While the rest of humanity does what it can to solve the real and present problem of AGW, you AC, may put your head back into the desert sand and continue looking for those WMD's of GWB, GOP and FOX.

Hey AC, here in Texas we have had record drought and heat for 2011. The preceding years were also setting new records. Yesterday, on Jan 6th, it was 72 degrees here. Sure, it gets chilly at night but this is ridiculous! I have lived in Fort Worth most of my life since 1960, trust me when I tell you that the heat we are having is atypical!

If you think for one minute that Human activity on Earth, namely the burning of massive amounts of fossil fuels, is not contributing to global warming then you are truly in denial!

On the other hand, it's forecasted that our temperature here in Spartanburg, SC, will be 70 degrees today Last year, we had 5 inches of snow on this date. One year does not make a trend...

AC a little science experiment. melt a bunch of ice cubes in a glass of water for 2 hrs. take water temp every 10 mins..

hypothesis: the water will get colder due to melting ice. It will eventually reaches room temp only after all the ice has melted.

hyputhosis: the oceans are going to cool when cold water from melting ice caps and glaciers from Greenland, North America, South America, Eurasia and Antarctica mix with warmer ocean water.

I am sick and tired of the way this whole Global Warming has become such a political or at least an us against them issue.

Here is the reality even the basest moron should be able to understand.

The air quality in this and most other countries suck due in great part to burning fossil fuels.

Let's reduce the pollution so our children's children have something to breath other than exhaust and if the Global temperatures come around then that will just be a bonus.

How anyone in their right mind can fight so fanatically for maintaining or even worsening this dirty polluted world is beyond me.

Cliché alert. Please return when you come up with an original comment.

AC ...

You still don't get it ...

Climate Change means that nothing will be the same, not that things will get uniformly warmer. Records will be broken. If it was dry before, it may get wet and vice versa. As we pass the tipping point, it will get really wild.

Where I live, we had the dryest December ... ever. Minnisota just set an all time high temperature record. And I suppose you'll claim that those tornados last summer were just a little more than usual.

The only thing that really surprises me these days is how much it is taking to convince you meat heads.

"Global warming is just another sham by the power elite."

You do realize there are "power elite" on both sides of every equation. There's really on thing to consider here: do we want to do things better or do we really not care enough to improve? If we don't care let's just leave all our trash in the streets, banish using toilets, etc. and move on.

AC & savy Dont waste your time on the brainwashed sheeple you will never get them to open their eyes or attempt at reasoning for them selves, their saturday morning cartoon shows they watched as a child were in fact programing them to be stupid and controlable, its only those that went out and did stuff other than absorbe those programs that can think for ourselves, beware of the new wave of brainwashing crap coming out of hollywood, there after the new generation, and stronger control. note the new supervillan is anyone with a good income. the end is near.

Get back with me when you understand the quantities of heat or lack of heat in ice, the volume of the worlds oceans, and the cubic miles of ice involved...

The latent heat in the atmosphere is insignificant when compared to the total changes that are occurring in the worlds Oceans and just Greenland and Antarctica...

I used to live in Alaska and the fact that it is even possible or thinkable that a freighter could get to Nome in winter is beyond the pale. It's not ice free (never expected to be by this time) but the ice is so thin that it is navigable.

And AC, try READING the article before you write:

If the mission is successful, it will be the first time petroleum products have been delivered by sea to a Western Alaska community in winter.

d-buck-2239568

I cannot understand how some people can try to communicate without the tools to do so. Either you really have no grasp of science, history, grammar or spelling, or maybe you live in a part of the world where it is after 5:00 PM and there is an internet connection at your tavern. You might want to consider that the power elite are the ones who will not publically accept global warming.

Where are the ass-kicking, independent, rough and tumble Alaskans who show up here to degrade liberals? Begging for a cup of oil?

The problem for AC is that he or she lacks the basic understanding of what Climate Change is about. These are the same type people who fought against the idea that the earth was round, that the earth circled the sun, that tides were not the work of some deity, and all of the other changes that science in understanding that science has brought about that many people just did not believe.

People like AC can quote a few things from some website and make themselves appear to have a grasp of the science but in the end - even as the Koch brothers found out when the recent study they paid for - with the scientists that they hired determined that Global Warming is really happening, the truth will of course eventually win out since it is the truth and decades later people will look back at the deniers and wonder how could they have been so ignorant.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2011/1021/Climate-study-funded-in-part-by-conservative-group-confirms-global-warming

So while this study does show that Global Warming (what is really Climate Change) is occurring it does not yet attribute what part humans may or may not be playing a part in it, this does show what the usual pattern when people deny science.

First they deny that anything at all is happening.

Then when they finally get boxed in by evidence (as the deniers pretty much have already had happen) they move onto "Ok, it is happening, but not for the reasons you say".

Then when they get further boxed in (as some former Skeptics have already had happen) they say, "Ok it is happening and yes humans are playing "some" role but we can't say how much".

Then of course you can see how the rest of the argument goes until finally, as in the deniers of the past, they eventually have to agree that yes, the earth is round, the earth does circle the sun, and no, some god of the sea is not responsible for the tides...

Dear, AC Robertson

As an oceanographer, let me explain a few things...

1) If there was no sea ice in the arctic during the winter, we'd be in a lot more trouble than we already are, the current concern is over the lack of sea ice continuing into the summer months in the arctic, which is at record lows for the last century.

2) CO2 is clearly a natural molecule in the atmosphere and yes humans only contribute a small fraction of the total atmospheric concentration. However, a hundred years ago the atmospheric concentration of CO2 was around 320 ppm, today it is around 390 ppm. This increase is not due to increased volcanic activity, or other natural changes. Peat burning in Indonesia is still a human activity contributing to increased atmospheric concentrations. Ever heard of methane hydrates? They are pockets of methane trapped in ice in the ocean or in arctic tundra that are slowly melting and being released due to increased temperatures in those regions and increased sea surface temperatures. Methane is 20 times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2, creating a positive feed back loop of increasing temperatures around the globe. This is not to say that every place on earth will get warmer due to climate change, just the net average temperature on earth is increasing.

3) Speaking about different weather trends over the globe, Greenland is in fact losing ice mass, driving an oceanic current system nick named the "Global Conveyor Belt". Melting ice water from Greenland is colder than the surface water surrounding the island making it more dense (even when considering salinity) so that it sinks to around 1500 meters and begins to flow south. This current proceeds to pass by the western side of Africa, into the Indian ocean and finally into the pacific where it becomes a warm surface current working its way all the way back to the east coast of the US. This is what we know as the warm Gulf Stream that delivers warm air and moisture to the North East and to Western Europe. If a significant part of the Greenland ice sheet melts and stops feeding this current, the Gulf Stream could potentially shut down and send the North East and Europe into another ice age, clearly not a warming trend.

