Polar bears aren’t our only neighbors to the north suffering from the effects of climate change, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson said.
In a Christmas Day tweet to his 4.69 million Twitter followers, Tyson said “nobody thinks about Santa, the Arctic’s most famous resident.”
All this talk about Polar Bears suffering with Global Warming — nobody thinks about Santa, the Arctic’s most famous resident
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2015
Santa’s workshop in the North Pole, he continued, is located on nothing but a sheet of ice that is susceptible to melting in a warmer climate.
Since the Northern Arctic is just ocean, Santa’s North Pole workshop has only ever existed on a floating sheet of ice.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2015
“Santa will lose his habitat too,” Tyson tweeted. “Soon we’ll see photos of him clutched to an ice floe.”
As Earth warms, and Arctic ice melts, Santa will lose his habitat too. Soon we’ll see photos of him clutched to an ice floe.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2015
Most climate scientists agree that climate change is real, and that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are largely to blame.
Tyson is no climate scientist, but he did explore the effects of climate change in the 2014 “Cosmos” television series. He is the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City.
Tyson also offered some thoughts on elements surrounding the mythology of Santa Claus:
Santa is pale because he’s in the middle of six months of darkness on Earth’s North Pole. And he delivers gifts only at night
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2015
Never understood why an overweight Arctic toymaker delivers Christmas gifts rather than representations of the Three Wise Men
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2015
If people left carrots, celery, & hot tea for Santa on the table rather than milk & cookies, I bet he’d be much, much thinner
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2015
Male & female Reindeer grow antlers, but males lose them in winter. All Santa’s reindeer, Rudolph too, are therefore female.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2015
