It is nice to hear that Colin Mayes is so optimistic about the current Arctic ice conditions in his April 12 article; however, the facts indicate otherwise.
Colin is our federal politician, yet he fails to provide proper facts to his constituents that the Arctic ice is melting, and at a greater rate than ever before. It is recorded by our own Canadian Ice Service at www.ec.gc.ca/glaces-ice and “The minimum sea ice cover (for 2012) was the second lowest observed.” Check it for yourself, and also check the National Snow and Ice Data Centre for North America http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews (March 2013), and “Oldest ice continues to decline,” and “While multiyear ice used to cover up to 60 per cent of the Arctic Ocean, it now covers only 30 per cent.”
The oldest ice (four-plus years old) now comprises only five per cent of the ice in the Arctic Ocean – far less than during the 1980s when old ice covered roughly 25 per cent.
As a member of the Canadian Ice Patrol in the 1960s, I personally observed the vast quantities of old, hard, multi-year ice in the Arctic. At that time, the northwest passage by ship was a risky venture, even when escorted by our Canadian icebreakers. During the last several years the northwest passage has been almost ice free, and in some years has been ice free.
Is this just another tactic by the Conservatives to pump misinformation to the public so they can reduce budgets for current Arctic programs, enforcing Canadian Arctic sovereignty, surveillance, or pollution control? Or does it just show his plain lack of knowledge in this area?
It is comforting for our local MP to be so optimistic but, unfortunately, the actual facts do present us with a bit of a pessimistic picture.
Ken Simpson