4) I'm not sure where you got the figure that global ocean temperatures have decreased over the last decade but global sea surface temperature has increased from 1984 - 2004 by roughly 0.2 degrees Celsius for both day time and night time temperatures. (The Global Trend in Sea Surface Temperature from 20 Years of Advanced Very HighResolution Radiometer Data - S. A. GOOD, G. K. CORLETT, J. J. REMEDIOS, E. J. NOYES, AND D. T. LLEWELLYN-JONES).

5) Lastly, no matter if you think that humans are causing CO2 concentrations to increase take this into account. Phytoplankton (Plants of the ocean) account for 50% off all photosynthesis that occurs on earth. Since CO2 is a reactant in the photosynthesis process, phytoplankton absorb 50% of the increased CO2 in the atmosphere. When carbon dioxide is added to the ocean it goes through a 4 step process that gradually adds hydrogen atoms to the ocean, making it more acidic. The oceans as a whole have become more acidic over the last hundred years due to this chemical process. Calcium carbonate forms the shells of many of the oceans creatures, from tiny pteropods (zooplankton) to the larger mollusks, calcium carbonate is the building block for these shells. The oceans surfaces (where phytoplankton and therefore their grazers; zooplankton live) has a rough pH of 8. Calcium carbonate cannot form correctly in more acidic conditions. If the base of the food chain falls out because it cannot form correctly, it will equal in disaster for the billions of people on earth that rely on fish as their main protein.

When you add it all up, it doesn't really matter if you believe its human induced, but it is happening, and you can ignore the science if you would like, but if things don't change, humans will suffer greatly.

Sincerely,

Someone who understands "the quantities of heat or lack of heat in ice, the volume of the worlds oceans, and the cubic miles of ice involved..."

Enron:

Interesting first name to be weighing in on energy issues.......perhaps you should explain your viewpoint beyond bombastic degradation of people. I'm sure you have something to offer, so share with us all.

The far right preaches that Global Warming is a sham, because they have huge investments in oil and coal. This process is accepted almost globally as a scientific fact except in the US, which is among the worst in the world at releasing these gasses. Wake up.

President Obama placed the Polar Bear on the endangered species list last year because we were running out of sea ice. Obviously, he was acting on more lies from the environmentalists.

You all missed the point WE HAD PAY FOR Coast Gaurd to break the ices because Nome was too cheap to fly it in.Pass the cost too military and while your at it cut their funding too.

Maybe the question should be "What part has man played in climate change?"

One of the things that really stands out to me is the level of co2 in the atmosphere. For the last 650,000 years, the level of co2 has never strayed higher than 300 parts per million. But in the 1950's, the level began rising and is currently above 380 ppm.

It's good to be skeptical, and it's even better to be a skeptic and open minded both. I never picked a side on the whole global warning issue, but I've done my own reading over the last few years. I don't consider Al Gore as an expert in any way on the subject and I don't sit and watch the apparently evil Fox news. And while I may not know what the end result will be, I do now believe humans, especially since the 1950's, have definitively had an impact on the planet and the fact it's retaining more of the sun's energy and warming the planet.

Flame away if you feel the need to do so. I'm not out to evangelize on the subject. I'd simply suggest you do your own research, and do it with an open mind.

I have nothing invested in oil and coal. I live in a log house and bike to work in the summer and cross country ski to work in the winter. Glaciers have been melting for 1000's of years. What cars were the cave men driving?

We have had climate change ever since we havehad climate. Geez, people, read a book.

cheetah-822547

Where are the ass-kicking, independent, rough and tumble Alaskans who show up here to degrade liberals? Begging for a cup of oil?

Yes they are begging the liberals for some of their oil, because the liberals have shut drilling in the north down, in favor of giving Big Al more money to put in his and President Obama's Global polluting planes which we would rather by the fuel for from the Arabs.

Be a good idea for Nome to have storage tanks big enough to hold fuel for the winter, and have it delivered before the start of winter. This way if a storm delays delivery they have backups.

I love the internet. Complete morons can get on here and claim to know more science than the thousands of researchers that have real data to prove their claims. The same way these people claim to know more than medical researchers and physicians because they've researched it on WebMD. It's no use talking to them, because you can't argue with stupid. It's sad that they will eventually procreate and the cycle of stupidity will continue. On the other-hand, these comments are quite entertaining.

Something I took from this article is the fact it is Russians delivering the oil and gasoline. Where did this oil and gasoline originate from? Why is it only Russians can deliver it?

When it was mentioned the CG only had one ice breaker, did they mean in Alaska? Or in the entire CG fleet? I know there is a couple in the Great Lakes, but maybe not large enough for the Bering Sea or even accessible for them.

For you climate deniers, looks like a sea delivery is possible this year, but this is the first. Is the ice actually thinner this year?

MV76: try and not confuse the folks with facts. It's much better to just use talking points.

Seriously, thanks for the info.

Cansomeone explain why all the planets are heating up. Not only the Earth. There must be human activity on Venus too.

Ron - you mean to tell me all those reports haven't be re-edited, or deleted by now.

For all intelligent people....stop wasting your time on climate change deniers.

The only reason trolls like AC are on here are poking fun of those that believe in climate change is because they are strong Republicans that hate Al Gore/Obama/Frank/Dobb/Clinton and make money from dirty energy.

No Independent would question the need to develop renewable energy so were can remove our dependency on foreign energy yet the Republicans constantly deny that our climate is changing and fight against any program to develop renewable energy. It doesn't matter why our climate is changing, just that it is happening so anything we can do to reverse the trend should be considered. And yes Republicans can make money for renewable energy too because eventually they will buy up that energy program too.

AC Robertson

AC, you need to round out your reading... EVERY fact can't support right wing principles. You would think you might have noticed.

See next thread since this one is collapsed.

The AGW crowd can not defend their position so they collapse those that oppose their views...

I'll explain why russians can deliver the fuel: Renda is ice class tanker and can break ice of 12" thick with crew trained to operate in Arctic conditions so they are suited for the job

MV76,

Here are several multi-year studies concerning the ice volume of Greenland...

Here is the direct quote from the 13Nov2009 Science Daily article on Greenland ice loss.

"Since 2000, the ice sheet has lost about 1500 Gt in total, representing on average a global sea level rise of about half a millimetre per year, or 5 mm since 2000."

This amounts to 0.05% change in the TOTAL ice mass over a 9+year period. Gt equals a cubic kilometer of water/ice...

Unfortunately the Greenland ice volume has INCREASED 10% during the last 60+years... see http://nsidc.org/data/docs/daac/nsidc0092_greenland_ice_thickness/parca_paper1.pdf

I'll throw out the 10% INCREASE over a 50+year period to worry about a 0.05% LOSS over a 9+year period... Ha! Ha!

If you are not aware of the ARGOS data collection system,...

Then I question your abilities as a Oceanographer... And keep relying on ship engine intake water data, limited numbers of fixed buoys, and ignore thousands of buoys that are spread across the worlds oceans...

