In the summer of 2004 I undertook my final undergraduate course prior to graduation, my research thesis.  At the time, I understood that there was an ever growing relationship between the unique environment of the Arctic and its changing state via climate change.   This connection as I later argued was to eventually intersect and test Canada’s Arctic sovereignty – mainly due in part to an abundance supply of natural resources (diamonds, gas/oil, iron-ore, etc.) challenged by the escalation of global resource scarcity and a lack of Canadian security measures.

Idea

Within the argumentative aspect of the thesis, I derived a geo-engineering concept to help sustain the overall integrity of the Arctic polar ice mass.  (For those not familiar with the term “geo-engineering” it refers to a man-made solution which seeks to change a particular environmental landscape.)  My concept –in a nutshell– centered upon producing man-made snow sourced by Arctic sea water and then expelled upon the surface of the sea ice.  This process was best proposed during the spring to summer transition when sea ice had grown to its maximum thickness.  The man-made snow in turn would act as an insulator and protect against melt.

The geo-engineering theory was pretty simple but the end result quit complex.  Any geo-engineering proposal is going to be gargantuan in terms of its overall task.  The biggest hurdle which evolves is the financial costs associated (not to mention making sure the proposal will provide a net-benefit to both the environment and society as a whole).  Contemplating this dilemma I realized that although a “pipe-dream” to say the least, ingenuity being an ally could very well help develop the proper technologies to make such a concept reality.  Eventually the concept could create spin-off technologies to be used by and for the general public – ultimately developing its own source of revenue-streams.

London calling and onwards…

A few months after graduation I was invited to present my Arctic research findings at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London.  It was this invitation of speaking with a group of academics that ultimately laid the framework to launch in the fall of 2006 a research website dedicated to Canadian Arctic issues and events – Polarwarming.ca.

The website itself has evolved tremendously in a little less than three short years.  It has acted as a spring-board to facilitate a research association with a Climatologist from the University of Calgary and his students to an avenue for climate change book reviews.

Idea to innovation

The net benefits and experience that I have gained over the past five years has been immense to say the least.  I am extremely satisfied that I pushed myself to get an idea from pen to paper and onwards to the rest of the world via the Polarwarming.ca website.

Operation Snowflake – Churchill, Man. (April/May 2009)

Passing the torch…

Like all things in life, change is on the horizon.  Personal commitments through a family business venture have taken centered stage and require more time than I can commit to the Polarwarming.ca website.  I would like to see this website continue to evolve and see it as a perfect project that can be maintained by a group of link-minded students, group or organization who see positive gain attached.

I would like to thank the lengthy list of people who have helped with this idea along the way – a million thanks!

Adam.      

Earlier this week, Michael Byers — a leading Canadian Arctic expert, wrote a commentary in the Ottawa Citizen (Re-packaging Arctic Sovereignty) arguing that Canada’s government needs to make good on its Arctic announcements; a prime example includes the proposed new fleet of Arctic patrol vessels that is currently postponed and has not even passed the “letter of intent” phase with military contractors.

Mr. Byers is right to make such acusations as it has almost become tradition for Canada’s top politicians to turn to the North as means to either help get votes come election time or bulster public support.  With mounting tension for our never ending thirst to consume natural resources which guides our current lifestyles, the resource rich Arctic is and will become extremely important to our national security.  Lesson to be learned: talk is cheap, let’s step to the plate and make good on being the true north strong and free.

While the comment in question should be regarded as positive, it has opened my eyes to a larger void that seems to be overlooked in mainstream media, the issue being one of consumption.  Mass consumption on a global scale is the primary driving force that enables economies to grow and in turn fosters the development of civilizations as a whole, the downside being that it precipitates climate change vis-a-vie greenhouse gas emissions.  

I experienced a real life example of this dilemma when a quirky fun fact outside a local coffee shop depicting how many trees per year are cut down in light of an individual regular coffee drinking habit caught my attention.  Placing my order I commented on the fun fact and received a reply to the effect that I wasn’t making things any better with my coffee purchase.  This led me to realize at least at the micro-level that the major issue to rectify the climate change phenomenon is to create a sustainable loop on the present manufacturing-consumption-disposal linear equation of mass consumption.

This idea is by no means re-inventing the wheel, but more or less reinforcing and encuraging the three Rs approach to a greater degree: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  Emphasizing a positive state of mind that takes this into consideration provides a framework which is both ”green-friendly” and also addresses the other major by-product of climate change that is largely overlooked in the media — resource scarcity.

While both incidents appear to be minor in terms of a non-direct threat to Canadian national security, it does raise the proper awareness to start asking questions such as when will the numerous government military announcements (Arctic patrol vessels, Arctic military training center, deep-water port, etc.) made since the Harper government came into power back in 2006 will turn into tangibal commitments?  It is justifiable to beg such questions as it is becoming clearer (at least through various media reports) that Russia is increasing its military interest in the Arctic due in part to the vast natural resource deposits.