How does climate change impact the Arctic region and what does it mean for the rest of the planet? And most importantly, what can be done?
Bio
Libby Cheney
Elizabeth "Libby" Cheney is the current Vice President of Exploration and Production for Shell Americas.
Cheney's responsibilities encompass Health, Safety, Security, and Environmental (HSSE), Business Planning and Support, Contracts and Joint Ventures, and Communications and Government Affairs associated with Exploration and Production activities throughout North, Central, and South America.
Sylvia Earle
Sylvia Alice Earle is an American oceanographer. She was chief scientist for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 1990-1992. She is a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, sometimes called "Her Deepness" or "The Sturgeon General".
Earle received a B.S. degree from Florida State University (1955), M.S. (1956) and PhD. from Duke University (1966). She was Curator of Phycology at the California Academy of Sciences (1979-1986) and a Research Associate at the University of California, Berkeley (1969-1981), Radcliff Institute Scholar (1967-1969) and Research Fellow or Associate at Harvard University (1967-1981). She led the first team of women aquanauts during the Tektite Project in 1970.
Earle has led more than 60 expeditions worldwide involving in excess of 7000 hours underwater in connection with her research. From 1998 to 2002 she led the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, a five year program to study the United States National Marine Sanctuary sponsored by the National Geographic Society and funded by the Goldman Foundation. An expert on the impact of oil spills, she was called upon to lead several research trips during the Gulf War and following the spills of the ships, Exxon Valdez and Mega Borg.
She is the author of more than 125 publications concerning marine science and technology including the books Exploring the Deep Frontier, Sea Change (1995), Wild Ocean: America's Parks Under the Sea (1999) and The Atlas of the Ocean (2001), she has participated in numerous television productions and given scientific, technical, and general interest lectures in more than 60 countries.
Susan Joy Hassol
As director of Climate Communication, Susan Joy Hassol is a climate change communicator, analyst, and author known for her ability to translate science into English, making complex issues accessible to policymakers and the public for two decades.
Andreas Kraemer
Active in sustainable development, environment policy, climate and energy policies for over 20 years, R. Andreas Kraemer has been Director of Ecologic Institute since its foundation in 1995.
In April 2008, he became chairman of the Ecologic Institute in Washington DC - Ecologic's newly incorporated presence.
Sven Lindblad
Sven-Olof Lindblad traveled extensively with his father, learning early on the joy and wonder of exploring the pristine corners of the globe. As a young man, Sven spent six years in East Africa photographing elephants and wildlife and assisting filmmakers on a documentary about the destruction of African rainforests.
This early and deep exposure to the balance between man's relationship to natural resources was instrumental in Sven's efforts over the years, to find ways for his business to help preserve natural resources and get involved in conservation efforts.
In 1979, Sven Lindblad founded Special Expeditions as a division of Lindblad Travel, enabling the company to further its mission of offering innovative and educational travel expeditions that were primarily marine focused. Offerings expanded to Costa Rica, Alaska and Baja California, providing travelers with opportunities to explore, with small and nimble ships, the islands, coves and open spaces of the sea that reminded Lindblad of the remote and vast expanse of the Serengetti plains.
Jane Lubchenco
Dr. Jane Lubchenco is an American environmental scientist and marine ecologist. President Barack Obama nominated Lubchenco to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and she became the first woman to hold that position when confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 19, 2009.
Following her confirmation, Lubchenco declared that science would guide the agency and that she expects it to play a role in developing a green economy.
David Monsma
David Monsma is the executive director of the Energy and Environment Program at the Aspen Institute. Previously he was an assistant professor of law and social responsibility, teaching law and ethics in the Sellinger School of Business and Management at Loyola College in Maryland.
He was also director of business and environment at Business for Social Responsibility in San Francisco, and he served as the environmental management task force coordinator for the President's Council on Sustainable Development. He managed the environment program at the Council on Economic Priorities in New York City and was staff counsel and director of the Pollution Prevention Project for the Environmental Action Foundation in Washington, DC.
Fran Ulmer
Frances Ulmer is a former American poltician. She was the first woman elected as Lieutenant Governor of the state of Alaska.
In March 2007, University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton appointed Fran Ulmer as the University of Alaska Anchorage interim chancellor. In April 2008, Ulmer accepted the position of Chancellor on a permanent basis.
Charles Wohlforth
Charles P. Wohlforth is an Alaskan author and writer. Wohlforth's books include The Whale and the Supercomputer: On the Northern Front of Climate Change.
That book won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, in the Science and Technology category, in 2004. Wohlforth is also an author of travel guides. His books include several annual editions of the Frommer's Alaska travel guidebook.
Parallel of latitude approximately 66°30¢ north of the Equator that circumscribes the northern frigid zone. It marks the southern limit of the area within which, for one day or more each year, the sun does not set or rise. The length of continuous day or night increases northward from the Arctic Circle, mounting to six months at the North Pole.
heybd, I completely agree with you that nothing negative can come from taking better care of the world we live in. Obviously, continuous CO2 emissions can not be good for our environment. For those of you that question the damage CO2 emissions and global warming, it may be beneficial to also watch this video http://fora.tv/2009/05/06/Bill_McKib...r_in_the_World.
To those who say global warming is not established fact, even if that is so, that should not abdicate our responsibility to be good stewards of the environment in which we live and on which we depend. What positive effects are there from man-made pollution and CO2 emissions? What negative effects are there for reducing those products?
Have you ever gone camping or hiking and been told to leave nature as you found it? I think that is an admirable goal for humanity. To minimize our ecological footprint can only benefit us in the long run. We still don't know how our activities impact the earth, so we should err on the side of caution lest we pollute ourselves out of a home.
How on earth is taking an ice-breaking ship up there going to help matters? How thick is the ice you are breaking up? How do you know that eco-tourism isn't a part of the problem?
No question: too many indicators in the data conflict w/ most alarmist prognostications about warming in the earth's atmosphere. I have yet to hear a cogent explanation for why it is that, according to ALL satellite atmospheric measurements, the earth has not warmed since 2001 - and even cooled slightly in 2008 - IF it's true that we're in some cataclysmic struggle to keep the earth from overheating.
That fact - that the earth hasn't warmed since 01 - is not one that gets much attention in the media.
But I can promise you this - the discourse is changing, the "consensus" is breaking, it isn't publicly visible right now but it will be before long.
Yeah except that according to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research report prepared for a recent meeting of Antarctic Treaty nations in Washington noted the South Pole had shown "significant cooling in recent decades." And according to Australia Antarctic Division glaciology program head Ian Allison said sea ice losses in west Antarctica over the past 30 years had been more than offset by increases in the Ross Sea region, just one sector of east Antarctica.
"Sea ice conditions have remained stable in Antarctica generally," Allison said.
But let's not let these statements based on objective measurements of ice mass in Antarctica muddle the political agenda, eh?
member. 