I continue to question your literacy AC. Time and time again, you CONTINUE to try and use ARGOS data... yet it's interesting that neither the age of the system NOR what it actually says supports you AT ALL. In fact... it says the diametric opposite.

You get points for being persistent... unfortunately it's persistently and laughably wrong.

clinpsych,

Where are your references, I give mine.

And we are talking about GLOBAL trends not just the cherry picked locations...

Even NOAA indicates a DECREASING OHC trend when just using ARGOS data - http://www.climatewatch.noaa.gov/article/2011/climate-change-ocean-heat-content

Here are the sea surface water temperature anomaly, compared to 40+years of data...

see - mid-october-2011-sst-anomaly-update of reference http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/10/18/mid-october-2011-sst-anomaly-update/

Maybe it is the Russians and the South Koreans (part of the supplies are coming from there) who have come a long way while we have stood still or even slipped backwards....

....also a Russian ship heading into Alaskan waters protected (if that's the right word for an icebreaker) by an American Coast Guard ship.

And - don't the folks in Nome know about storage? Yes I read they didn't get their regular shipment because of storms, but hey, schedule a little earlier and build a few more strorage tanks.

homesick- we more than slipped!

Jan-644445: They do have storage, but not enough to store double the fuel needed for 6 months. I know of few communities in the US that could store 6 months worth of fuel. Do you?

What I find hard to believe is that the US Coast Guard only has one functioning ice breaker. This seems a little absurd. You would expect them to at least have three, one on each coast and one on the Great Lakes.

I am guessing that they contracted with a Russian company for the delivery because no US company wanted to take the risk of having their ship get stuck in the ice or having the ice damage the ships hull causing a spill. In any case, I hope that the ice breaker and tanker make it through successfully. Otherwise it is going to be a very long, cold winter for the residents of Nome.

"... few communities in the US that could store 6 months worth of fuel."

It's not like civilization really depends on it in Virginia.

Oh, we've come a long way and guess the jokes on us. Russians delivering oil to an Alaska village? Just a couple of years ago, the US postured & thumped it mighty chest and placed an embargo on heating oil from Chavez, who incidentally offered it free of charge! Nothing wrong here, so why can't everyone just get along?

(former Alaskan who misses the place!)

As seen in: The Anchorage Daily News & 'DL 1926' -

"There is NO EMERGENCY. Here is a direct quote from the January 5th online edition of the Gnome Nugget:

"Contrary to continued erroneous reports and rumors, the town’s two petroleum products distributors have enough heating fuel on hand for the winter, according to their managers."

This is just a normal delivery, using abnormal means, that has been blown into a huge "photo-op" by the 17th Coast Guard District at a cost of millions to U.S. taxpayers. Does anybody realize how much it costs to take publicity photos using a C-17 just so the Coasties can lobby Congress for a new $1 billion icebreaker? By the way, taxpayers just dumped $50 million in the Healy's big brother, the Polar Star, which wil be ready for duty in 12 months, and Shell's new $200 million icebreaker should be heading north soon.

CC: Speaker Boehner
CCC: Sen. Clair McCaskill, MO"

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/01/06/2249518/nome-bound-russian-tanker-encounters.html#storylink=cpy

Sure seems like someone is exaggerating the issue here.. Or maybe it is just a slow week for other exaggerated news.. There are lots of more important things to investigate I am sure..

If they have enough stock to last till spring what is the emergency.. There is this thing called conserving and rationing supplies.. Besides that you would think that they would have storage for at least 1 year as they do get iced in every year.. Yet another stupidity induced emergency.. I would bet the mining companies are the ones sucking up the fuel.. The Russians have 2 breakers that dwarf our largest one that is being refitted.. They could plow that path without a sweat..

I live in Alaska, at the END of the road system.

Once this fuel arrives in Nome, does not mean the fuel will "save" Nome.

It means, there will be VERY EXPENSIVE FUEL available, for those that can afford it!

I love exaggerated stories!!

good for you!

I note with some interest the damning of the Coast Guard for wanting additional ice breakers and trying to enlist public support to get them.

The issue is one of Global Warming. The polar ice is melting an an increasing rate (which means that it is picking up speed.) There is an extreme liklihood that starting in the next few years they former mythican Northwest Passage will actually come to exist. When it happens considerable freight will transit those waters instead of rounding the horns or using the Suez or Panama Canals. It is a great shortcut. But it will also be necessary to keep those waters open and to rescue ships that get caught etc.

Right now the Russian Federation, Canada and the U.S. are plotting as how to claim all or part of it as territorial waters. The Russians have even gone so far as to plant hundreds of Russian Federation flags all over the ocean bottom to support that claim. The Americans see the best bet as being the "guarantor of freedom of the seas" and being the "protector" of the Northwest Passage, based on its propinquity to Alaska. Canada, or course, has the best claim and already has a couple of new ice breakers. The Russian Federation has the least claim but has been the most aggressive in pursuing their claim. Mostly, the Russians seem to be thniking that if they muddy the waters enough that people will want to craft some tripartate treaty on the new shipping lanes.

So this isn't really about a load of fuel for Nome. This is about a pissing contest over the Northwest Passage. When you see articles like this they are often highly engineered (as this one is.) That alone should let you know that something is going on. This is how the media breaches things that they find out about but don't want run political lists by becoming the source of a leak. Instead, they just shine a little light in that direction.

BTW. Global Warming deniers can just ignore the entire post and blame it on Obama. LOL

What I want to know is, will the lives saved by us being able deliver these supplies across the Artic during winter be subtracted from the totals of lives lost due to gorebull warming?

One would think there would be several contingency plans in a town that gets iced in every year.

What's sad is that we're the most powerful country in the world and we can't even support our own citizens - Russia's doing it!

it's funny how you're talking about Canada arctic superiority and yet all 10 heavy nuclear powered ice breakers in the world all build in Russia. what claim you're talking about? there's no claim really. Russians always owned entire Arctic from 1960s when Lenin was built. what a shame.

don't believe everything in msnbc articles - check the Coast Guard website for the facts.

read this mailman8 (from the coast guard blog)

http://cgblog.org/2011/02/09/the-coast-guard-needs-new-icebreakers-dhs-inspector-general/

2 breakers presently in service how many in mothballs I don't know, but according to all the chickens in AGs henhouse the Ice is melting, so what do you need a Ice breaker for? Oh say I herd from the big Al the other day, he needs more money, if you expect him to save the world! that new yacht and those mansions are really holding him down and there's always the much needed 727 so send money, more money, much more money!!!

Global Warming is the redistribution of wealth. The working class must give so the poor can get and the rich are exempt of course.

It's disappointing that our tax dollars are spent on stuff like this.

Where did you read that?

