Defacto Ban on Big Boating Lifted

[Taro Toporific]

[Mulboyne]

Just in time for the meltdown.

Guardian: Global warming 'will leave Arctic ice-free'

Global warming is causing the Arctic ice-cap to melt at such an unprecedented rate that by the summer of 2070 it may have no ice at all, according to the most comprehensive study carried out on global climate change in the region. The icecap has shrunk by 15% to 20% in the past 30 years and the trend is set to accelerate, with the Arctic warming almost twice as fast as the rest of the planet, due to a build-up of heat-trapping gases.

The report...also highlighted some controversial short-term advantages: oil and gas deposits will be easier to reach, more farming may be possible and shortcut trans-Arctic shipping lanes may open, shortening the sea journey between the UK and Japan by up to 12 days.

[Taro Toporific]

Just in time for the meltdown.

Guardian: Global warming 'will leave Arctic ice-free'

My ranch in Colorado may start growing corn without any irrigation, but plenty of folks in the 70% of Tokyo that's less than 14 m above sea level ought to start thinking about big boats or Japanese arks.

<--Iichi Ikeda's "Arcing Ark"

[Taro Toporific]

Tides change for Japan boat sales
Dropping of law allows more U.S. models
journalsentinel.com / Aug. 22, 2005
Boat builders such as Carver Yachts of Pulaski are seeing their sales surge in Japan since that country dropped an arcane regulation that acted as a trade barrier.
For decades, Japanese boaters needed a special license to operate any vessel longer than about 27 feet, an onerous requirement that effectively shut out sales of most large U.S. boats.
Following several years of trade negotiations, Japan dropped the requirement late last year...But there are other hurdles to be cleared, including a Japanese requirement that every imported boat be given a physical inspection by a government official.
The inspections raise the price of imported boats and slow down sales efforts. "There is no other advanced country with such a requirement...more....