Canada's golden era

There was a three-part series on NPR last week about global warming in Canada and the Arctic and all the business opportunities that are opening up because of the melting ice. It was the most bizarre thing. People are actually hitching their star to global warming and looking forward to the day when the ice melts? It's like an episode of The Twilight Zone. Are people really that short-sighted? Are they really not able to connect the dots? Or is it just massive amounts of denial that allow them to believe they'll be rich before we all burn up?

Here are some of the opportunities about to befall Canada:
1) A lot of animals are migrating further north. It's warmer now and has less development, perfect for wild animals like the cougar that are usually associated with the dry mountains of southern California. Americans could start taking safaris through the Canadian outback.

2) Apparently there are a lot of diamonds in Canada, and the potential for other valuable rocks like uranium. Mining claims are hot right now, kind of like the gold rush of the mid-1800's. Trick is, the owners of the claims won't know until the ice melts, but their ship is coming in they say in 50-100 years.

3) Speaking of ships, the ice melting is also opening up a huge opportunity for shipping to come through the Arctic circle instead of way down in Panama. A viable way to link the Atlantic to the Pacific, a least one developer is talking about building a port which will naturally lead to a bustling port town in what is now tundra.

4) I was thinking I should buy some lake front property. What is currently just a patch of snow will someday be beautiful green mountains and while everyone in Los Angeles is burning in a fiery inferno of smog, I'll be lounging by the lake in beautiful and balmy Canada!

5) Oil is already big business up north but relies on ice roads to get the heavy equipment up there. Not too long ago a truck driving valuable drilling equipment fell through a frozen lake and sunk. The clever engineers who can figure out a way to fly, drive or ship the equipment there can retire on the riches.