Could Be A Watery Summer for Santa

I can remember that earlier this year, when the ever-popular polar bear was finally—some would say belatedly—added to the EPA’s list of threatened species, it really brought home the seriousness of the global warming problem for a lot of my friends. Unlike many other environmental efforts, such as the battle again whaling, the struggle against carbon emissions had lacked a cute, cuddly mascot until that point. 

Well, a story out of Boulder, Colorado, suggests we might soon be adding Santa Claus to that list. Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center have been informally betting on whether or not the North Pole will melt away entirely during this summer season.  While not trained oddsmakers, consensus among the researchers seems to be that there’s a 50-50 shot the top of the world will be complete ice-free sometime this year.  

Like many people, I’m stunned and saddened by the announcement, but I do hold out hope that the media attention it gets will shock people into realizing the reality of global warming.  Santa is an extremely popular figure in the nation that emits the lion’s share of the the world’s greenhouse gasses, and I feel like it’s a well known fact his reindeer can’t swim.