The redistribution of the wealth is all going to the wealthy...the working are the poor! You have been suckered! This is no different than dividing along perceived political lines...keep the people infighting and then the elite have nothing to worry about. Carbon taxes/credits are for the benefit of large corporations. WAKE UP!

Of course it is disappointing to see the USA has only one ice-breaker. What do you expect if the Republicans are demanding cuts beyond reason and giving no added revenue to protect their "masters".

Last time I checked, bombs could be used as ice breakers. We have pleanty of ways to break the ice.

I can hardly believe all the negative comments about the "use of OUR tax dollars" for this mission. Last I knew the city of Nome , Alaska was part of The United States of America. They pay taxes to OUR government too...why would you think the Coast Guard should NOT be involved in this rescue mission?! The Coast Guard does incredibly important work in Alaska all the time. They are highly trained and very dedicated to and proud of the service they perform. Those of you who only care about the "lower 48" should be ashamed of yourselves.

It has to be that with all this supposed manmade global warming polar bear drowning hype that the Coast Guard figured there would be no ice, just lush plush palm tree shoreline. Why waste money on an ice breaker when you would need helmets to protect yourself from falling coconuts? Who knew, just saying.

mailman the article I read and see posted here says The Polar will be ready in 12 months and Shells new icebreaker will soon be on its way. So that leads me to believe, that at the moment, their is only ONE. That article being in an Alskan paper who would know more than us folks here.

Apparently, our Coast Guard and military come second to other expenditures like foreign aid.

disappointed? really? try watching sports

I do believe the Coast Guard has an icebreaker for the Great Lakes as well.

don't believe everything in msnbc articles - check the Coast Guard website for the facts.

mailman8, read this (coast guard blog)

http://cgblog.org/2011/02/09/the-coast-guard-needs-new-icebreakers-dhs-inspector-general/

The Coast Guard isn't part of the Navy.

Check your facts genius...there are at least 15 ice breakers in the CG fleet. The 3 largest, and most well known are the Polar Star and Polar Sea, stationed in Seattle Washington and the Healy, which was mentioned in this article.

Then why does the DHS (of which the Coast Guard is now a part) support this article by claiming that we are lacking icebreakers?

And an interesting point is that the article used the phrase "working" icebreakers...maybe the CG has more, but perhaps they are not usable....

Then why does the DHS (of which the Coast Guard is now a part) support this article by claiming that we are lacking icebreakers?

There are ice breakers, but you are right....there is only one "working" ice breaker of this caliber. The Healy, Polar Star, and Polar Sea are the three big ones the CG has and the Healy is the only one functioning well enough to perform this job. There are other, smaller ice breakers that would not be able to get through that much ice. Btw, the government has slashed the CG budget to the point that it is often times not safe for the crew of some of these older boats (ships). The government insists that the boats can just be repaired, re-repaired, and duct taped together, when in reality it would probably be more cost effective to replace the boat. The CG's fleet is aging and although some types of cutters are being replaced, that is being done at a snail's pace.

What does one have to do with the other? The Coast Guard is not part of the Navy!

wow, where to go with this comment..., just so you know, the Navy is part of DoD, and the coast guard i believe is either department of commerce or homeland security. as a NAVY sailor, i find this comment to be very degrading.

im sure coasties would find it disparaging to be bundled to us as well. would you also say the army and national guard is the same thing?

Obama and serious lack of leadership is the whole problem with the US government at this time. This will change dramatically in the near future. Personally, I am really, really looking forward to that.

Sad that we have gotten this far into incompetence, but I believe that God is teaching America a lesson in His judgement.

Coast Guard works under the Department of Homeland Security. Before 911 it was in the Department of Transportation. I am retired FAA and FAA is part of DOT as was USCG until it was transferred to DHS. USCG is considered part of the US Military and can be transferred to the US Navy at the discretion of the POTUS or congress during time of war.

@Sniderman your a idiot

Regina-1126387- I disagree the budget got a increase for new planes, helos and ships. It coast a lot to maintain a breaker. After a patrol they have to spend a lot of time in dry dock. The money is being moved to other departments. When you are trying to stop drugs with ships built in the 60"s and only go 19 knots then it's easy to see the other ships are getting the money. Search and rescue, Homeland security, aids to navigation and L/E are above breaking ice. It's cheaper to contract it to the larger ships.

Dave-3493908-um this has been a problem for the coast guard decades before bush or Obama get a clue

Wow ok people Sniderman is not wrong in what he says. The coast guard is Homeland and was in transportation. I join in 2000 and was part of both departments. In certain books when world naval sizes are counted the us coast guard is one of the larger fleets

Carolina 41-- They may have gotten a budget increase recently that I'm not aware of....but for the past 14 years, my husband has been onboard these old boats that you are referring to. Almost every patrol something breaks and they're constantly fixing it. You're right, they can't keep up with the drug runners and those types of boats should get funding. I do know they are getting some new helos and a couple new security cutters. I would like to see the entire CG have up to date equipment so they can do their jobs safely and effectively.

Gee, and I thought I had no life. But if this many people have nothing better to do that argue about how many ice-breakers the coast guard currently has in service then I guess I’m pretty much living the life of a rock star.

Pssst,pssst. Coast Guard is a part of the USDOT. Russians (much like close neighbors) have been hanging around western Alaska since we bought the place from them.

don't believe everything in msnbc articles - check the Coast Guard website for the facts.

read this

http://cgblog.org/2011/02/09/the-coast-guard-needs-new-icebreakers-dhs-inspector-general/

If sovereign waters of the United States freeze over, we should have the means of cutting through them. That is a matter of security and safety of citizens. That's why the CG should have multiple ice breakers, including multiple HEAVY ice breakers (what if this one had been out of service for upgrades / repairs?). Luckily, it appears that this article is somewhat misleading.

This article is confusing allot of you, this isnt a rescue its a planed fuel delivery, they chose this aproach, its the cheepest rout to take. how is it that some of you can get so twisted arround and off subject, did someone forget to read the article before posting! #6 if that breaker could not get through that ice it wouldn't be their.

Hey Chuck, Another huge CG responsibility is to maintain the nation's navigable waters in support of maritime commerce, regardless of vessel source as needed year round. This ship was contracted by a US commercial concern for required commerce. The CG is doing exactly what it is supposed to do.

D-Buck 2239568 This article is confusing more people than you think... This is not a planned delivery, the planned delivery wan't able to get there in time, this is a rescue mission.

The town of Nome will be without heating oil and fuel oil fuel for diesel trucks before the end of the winter if the delivery isn't made. At 42 degrees below zero, that is a very serious thing. We repeat, Read the Article again.

They have three larger ones capable of doing this job but two are in Seattle for repairs. The article I read said only one of them may be finished in order to save enough money to repair at least one. There are many smaller ones on the east coast such as on the St. Lawrence R. and the Great Lakes where the ice is not as thick as at Aka. In fact, even those areas are not experiencing the normal ice pack this winter but would be useless up in the Nome area.

