From the Arctic's glaciers to Saudi Arabia's oil fields

The ability of the media and the people to gloss over the most important news of the day can be quite unnerving.

Today an article says that Arctic winter ice cover shrinks to all-time low:

Satellite measurements show the area covered by Arctic winter sea ice reached an all-time low in March, down some 300,000km2 on last year.

Scientists say that the decline highlights an alarming new trend, with recovery of the ice in winter no longer enough to compensate for increased melting in the summer. If the cycle continues, the Arctic Ocean could lose all ice earlier than expected, possibly by 2030.

(...)Experts are worried because a long-term slow decline of ice around the North Pole seems to have accelerated since 2003, raising fears that the region may have passed one of the "tipping points" in global warming. In this scenario, warmer weather melts ice and drives temperatures higher because the dark water beneath absorbs more of the sun's radiation.

Meier said there was "a good chance" the Arctic tipping point has been reached.

Am I the only one to notice the schizophrenic attitude humans are displaying. Compare the news above (which to the attentive people is not really news anymore) with the previous day's item on oil supply:

Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said OPEC is doing enough to add new oil capacity to meet future demand growth, though he warned fellow producers against going to far due to the unpredictable nature of economic growth.

The kingdom, which plans to raise its output capacity by 1.2 million barrels a day to 12.5 million barrels a day by 2009, is ahead of schedule and under budget with its expansion program, the Saudi oil minister told reporters at the oil conference in Amman.

I can't help thinking that we are in for a rude awakening.