
I have more pics later than are much more
spectacular.
Posted 29 months ago.
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The Canadian's are more environment-minded
than most other countries because they see
the impact of global warming as one of the
first, because the North Pole with its
melting ice is so close to them I guess.
Keep up the good work there :)
Posted 29 months ago.
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Chris 1971 - I honestly don't know if we are
any better than anyone else. The high arctic
in Canada is probably further away from me
than you are and I know only a couple of
people who've been up to Nunavut or the Yukon
but most of us never even come close to going
way up north let alone past the treeline.
Quebec is basically one gigantic empty
province with a bunch of moose, bears &
elk mulling their way around the centre &
north of the province. 95% of us live along
the St Lawrence river and there are a few
very small communities along James Bay,
Hudson's Bay and Ungava Bay. The interior is
empty of people & roads. So people aren't
really seeing the effects of melting ice
flows any more than anyone else. Perhaps in
BC or Alberta they are more accessible and
visible though. I think Holland is the most
north I've ever been in fact LOL.. or
Scotland which ever is higher up. If anything
the Al Gore movie has made us all more aware
and the weird weather we keep getting (warm
winters, boiling hot summers, lack of Spring
or Fall) seems to be driving the point home
whether or not there should be any connection
or not to global warming. Seeing melting ice
fields like this only tells me it just
doesn't hurt to make the effort to try and be
more energy efficient if only to help the
planet maintain it's natural balance. No
point in trying to challenge it and threaten
it's survival when you really think of it.
Posted 29 months ago.
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Ha! That is true what you say of course.
Canada is a vast country and indeed most of
the people live more or less at the same
latitude as I do....
Posted 29 months ago.
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Hi Caribb - I am not advocating cycling
across the Atlantic ;-))
However, I noticed that many flights within
Europe could easily be avoided with far less
consuming train travel. Hence my example of
Amsterdam to Stuttgart.
I usually do 2-week multi city trips in
Europe. Working for a company based in the US
I had found myself flying from, for example,
Geneva to Zurich. I have been changing that
recently to use the train.
The train really is so much more pleasant.
And I get to watch the melting glaciers along
the way ;-))
Of course, train journey from North America
to Europe would be tricky. Bring on the
A380!!
Posted 29 months ago.
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@chris 1971: ICE is indeed powered by
electricity. But if you consider per mile
carbon footprint, flying is way more
wasteful. Again, if necessary (London to New
York) flying is the only way. If you are
going from Lyon to Milan or Berlin to Munich,
why fly?
Moody75 - LOL I didn't think you were... Well
I like the European train network.. much more
effective than in North America. We could
learn a lot from them if only people would
think to look over there and get ideas. Again
it would require a changing of the North
American mind set and It would be a humbling
revelation for many to see that other
countries/continents handle transportation
better than us.
Posted 29 months ago.
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Most Germans I know don't like their train
network. ;-) It's only great if you want to
travel between a limited set of mostly larger
cities and are willing to spend a lot of
money.
Posted 29 months ago.
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Dude, you're flying over the open ocean about
50 km from the southern tip of Greenland.
You're seeing a bunch of water because, well,
the ocean is full of water - not because the
ice is melting. Global warming is a serious problem. And glaciers and icecapsare melting and retreating in Greenland and
around the world. But just observing ice and
water together in Greenland doesn't indicate
anything about global warming. Aerial photos
on Flickr do have a lot to say about glacial retreat and global warming,
but not every image of ice and water proves
that global warming is taking place.
On the aesthetic side, the KLM logo looks
great, and the swirling patterns of the
icebergs in the water are awesome - nice
shot.
Posted 29 months ago.
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crazyinthenight - I've never taken the train
in Germany. It doesn't sound all that good by
what you say. Is airline travel within the
country as cheap?
jpo - Dude, I'm not saying this picture proves anything. I've only suggested it might be as a result of global warming not
definitively a result of it. I've also
suggested we try and take better care of the
planet by making better energy choices. I
can't see how anyone can see that as a
problem. Still. thanks for the comment and
the nice words on the photo itself.
Posted 29 months ago.
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@carrib: My rant had been a bit unfocussed.
In general, going by train is cheaper and
more flexible within Germany -- no need to
book in advance for not to pay horrendous
prices. Also, between most destinations with
airports, there are probably also decent and
modern (ICE) train connections.
As this country is rather small, going by
car is a usual way and then train is most
common. One should maybe better compare to
travel in europe. Going London-Rome or
Paris-Warsaw by train is probably a bit of a
torture. ;-)
Posted 29 months ago.
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Quite a disturbing picture, caribb. I keep
wondering why some people are still denying
global warming when the evidence of climate
change is to be found literally
everywhere.... and just as worse: when people
do recognise the problem, they don't change
their current (polluting) way of life at all.
Posted 29 months ago.
