Its my opinion that the intent of this interview is to understate the severity of the problem. What is the point of making a few extra dollars when you’re on death’s doorstep? Make no mistake — this is a mass extinction event.
Methane is the monster slowly awakening. Catastrophic agricultural collapse is waiting in the wings. Acidification of the oceans is currently killing phytoplankton and reefs. Already there are O2 deprived areas of the oceans. There are dozens of self reinforcing positive feedback loops already triggered and whose cumulative effect will grow exponentially. When the Arctic ice disappears, humans will disappear a short time later.
Despite her glib analysis of how an ice-free Arctic will impact shipping and resource extraction, Ulmer does touch on numerous key issues and phenomena.