First Sweden, Now Canada--Slowly I Turn Step by Step

From Sympatico. ca comes an article entitled "Could global warming turn Canada into a superpower? Remember--not one Republican candidate for Senate believes in a human role in causing climate change. This will be the result.

The article by Andy Johnson summarizes the findings of Laurence C. Smith's new book "The World in 2050", which analyzes four "global forces" that he beieves will be the main drivers shaping the future world:
1. Climate Change
2. The worldwide effects of a growing and aging population
3. Increasing demand for dwindling natural resources
4. Globalization and worldwide economic integration.

Smith projects that China will pass the U.S. as the world's strongest economy by 2050. The US will move down to second and be tied with India. Mega-cities will proliferate in the new world and wet regions will get wetterwhile dry parts of the planet will get even drier. The world will get a lot warmer. By the end of the 21st century, if we're lucky the planet's temperatues will have risen by 15 degrees Celsius. The Earth's animal population will also suffer huge losses as a result and some species will be forced further and further north to survive.

Canada, Russia, the Scandinavian countries and northern U.S. will see significant benefits from this change, the rest of the world will suffer catastrophic loses. He did point out that the northern countries are experiencing some dire consequences such as 30 percent loss of Russia's wheat crop this year and the devastation of British Columbia's timber reserves by the pine beetle.

Laurence Smith,a professor of geography and earth sciences, set oout four years ago to write a book on the negative effects of climate change in the north. An Arctic specialist, he sought to document the change in the Arctic and with ice levels then at record levels he fell into numerous stories about shrinking hunting grounds for natives but also the other story about the prospects for northern development.

Smith claims that global warming will free up northern natural resources such as oil, gas and water, which will attract new immigrants to the northern rim countries or NORCs. He argues that Canada's welcoming attitude to immigrants, contrasted with Russia's xenophonia, positions it well for development. He claims that those countries who welcome new immigrants will grow and others that reject them will not. Canada's population, which is aging like America's, is set to increase by 30 percent in the next 40 years.

With all the political advantages offered by Canada, Smith thinks it will become a major world player. At that point, I will move to lecture them on not becoming a superpower. Look what it's done to us.

Is this forecast one of the reasons Fox News has upped its cut of the Canadian market? God help them.