I will feel the same about your town should it be hit by disaster

Someone that thinks like that must be a RACIST

I bet you don't even pay taxes. And be sure to tell us your real name, so when a natural disaster hits your ass, I won't spend any effort helping a piece-of-@!$%# like you.

Good riddance to this @!$%#.

Yeah. I rather my tax dollars go to Afghanistan or Pakistan, a giant corporation, or preferably to help Wall Street banks.

This was not a disaster. It was bad planning. It was the result of one large storm (not rare in this part of the world) cancelling one shipment by barge.

Apparently the last shipment was scheduled too late in the season and storage is insufficient. They need to make the deliveries earlier (so two or three make-up deliveries could be arranged if the last scheduled one fails.) They need to increase the storage capacity so they have a minimum one-winter supply in the tanks at all times.

I don't know if the commercial shipper is charged for the icebreaking service, but they should be. They profit from the shipment. When a community chooses to live in a site that is subject to isolation, they should plan ahead and not expect everyone else in the country to make large expenditures and risk the crew of the icebreaker to make up for a lack of preparation.

Yeah, I'd like to know where Mackie lives so that I can move there. Apparently, it is a place with perfect weather and no risk of tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, forest fires, tsunamis, etc.... It must the undiscovered American Paradise.

Come to Udon Thani (Isan) Thailand...

The high temp is mid 90's and low is around mid 40's, little humidity...

No risk of tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, forest fires, tsunamis, etc. From Nov to Apr it might rain once or twice. During the growing season it usually rains during the night and much less than eastern NC...

Farmers pay NO taxes and doctor visits cost $1+USD...

People with addictions, crimminal records, and NO money, need not apply for visa...

Mackie,

The Inuits have been up there for thousands of years,also Nome was home to a U.S. contingent of Air force personel during and after ww11 and now many of them still live there. But i guess you either would rather ship the last of the free ranging Native Americans off to a reservation or evict former military personel to suit your needs.LOL. I swear thats just laughable!!

I doubt one red nickle of any tax's you have ever paid has even seen Nome.lol. And believe me those people up there neither need nor want your sympathy!

congrats mackie

you have just wrote the most retarded thing i believe i have ever read

The shame! the shame! the shame!

Mackie, God are you ignorant. Do you know your United States would spend a good large sum of money to save you if your fishing boat overturned? Maybe we should put you on a "Do Not Rescue" list because you don't believe in it. Fine with me!!

Get educated dummy!!

Mailman, you sure sound like an expert. I am so impressed!

Hunt-797031, I agree what Mackie wrote was callus, but some of the people in Nome live off of Government monies. The Federal Government spends billions building clinics, schools, hydro projects, Air Ports and yearly checks to the people there. Travel there sometime, it will be an eye opener.

"but some of the people in Nome live off of Government monies. The Federal Government spends billions building clinics, schools, hydro projects, Air Ports and yearly checks to the people there. Travel there sometime, it will be an eye opener."

You don't agree with the callousness, but....? What does this have to do with getting heating oil into Nome? This situation is just what it is.

Asign,

I've spent a great deal of time up in that area in the past...not Nome,but along the Aleutian archipelago and general vicinity plus have known many native Alaskan people...Inuit and Tlingit and though there is no doubt some of them recieve assistance its not as if you couldn't spin the bottle and have it point to any region in the Continental U.S. where the same could be said. Its not as if they have a monopoly on federal assistance,and if taken by virtue of true need and demand for it there is no place in this country more deserving at times. But the fact of the matter is ....for someone to argue the point of displacing people from their homes just because they might run into some financial or physical need now and then is ludicrous! The same could be argued from here to Manhatten and its simply a ridiculous concept! I truly mean no offense to your opinion on the matter,but Mackie has lost his/her ever loving mind!!!

..a hint...guess which area gets free icebreaking sevices all the time to ensure massive profits for those tankers importing other countries goods/products.

Go ahead, take a guess....which area gets tax payer paid services to ensure massive profits, and which just wants to survive through winter...and guess which will get what they 'need' first

I saw an episode on the History channel about the two icebreakers in the great lakes.

The icebreakers on the Great Lakes are not suitable for ocean use, (besides, they are needed where they are at).

I posted this last year.

Another polar rescue must send chills down spines of alarmists. Now the fourth year running that 'Warming Alarmists' have had to be rescued from expeditions to prove the Arctic is warmer than it actually is.

TOM Smitheringale wanted to prove the world was warming. Now he's another alarmist with frostbite. He wanted to see the North Pole while it was still there: "Some scientists have even estimated that the polar ice cap will have entirely melted away by 2014!" But Antarctica isn't melting away, and Arctic ice has slowly increased since its big low in 1997. But no one seems to have told Tom, who soon found his extremities freezing.

Two weeks ago he nearly called off his trek after suffering excruciating pain in his fingers and thumbs, forcing him to call in emergency help.

And last week he had to be rescued by Canadian soldiers after falling through the ice sheet.

"(I) came very close to the grave," he said, on being flown out.

"Explorers and educators" Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen said they were off on what reporters described as "a historic 75-day expedition to the North Pole and beyond to raise awareness of global warming's impact on the fragile Arctic".

It turned out that what was fragile was not the Arctic but the alarmists, who had to call off their big trip not long after it started, when Arnesen suffered frostbite in three of her toes, and extreme cold drained their batteries.

Explained a spokesman: "They were experiencing temperatures that weren't expected with global warming."

see http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/another-polar-rescue-must-send/story-e6frfhqf-1225856131380

I thought all that ice had melted, at least that is what the press has been telling us in story after story over the past 5 years. What gives

It is an inconvenient truth, don't you know?

Just think, if they had some of those beautiful wind generators and solar panels they wouldn't have those nasty Russian's bringing them those horrible fossil fuels. (Sarcasm for those who don't recognize it). Bet those things work great in the land of the midnight sun and subzero temperatures.

Guess these people could go back to whaling, if all else fails.

The Herald Sun? FOX News? Now there's an organization whose opinions and "facts" should be trusted over scientist's! LMFAO!

Fox News Viewer Uninformed Compared to Others

FOX News Viewers Would be More Informed If They Watched No News

I thought all that ice had melted, at least that is what the press has been telling us in story after story over the past 5 years.

The press hasn't been saying that. They've been talking about long-term trends.

Jeff-330675,

That is a Australian publication, nothing to do with FOX...

Some of use read and live somewhere other than just the USA...

AC,

Nothing thing to do with each other?

Sun Herald and FOX are both owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. They're putting exactly the same slant on the "facts".

AC: The Herald Sun is owned by Newscorp, Rupert Murdock's international media company. In the US Newscorp is best known in connection with its ownership of Fox TV network.

The story of the foolish polar explorer is typical of Newscorp stories. A believer in global warming is surprised that it does still get cold in the Arctic, and has to be rescued. Therefor all believers in global warming are similarly mislead, and the theory of climate change must be false.

