When the ice cap disappears one summer soon, what will happen to Santa Claus?
Will he relocate from the North Pole to the Arctic shore for August and September? Where? Canada? Norway? Russia? Or will he take a summer condo in Florida or Tahiti?
Or will he just chuck the whole North Pole thing, and move somewhere else permanently?
What about the workshop? Once there’s no solid ice for it to rest on, will it be dismantled and rebuilt on solid ground somewhere?
When the ice cap disappears, will parents tell their children he used to live at the North Pole, but now he lives–where? Under the sea? No, too much like a James Bond villain. On the moon? That would be a safe place to put him. No national jealousies, and far from the corrupting reach of mankind. No oxygen seems easier to gloss over for the kids than no ice. They’ll accept that he can breathe magically, but not that he just hangs out on the open water.
Who will be in charge of revising the Santa legend in this age of the 24-hour news cycle? With CNN showing us the collapse of the ice cap in real time when it happens, we can’t let the Santa legend slide for long. Christmas will be just around the corner. The kids will worry.
A Change in the Weather 