You know how global warming is being blamed for melting the Arctic ice caps? It looks like it's also increasing the possibility of allowing for sea travel which wasn't possible previously. And ironically, it can also allow for more oil drilling since there could be as much as 25% of the oil left in the world up there.

"Diminishing sea ice conditions in the Arctic Ocean are changing ecosystems, most conspicuously for polar bears," said the [US Arctic Research Commission]'s report, prepared for US President George W. Bush and Congress. "This also creates unprecedented access for ships that will bring people to the north, and will significantly shorten global marine transportation routes," it said.

The cost difference is dramatic, according to Mead Treadwell, the commission chairman. The estimated cost of transporting a shipping container between northern Europe and Alaska's Aleutian Islands is about $500 he said; moving the same container between Europe and the port of Yokohama, through the Suez Canal, costs about $1500.

So if burning oil is the major cause of global warming, which in turn will allow us to discover more oil to burn, this sounds environmentally healthy. I wonder if either those estimates of how quickly oil is running out counted what may be in the Arctic, and also if it turns out there is far less oil than expected up there.