A great deal of Alaska was -20 degrees for the past 2 weeks. The snow, in Cordova Alaska is so deep today the military was called in to rescue and bring supplies. The is a man stranded at the base of Mount Denali Alaska, because of the chilling cold and winds ( he can't climb to the top because the weather is so cold and windy).

So where is the Global Warming taking place? This earth has made it through 16 Ice Ages and we will live through to the next one.

The concern is about ice-free conditions by the end of the arctic summer; obviously there is still going to be a lot of ice during the long dark arctic winter, even with a warming of several degrees.

Rupert Murdoch doesn't manipulate what is written. He is about positioning for the largest Listeners, readers, and viewers.

Do you not know why Glenn Beck Left CNN and went to Fox? Fox being held interntionally was going to be exempt if the Democrats passed there latest legislative Ideas to eliminate conservative Radio.

The latest is that Glenn Beck Left Fox to establish his own "GB TV"? Seems Murdoch and company sat him and the other conservatives to 'tone down the rhetoric". So much for Murdoch being a big conservative? Huh?

No matter who owns the media, the information presented does not change. It is only spun by the reporters...

It is up to the viewer to separate the FACTS from the opinion...

The supposed explorers still FAILED in promoting their viewpoint...

Only IDIOTS rely on one news source...

It is one of the 11 missions that law dictates the coast guard is tasked with.

http://www.uscg.mil/top/missions/iceoperations.asp

The Russians are helping AMERICANS! Why would they pay?

The tanker is probably in American waters....

Just because the tanker is flying a Russian flag doesn't mean it's Russian! It very well could be an American company, that for tax purposes have decided to sail this tanker under the Russian flag. Also, MBeaty is absolutely correct. Even if it is a Russian, by all standards, it is the responsibility of the USCG to perform such missions.

And AKRandy, the Russians are not "helping" the people of Nome, it is simply a business contract.

You'll see more and more of this as our government sells off public assets under pressure from corporations and the wealthy people who control them who are looking to privatize government services. There is a lot of profit to be skimmed.

Jeff .. I don't see how your statement is relevant to this situation. Are you saying that Nome had its own oil tankers and fuel supplies, but sold them off to private companies, so that's why it had to contract for a Russian tanker?

I think Jeff was reacting to the (incorrect) statement in the article that the Coast Guard has only one icebreaker.

Nome is in the U.S. Randoo...LOL. But hey if they can get Russia to pay us for helping us....well more power to them!LOL.

How can we? The LOWER 48 steals the money that was intended for ALASKA to do that!!!

And if we try and build something you cry roads to no where...

WE supply 25% of this nations oil!!!! Half of the fish caught in America!

P-uh-leeze, Sonya, "it's" is the contraction of it and is; the possessive form is written "its"!!!

All these statements.... like this one from Sonya come from a bunch who has no idea what real hardship is...and they certainly don't have a clue about dealing with the elements. Its easy to sit infront of their little computor in their warm and cozy den and bitch about things they don't understand one thing about.

AKRandy...... Yes... We need more of your tax money, so we can build more worthless crap in the lower 48 states..... We will tell you where, when, and how too $hit....... BECAUSE WE IN THE LOWER 48, ARE BETTER ED-U-MICATED, THAN YOU ARE....... One LADY, ( which should of ran for PRESIDENT ) said it best.. DRILL BABY, DRILL....... IF WE, IN THE LOWER 48, WERE ONLY SMART ENOUGH TO HEED HER WORDS...

It is a perfectly fine sentence.

Why waste money on new ice breakers? In ten years they will be obsolete. Ha ha. L.O.F.A.O.

Oh, and you have done all the scientific observations and correlated all the data, right?

Like Al's jets that he flys all over the world, and Michelle O telling us all to eat carrots as she eats ribs and all the other good stuff.... See, elites tell us to suck it, and they do what they want! God, people are stupid..

The Healy is only able to get there at this time of year because the ice is so thin. It has not been this thin in recorded history. If the ice were as thick as it usually was 20 years ago, even the Healy COULD NOT get through it. Global warming is real, and comparing records for the past 100+ years shows that. The article says that this is the first time they have been able to get this far north at this time of year... that sounds like global warming to me.

Please provide quotes from legitimate news sources that claim there is no ice in Alaska?

Wow...just...WOW

The bleating of the righties on this thread is just amazing. Dumb-As-We-Wanna-Be I guess.

One more time, not that I think it will do much good:

Nobody says that there is no ice in the Arctic in the middle of Winter. Hello? Got that? It is the normal summer ice that is disappearing. Which is kind of inconvenient, I know, but it is the truth.

BCOHIO, You ask how this can be? and it is an honest question. Like you said

all the News people, etc, said there is no ice in Alaska. The Plot thickens!!!

And I think Russia's Putin is in there somewhere. Not good because Alaska

is in Sarah Palins' back yard and he is captivated by actress Sharon Stone,

in fact, waiting for The Second Coming of Sharon Stone. Sarah is out of luck.

tbart, The Ice Age disappeared and what is left has been melting ever since. Yes it's global warming, it has happened many times for 300,000 years as we calculate it, and no you can't stop it. Get a bathing suit and move to Alaska.

Sign - So all the coal we're burning, all of the diesel & gasoline we're burning, all the forest we are eliminating - none of that has any effect, huh? The scientific world by something like a 9 to 1 ratio says that the climate is warming by the results of our activities, but what do those pocket-protectors know about it, right? Our winters here in Northern Minnesota have radically warmed over the past 15 years, but that's just coincidence I suppose?

I mean you heard all about it on Fox, and they wouldn't lie. Would they?

Once again, the concern is about ice-free conditions late in the arctic summer; of course there's not enough warming to make winter ice go away in Alaskan and polar waters, otherwise we're already in lots of trouble!

Don't expect logic from Ohio or someone who voted for that guy with a fake tan and cries croc tears.

don't believe everything in msnbc articles - check the Coast Guard website for the facts.

I did check the website. They have only THREE of which only ONE is functioning, which is what the article says. Maybe you need to check for facts.

An ice breaker that does not function is not an ice breaker.

Three Heavy ones, and only one is supposed to be active. There is one light one, but I didn't see if it was still active.

I like this article

http://gcaptain.com/u-s-subcommittee-uscg-icebreakers/?34706

and you wonder why we have such deficits - These guys didn't mension the Healy, which is the one doing the job now.

How many ice breakers should we have? Certainly it would seem to me a great idea to build and staff 200 of them. To fund this simply raise retirement age to 88 years old and really stick it to the working class. The mindset that its only tax dollars and the amount you can spend is infinite can work well for awhile then everything falls apart. For those who truly believe we need more simply hold some bake sales and other fund raisers and raise the $ needed to build and staff however many you think the US needs. (I would be willing to bet its far more costly than some may be thinking)...BTW for those thinking the US simply needs to print more $ that only works at liberal art universities where math and logic are banned.

