The planet’s refrigerator: why Polar ice matters
By Rev Dr K M George
OUR mother earth has two beautiful ice caps – one on the North Pole, the Arctic, and the other on the South Pole, the Antarctic.
Scientists tell us that these caps are very ancient. The one in the Antarctic region is about 34 million years old, while the other in the Arctic pole is about 3-4 million.
These massive mountains of snow and ice, glaciers and ice sheets, protect us from excessive heat and keep the earth cooler since they reflect a lot of the sun’s rays back to space. They maintain the sea levels, influence ocean currents and control the climate of the Earth. They also provide unique habitats for polar bears, seals and emperor penguins.
A major environmental problem for the planet Earth is the melting of these ice caps gradually formed since the Ice Age. We have already begun to see the disastrous consequences of the melting of polar ice.
Raising the sea level can drown many great cities and even countries like Bangladesh that lie low.
Global warming due to human activity speeds up the melting of the ice caps, and that in turn intensifies the global warming process — a vicious circle.
The most tragic paradox today is the “scientific” exploration of the polar regions initiated by powerful governments in the name of progressive science and advanced research in meteorology and biology.
Scientists know very well that even nanoparticles of plastic are now detected in polar snow. Massive equipment and a large number of explorers sent by the governments with ulterior motives really pollute the poles.
In the name of scientific inquiry, political powers are looking for profit-making resources like oil, natural gas, minerals, as well as political and military conquest of the region.
In short, the polar region could be a future battlefield if we judge by what is happening today in our world, particularly in West Asia.
Think of ballistic missiles, drones, bombs and even nuclear weapons blasting the region and contaminating the purity and deep silence of the polar regions. It is totally unthinkable for any human person brought up even with some modest degree of civilized human behaviour, even the slightest notion of law and order and some trace of compassion to fellow creatures on this planet.
Polar ice is holy like all other natural resources. Greedy humans should not trample underfoot the virgin snow and the sacred ice cap. Its holiness is similar to the holiness of virgin forests like the Amazon.
Moses, face-to-face with the burning bush, was asked by God, "Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
The people of the world should be able to tell their mad rulers, who are driven by lust for power, vengeance and the unthinkable greed to conquer, "Do not come closer to the Poles, for the earth where you are standing is holy and pure. Cast away your dirty panoply of power and weapons for the sake of the future of life on this holy planet ”.
“Holy to the holy and pure “- St James Liturgy.