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crazyinthenight - Duh.. stupid me, of course
traveling in Germany is easiest by car. I've
been on the Autobahn in Essen.. Sorry about
that, being a North American I first think of
flying.. wow I really need to change my
mindset. Still though Europe really has the
best overall set up to get around. An viable
& efficient rail network, a good bus
network and an increasingly cheaper air
network plus most everything is reasonably
within distances for driving. There's no way
many people over here would even consider
taking a train from Montreal to Los Angeles
for instance... it's by plane or your trip is
the drive to California and back not the
destination. Forget buses for long distances
unless you are really on a very tight budget
and must get there.
Pervez183A - Let's hope not. I hope it's
just a natural summer phonomena but it seemed
very poignant to me while flying by.
Optical Illusion - I tend to believe that
greenhouse gases are causing global warming
although as I said above I can't say for sure
that's why in this picture you see massive
melting ice. There seems to be enough
evidence out there of melting glaciers and
more rapidly melting ice than what should be
occuring and there is evidence it does appear
to tie into the warming atmosphere. Most
scientists tend to support this. I just wish
people who see it being caused by something
else it were at least as passionate in
finding ways to reverse it as they are in
denying it. In the end I could care less
really what started it but it's more
important we don't let it get out of hand and
end up with flooded coastal cities and a
potential economic nightmare somewhere down
the road. So even being aware of it from
things like this picture, whether reflective
of that reality or not, only helps to make
people think of being more energy efficient
and that can only be a good thing for
everyone. We really need to make smarter
energy choices in our lives.
Posted 29 months ago.
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@crazyinthenight:
London to Rome by train can be done quite
comfortably, especially if we are ready to
stop and smell the roses :-)) www.seat61.com/Italy.htm#Rome
Posted 29 months ago.
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BCJUYAL - Thanks for your input and the link.
It's a controversial subject of course and on
the public surface it seems there is no
definitive answer as there are all sorts of
studies supporting one side or the other. As
I said above the right thing to do regardless
of what's causing the changes in the planet
is to be smarter about how we treat it. That
means in the end a healthier planet and new
business opportunities. For me that's what we
should be doing and let the scientists and
politicians battle out the reasons why it's
happening.
Posted 28 months ago.
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Moody75 - Thanks, I totally believe that. I
once drove home to Montreal from Toronto
which took approximately seven hours. On
another trip I left the office in Toronto at
2:45, got to Pearson Airport (our office is
at the end of one of the runways).. had
delays at check in (the luggage belts weren't
working), had delays leaving the gate
(waiting almost an hour for a delayed flight
arrival with connecting passengers, late
flight crew and additional baggage to be
boarded, delayed then by ATC (another hour)
arriving at my front door at 10:30pm.. seven
hours. The flight itself normally is about
an hour but can be done in about 35-40
minutes it the pilots push the aircraft.... I
could have flown to Europe for the time it
took me in the end.
As much as I love planes I've been saying
for a long time the Montreal-Toronto corridor
is an ideal place to put a TGV... downtown to
downtwon in about 4 hours. Furthermore when
you drive you are in control of when you want
to leave or arrive... mind you it's
psychologically difficult to deal with the
heavy traffic on hte 401 (Toronto) or the
crazy drivers on the Met (Montreal)...
Posted 27 months ago.
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Moody75 Interesting is right. With the big UN
conference on Global Warming coming up this
week it pretty much puts it all out there.
I'm starting to think these pics reflect what
the scientific community are saying about the
ice fields melting. There's nothing like
seeing it first hand to get it.
Posted 26 months ago.
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At least they should give you the credits
for it, or the EUR 1200 for violating your
copyrights.
Apart from all this, isn't it kind of
uncomfortable to witness this phenomenon
using a means of transporation that helps
causing it?
Posted 12 months ago.
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Andre Keftes - Thanks first off for the two
links and copyright violation. I will contact
them and at least request a link be made to
mu picture with a credit as normal. It's
disturbing seeing that from people with a
good cause.. makes me question their
sincerity.
As for the picture, I'm not really sure what
I was looking at. My conclusions are what I
think it was but I really can't say for sure.
In my opinion it's most likely global warming
causing the melting and if anything it's a
reminder to treat the planet better
regardless. It's not like it's
indestructible.. we must treat it with love
and care like anything else we value. ..and
yes, being in an airplane makes it all the
more ironic. On the plus side though, Virgin
Atlantic and another carrier I can't think of
at the moment have tested some bio fuel
alternatives to jet fuel so hopefully there
will be a technological solution to lessen
the impact of aircraft on the ozone layer and
contributing to the heating up of the planet.
It's that or stop flying and the latter
unfortunately isn't really an option in my
job. Thus the dilemma many of us face.
Posted 12 months ago.
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Finding location...
Moody75
says:
and fly less....flying is much more disruptive than car travel
on my recent trips to Europe I have been able to replace my short-hop plane rides (example Amsterdam to Stuttgart) with the ICE train. And you get to eat a proper meal on board!
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )