The Island North

Hurricane Ike may have weakened Friday, but the storm is forecast to regain strength and could make landfall in the Florida Keys early next week. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. If you live in the Keys, this is storm you simply must avoid. A direct hit by a Cat 4 hurricane in that vulnerable region could handily reduce homes and buildings to rubble and sweep any exposed survivors off to sea, never to be seen or heard from again.

Recall the theoretical connection between hurricanes and polar melting discussed here last weekend. Consider that any tropical heat distributed poleward from this year's Atlantic storm season won't be felt for another year or two at least. Guess what happens at the top of the planet?

For the first time in recorded human history, the Arctic is completely surrounded by open water, new satellite images reveal. Using images from NASA, scientists at the University of Bremen in Germany have concluded that both the Northwest Passage over Canada and the Northeast Passage over Russia are now free of ice, making it possible to sail around the North Pole.

There is some debate over just how free the passages have become, but wide agreement on what's driving it locally and where it will lead: Earth and water absorb far more incident sunlight than glistening ice and bright snow, warming the region further and causing even more ice to melt. The process feeds back on itself with ruthless efficiency. The end result is a North Pole completely free of ice in the summer and, eventually, perhaps all year round. And the melting is happening everywhere on the planet, From North to South.

At first glance this dramatic illustration of global warming might appear to reflect poorly on a conservative movement that's spent the last two decades ridiculing climate researchers who predicted it. But wait, this is all great news for John McCain, it always is! By conservative logic -- for lack of a better word -- it boosts their scientific credibility because his controversial running mate is now a trusted expert on anthropogenic polar melting by virtue of proximity. Bill Mahr said it best last night on New Rules, the self parody running rampant through the GOP is evidence that we at Daily Kos put country first. A Vice President Palin would make our work real easy.