This sounds like the Alaskian "bridge to no where "funding to me. Or" I can see Alaska from back yard " saying. Alaska could use some different politicians up there to meet their real needs. It is hard to take this story as the truth with the crap that has been coming out of Alaska lately.

During the 70's it was Global Cooling...

During the 80/90's it was the Ozone hole...

During the 2000's it was Global Warming...

Now the SCIENTISTS are claiming Global Change...

The PEOPLE are tired of the POLITICAL SCIENCE and biased media...

sorry double post

AC, We the people are going to get a lot more tired of ignorant citizenry.

Space Captain

Touche'

Only one Heavy one is in service, and Sen Begich wasn't even aware of the Healy

http://gcaptain.com/u-s-subcommittee-uscg-icebreakers/?34706

#1 Nome Alaska is not the north pole and does not have ice years round.

#2 The water freezes every year and melts ever year around Nome Alaska.

#3 The amount of ice melting has been greater than the amount freezing the last few years at the north pole.

#4 Why do I even bother trying to explain anything to a denier.

Larry, Depends upon your source and where you select to view comparisons.

Try this one - which is a photo comparison of for dates you choose.

http://igloo.atmos.uiuc.edu/cgi-bin/test/print.sh?fm=12&fd=30&fy=2002&sm=12&sd=30&sy=2011

What I found is that ice for December has increased since 2002 On December 30

And for March 21 (about Peak ice for the season) We have either been increasing or at least stable.

What the Pro-AGW does is pick a convenient time frame to show an over all trend over 50, 100, 150 years - whatever makes their case best. What Skeptics are saying is wait a minute - the trends in the last 10 or 20 point to possible change in direction while carbon emmissions have not stalled.

read this

http://cgblog.org/2011/02/09/the-coast-guard-needs-new-icebreakers-dhs-inspector-general/

Just because the CG is in need of new ice breakers doesn't mean it doesn't have any! There are at least 15 cutters in the CG that break ice. How many years have you spent in the CG, homesick yank?

None, that is why I referred to an authority, the Dept. of Homeland Security. I think it is shameful that we have spent trillions of the taxpayers' dollars on bombing Iraqis (who never attacked us) when according to both the article and the DHS we don't have enough ice cutters to take care of our own coastline.

I never said we didn't have enough, my point is that there are far more than one, which seems to be a common belief. Its quite true that many of the CG cutters are in serious need of being replaced, but they are still out there carrying out valuable missions. Just because you don't hear about it on the news doesn't mean it isn't happening. And PLEASE don't turn this into politics. I hate how all of the conversations on this site turn into political arguments.

@Rossi30: How many years have YOU been in the USCG and when? Where do you get you google research facts? Wikipedia? Anyone who is currently in the USCG can tell you that the Sea and the Star and out for the count. The star will likely never get underway again. Please stop making an a$$ of yourself.

@Rossi30: Sorry you need to do your research. If you go to the coast guards list of cutters, they themselves say they have ONLY THREE of which TWO are not functioning at this time. So that would make the Healy the only FUNCTIONING ice breaker, which is what this and many OTHER articles have said. Shell will have a new ice breaker, but that is NOT the Coast Guard and it is NOT in use at this time.

Some Comments ya'll are posting are just Damn stupid. The 2 in Wa, are down and the 3rd is doing it's job. The ice breakers are charging the Russian company so why the big deal. The two being fixed NEED to be fixed and fast before China finishes a new one and lays claim to the passage. Why are Stupid comments allowed on this site, some of the Comments made are from people who spend 20 sec on the internet and then they make comments that are wrong. If you can't read try "COPY AND PASTE" at least it will be correct and you won't look so STUPID.

Everyone with internet access can post an opinion and most often they are not researched and are wrong. Why does that surprise you? These days, most kids (and adults) are lucky to be able to read, let alone research some facts. No wonder we are turning into a third world country ...a third world country with loads of opinions.

don't forget the original "big mac"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Mackinaw_%28WLBB-30%29

polar star is at Vigor shipyard for major overhaul

there might be 2 total but 1 is only functional as it is docked for major repairs so technically Rossi there is only 1 and plus there is more icebreakers then just those 2 there is 1 in michigan that come out of nj

There are a total of 4 icebreakers. Only 3 were capable of the northern ice and of those only the Healy is currently Operation. One is on reserve (not active) - the other is undergoing a major overhaul.

Oh, EXCUSE me, what I meant was that the CG has many cutters that break ice. They aren't classified as ice breakers, but that is part of their mission. No, they can't do what the Healy can, but assuming that is the only cutter the CG has that can break ice is wrong. Seriously people, are you just waiting to point out a minor detail such as that? And yes, most of the cutters in the CG are in very sad shape, but that isn't really part of this discussion. Excuse me for not knowing every last detail about his topic, I have only been in for 15 years, have my surfman pin and have command of my own station. I have never been on an ice breaker or a cutter that breaks ice, so I don't know all of the specifics.

@Rossi30 - If there are more functioning ice breakers in the Coast Guard then the article is incorrect. People are only commenting on the content of the article which clearly states that the Coast Guard has only one functioning ice breaker. Relax...

Rossi30- I served from 2000 to 2007. the other two large breakers are not used because they don't work. The Healy does all the huge breaker missions. The great lake breakers can't do the job and yes some buoy tenders break ice. So before you talk down to the writer you need to do more research. I served on the cutter diligence. we could go through really thin ice but the Healy is the only large Breaker. The article is basically right in what it has to do with the story. And bragging about being in command and then bashing the writer is sad. If you read you would have seen breakers that function and they also talked to coast guard personnel. You will also know that alot of the ice breaking will be going to russian vessels.

According to the Unites States Naval Institute's "Proceedings", the Coast Guard will soon have NO functioning icebreakers that can do this job. I guess we will just outsource this along with U.S. manufacturing...

I love it when people yell about others not doing research then are caught flat footed doing the same thing. That very same Google search you mentioned, showed the Polar Star in a "reserve", spelled i-n-a-c-t-i-v-e, status as of 2006.

Keep it classy Rossi.

Well Rossi30. It looks like you got some brain freeze, loose lips, and can't read. Hmm, just the right combination for writing comments (dumb ones that is).

Critical word is "operational". Try again.

Rossi30 Please re-read the article. You will find in paragraph 7 that it is described as the only functioning Ice Breaker. You can also go directly to the USCG website and see that it is the only ice breaker listed. While google might list others that doesn't mean that it is fact or that it is accurate today.

Why thank them? It is just a business contract - a tanker owned by a Russian company was contracted by an Alaskan company to carry fuel from both US and South Korea companies to Nome. They are in (I think, not specified by the article, but the eastern Bering Sea is the US side) US waters and a US icebreaker is paving the way through thick ice (which is a normal Coast Guard activity).

