This Just In: The Earth is Getting Wamer

Maybe it's the fact that winter just doesn't seem to be happening this year (what, no tobagganing??!!), or maybe its the impact of Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth. Whatever the reason, it seems that even the most skeptical of the powers-that-be are finally coming to grips with the fact the global waming is really happening as it becomes an increasingly important issue in public opinion. Despite the obvious reality of global waming I've found some recent happenings pleasantly shocking and maybe even historical (if a little too late):

• Just today, multinational oil mogul Exxon has announced a reversal of its longtime denial stance, cutting its funding to the "global waming's not happening" think tanks (such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which only last year was running those infamous "carbon dioxide is life" ads), and joining greenhouse gas reduction talks being sponsored by Resources for the Future. This may well be in response to recent moves by the now democrat-controlled US congress to introduce anti-greenhouse legislation.

• Likewise, global warming has been taking centre stage in Canadian politics. It seems like a serious committment to climate change will be a cornerstone of newly elected Liberal leader Stephan Dion's platform in the next federal election, and more recently even the Conservatives have been getting proactive. After last week's cabinet shuffle, new Environment Minister John Baird's first move has been to publicly accept global warming and the need to act on climate change. This is pretty much an about face from the "scrap/sabotage Kyoto" message the government was getting out under the gong show that was previous minister Rona Ambrose.

• Of course, now that everyone seems to be getting on the same page, it may already be too late to change the course of global warming. But not to worry, our government is working to make sure the Canadian economy capitalizes. Talk is reviving these days about opening up an Arctic shipping route operating from Russia and China to Churchill, Manitoba on the Hudson Bay. This idea has been around for a while, as the northern route is shorter but blocked by ice through most of the year. However the Russians are now saying they have the icebreaking technology to get through, plus, as some point out, global warming will solve the ice problem soon enough anyway. Like it or not, the port of Churchill is likely to open up for international business as "The Gateway to North America" eventually, leading to a huge shift in the demographic, economic and environmental landscape of Canada. Currently, Churchill consists of 1, 100 people and at least as many polar bears.