Picture
of failure

With a picture being worth 1,000 words, recently declassified spy-satellite photos of “environmentally sensitive areas” form a veritable omnibus of anti-Bush testimony in regards to that administration’s policy of trying to stymie evidence of climate change. Featuring roughly 1,000 images of northern-latitude coastlines, the images chronicle a decade of increasingly rapid loss of sea ice.

NASA scientists say they’re thrilled about the release of the pictures because the one-metre resolution shots are precisely what researchers needed to better study summer ice conditions. Less delight has been taken from the stark photographic depiction of a million square-kilometres of ice shelf lost between July 2006 and July 2007.

The U.S. has faced constant criticism for not doing enough to correct the damages being done to the ecosystem by carbon emissions. While Bush allowed some scientists access to the photos, it was ultimately decided they weren’t the sort of thing that should be made public. At the urging of the National Academy of Sciences, President Obama reversed that decision last week.

by SCOTT SAXON