Kinda Wimpy :

A five nation scientific team has published new evidence that even a slight rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere affects the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The research, which was published in the March 19 issue of the journal Nature, is based on investigations by a 56 member team of scientists conducted on a 1,280-meter long sedimentary rock core taken from beneath the sea floor under Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf during the first project of the ANDRILL (ANtarctic geological DRILLing) research program.
"The sedimentary record indicates that under global warming conditions that were similar to those projected to occur over the next century, protective ice shelves could shrink or even disappear and the WAIS would become vulnerable to melting," said Ross Powell, a professor of geology at Northern Illinois University. "If the current warm period persists, the ice sheet could diminish substantially or even disappear over time. This would result in a potentially significant rise in sea levels." Ice World

A Global Warning

UN chief Ban Ki-moon flew to Antarctica on Friday on a fact-finding mission for climate change, becoming the first UN leader to make an official visit to the frozen continent. Ki-moon was taken to Antarctica to get a first-hand look on how global warming is affecting its glaciers.
"This trip, you may call it an Eco-trip, but I'm not here as a choice," he told reporters. "I'm here as a messenger of all the warnings on climate change. I'm here to observe the impact of the global warming phenomena, to see for myself and to learn all I can about what's happening in Antarctica and actually around the world."
Ban Ki-moon also hopes that his tour of the continent will draw politicians to notice the melting glacier dilemma and in turn motivate them to take action. Source.

The Quest for The Poles

The North Pole is dealing with more conflict and drama then the Spederline custody battle.

.First and last time time I will drop that name, promise.

It seems that the World is beginning a race to stake claims at the North Pole's natural resources since the United States' maritime strategy, A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower, was proposed on October 17th.
So far Canada is planning on constructing a deep-water seaport and a military training center. Along with, the mapping of the seabed, patrolling the high latitudes by warplanes and combat aircraft and increasing the number of rangers at their northern bases. Denmark and Sweden joined hands to send the Swedish Arctic-class icebreaker, Oden, to the area north of Greenland on an expedition named LOMROG (Lomonosov Ridge off Greenland), the ridge over which the Arctic countries are fighting. And the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker, Healy, led Germany's Polarstern and French Tara Schooner to the northern latitudes.

Looks like WW3 will be held in the frigid north and the United Kingdom won't be involved.
As mostly everyone else looks north, the British look to the south to the world's least explored continent, Antarctica. They are planning on claiming 386,000 sq miles of seabed where vast oil, gas and other mineral resources lay out of technical reach.
But what drove these countries to abruptly begin the quest for the poles? For that answer we look to Russia. Russia's expedition, in August, to plant a flag under the North Pole brought a new importance to the debate over the The 1959 Antarctic treaty. A treaty that up until now froze all territorial claims and the 1991 protocol to it prohibited the production of mineral resources in the Antarctic.

So far, every country has been acting within the guidelines of international law. But some of them now seem ready to rewrite it. Source.