The Russians aren't doing this as an act of charity. They're being paid. It is the US government/taxpayers who is providing a service (as it should) free of charge.

Yes. These are AMERICAN PEOPLE who CHOOSE TO LIVE IN NOME, and who could have AVOIDED THIS EMERGENCY DELIVERY by planning ahead and storing a sufficient SUPPLY OF FUEL all through the year. The just-in-time supply model does not work in all situations.

Calculate the amount used in an average winter, increase by 50%, and establish that as the minimum volume kept in storage at all times. Deliveries can be impossible in winter - they know it, they should plan for it.

Mailman8, perhaps you did not read the complete article. It says that Nome "did not get its last pre-winter fuel delivery because of a massive storm." So they have actually been using their stored supplies, not relying on just-in-time deliveries. This delivery is making up for the one that could not get in before the winter set in.

Yes, homesick. One delivery failed because of a storm - storms are not rare in this part of the world. If the minimum storage kept on hand was 150% of the entire amount needed for a winter, they could miss the last shipment and sail through winter with no problem. Never go below that level, so total storage would be that plus room for a 1.6 million gallon shipment. Also, if they scheduled the last shipment early enough, there would be time for a make-up shipment after the storm abated, and then another one after that if the first make-up failed - all before ice sets in.

My point was that they did not plan for a storm, which was a foreseeable event. It should not be necessary to risk the cutter and crew for something that could be avoided with planning. Yes, there would be extra cost to build more storage - it costs more to live in this environment safely. I would prefer that federal tax money be spent to help add storage - it could be designated as a military backup fuel store. That would be better than risking the cutter and crew and still not solving the problem.

They should be able to miss one shipment anytime during the year (lots of reasons could cause one delivery to fail) and still get by until the next shipment can be arranged.

Gotta disagree with you mailman. By that logic, no aid to New Orleans because they choose to live below sea level...They should just build flood proof homes and build 50 lane highways to evacuate...just takes planning for a little weather. Same for the next big quake that strikes California, these people deserve no help for choosing to build and live in a seismically active area.

I don't think your point that they failed to plan for a storm is valid. In fact I'd argue that this delivery is probably their back-up plan in action...They are probably planning to or already are, rationing remaining fuel as part of a plan as well. Nome has been around for a long time. I'm sure they are familiar with the climatalogical conditions and cope the best they can with the limited resources they have.

Mailman is such an expert on this subject! I'm so totally impressed to be on the same subject as him!! I'm goosebumps all over!!!! Please teach me all you know about this. I do have a spare 15 seconds this afternoon. Call me.

Mailman: By all means we shouldn't ask the ship and crew to do their duty. They should be kept in port until the ice is gone and the seas are calm. It's an ICE BREAKER! they are doing exactly what they are trained to do.

Ron-424486,

Bwhahahahahaha! Good retort, and thanks for the laugh.

Could be a possibility if there were an established ice road to Nome (there is none.) It would take approx. 162 tank-truck round trips to haul this volume, if a heavy duty road existed.

Excellent idea, that would create at least a few episodes of Ice Road Truckers! And of course approximately 40 year round jobs...and then...

Increased disposable income which will lead to material acquisition, which will lead to increased demand, which will lead to additional support services and necessary business, which will eventually lead to Nome becoming Patterson NJ...

Presumably that's already been ruled out.

At least, I hope it has. If nobody thought of this, that would be a bit embarrassing.

i bet hugh on irt could get them there fuel

Yeah, he's a legend in his own mind.

I think perhaps you didn't read the full article. It notes that Nome

"did not get its last pre-winter fuel delivery because of a massive storm."

Thanks for helping shed light here, Homesick! Most people here have opinions, not knowledge. That's true about most of the nation on all subjects. You have a big job ahead of you, but again, thank you for your rational approach to this subject!

Ron

True Ron, not one person in this thread that I would trust with anything on any subject.

Has anyone heard of unforeseeable events? Or so called acts of God? My God people! Some of you act as if aide and assistance to communities in need are unecessary charities and despite not intentionally creating this cirisis.... "Its to hell with them they got what they asked for because of where they live"!

I wish the guys/gals on here who keep posting how the powers that be in "Nome" were ill prepared and all this was completely avoidable.... would also list the number of times in the last two decades something like this has occured! And how many times the ill prepared "Nomites" have had to call for Coast guard ice breakers and Russian oil tankers?

Suppose the wind blew a tree down across your driveway and you went to the shed and found you didn't have enough gas for your chainsaw to cut it out of the way. Would you then on general principle after finding yourself ill eguipped go and sit in the house,until you either ran out of food or until it rotted down enough to drive over? And... do all this so as not to put anybody out? Or would you call for help? And... when you did call for help would you expect the fire department to say "The hell with you..you should have had the foresight to check your gas can before the wind started blowing"! while your neighbors all stood aside and jeered at you and called you an idiot for finding yourself in an unfortunate situation?

Things happen...there are times when you encounter unfortunate turns of events,its just the way the world works....but judging from a great many posts on here a lot of the newsviners have a horse shoe and a rabbits foot shoved up their other end and are completely beyond reproach and surely lacking in any vestige of empathy!

I mean whatever happened to good old fashioned compassion and humanity? Gone! It looks to me.

Double Ditto on this! As a physician, I love the people who think that because they don't have a serious illness or condition, they are special, or it is because of something they have done to control the situation. About the only thing you can do is not smoke, not drink to excess, and not eat horribly. 99.99% of everything else is luck, or what ever you what to call it. Regardless, it's only a matter of time till we all die, so we might as well be as nice to each other as we can.

I don't know where this idea got started regarding social responsibility that there is either coddling (I'm not for supporting irresponsibility) or true charity and nothing in between?

People should read the story of Conrad Dobler, the former defensive lineman for the Cardinals, and Phil Mikelson, the golfer, for a good example of true charity. I think if you read the Wikipedia Biographies for for both men there is enough detail there to grasp the basics of the story.

Its the era we are in "Doc". The era of narcissim ,self indulgence and self worship. A time when God is dead and no one thinks they have to answer for their actions beyond their own sense of guilt and justice.

This all started in the 1960's when the self serving youth that called themselves "hippies" then evolved into the self serving adults that call themselves "yuppies"....an entire class of people who worship only themselves and care nothing for anyone elses suffering!

I don't mean this a religious statement because i'm not. But when you place no one or nothing above you, no diety,nor loved one, nor fate. Then you quickly lose all sense of compassion and charity!

When from this same self serving mindset....they decided to do away with punishment in home and in schools in the 80's and allow children to act as they pleased... we lost all hope as a society! That done by these same self serving generations to once again shirk their responsibilities, as parents,and as human beings....they created an entire society of narcissim,lacking in charity,empathy and compassion,,, just so as not to put themselves out! And did it under the disguise of true caring even though they only feel for themselves!