2008 Documentary Premier on Climate Change

I am proud to announce the premier of my documentary, "An Arctic Journey in a Changing World," is making its debut on Thursday, December 4th, 7 pm on Iowa Public Television. This documentary combines expedition, history, and climate change, from a personal viewpoint, into a compelling issue-oriented piece. Thank you all out there for your patience and help along the way. There are links on the top right of the page to YouTube and IPTV websites for promos and slideshows. I will post on news happening soon and believe me, there is much going on. Enjoy the premier and promos. Keep thinking about hope and positive change. Thanks again, especially to IPTV and all the great people who make this one of the finest public television facilities across the country.

More Melting in the Arctic

There are more disturbing signs that the positive feedback loop is now in "fast forward." Sea ice is dissipating all the way to 90 degrees north, potentially this month yet. Polar bears have been seen swimming far out into the Chukchi Sea looking for an ice edge and food supply which has disappeared. As with last year, a number of small vessels have been moving on through the NW Passage not encountering any ice whatsoever. And the drilling pressure and exploitation of resource issues are mounting.

As we move on into the autumn and political season, it is good to keep in mind the biggest issue facing us on the planet is climate change. It trumps all else and absolutely must be dealt with by the human species. This is a critical time to be involved. Make sure your representatives know how you feel about the issue and vote for the candidates who are taking this issue seriously.

More New York Thoughts

Well, it has been a week since the World Science Festival and I am still buzzin' with all the excitement generated by this first and probable annual event. Here are a couple images of Dr. Richard Leakey and myself, Bernie Krause and his lovely wife Kat. What a great time in New York City for science.

World Science Festival Notes

Yes, that is me speaking at the World Science Friday evening. Nice to have a huge screen for my images, all the fantastic help, and, of course, the latest technology.

Wow. Just returned from the five day festival in NYC which was one of the true highlights of my life. Every event sold out, lines around the block for tickets, and 100,000 people out for the street fair at NYU.

My event entitled the "Sixth Extinction" was remarkable. I spoke for about ten minutes on climate change and sailing through the NW Passage last summer at the moment in time when the Arctic's summer sea ice disappeared for the first time in recorded history. I followed paleontologist, Dr. Richard Leakey, oceanographer, Dr. Ellen Prager, with audio historian, Bernie Krause, in turn, following me.

What a special evening. Sold out crowd at Columbia University and a round table discussion followed our individual presentations. Special time with special people.

I want to thank the entire WSF staff, from top to bottom, for the tremendous work you accomplished and the great success achieved. Not only were you very professional, Id have to say you were all quite fun. Cheers mates!

I will continue to post links and quotes from the various sources who covered the event from Science Magazine, NY Times and ABC News amongst others. This was truly a remarkable event to be involved with and quite an honor to say the least.
Enjoy the reading and I will keep compiling!

Live links-
Science Magazine
NY Times
Science Festival News Links

World Science Festival

Exciting news! I will be a featured speaker at the World Science Festival in NYC, speaking at Columbia University on Friday evening, May 30th. This is the first of its kind event and I will tell of my adventure through the NW Passage and the disappearance of the ice in the Arctic Ocean. It is a great honor, and quite humbling, to be selected to speak with Dr. Richard Leakey and other renowned scientists, artists, actors, etc, at this event.

Here is my event listing. Clicking on any of the highlighted links will take you to the official website. Thanks for checking it out.

Friday, May 30, 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM , Columbia University - Miller Theatre

Celebrated paleontologist and conservationist Richard Leakey sounds the alarm: life on Earth is under siege. From disappearing bees and deformed frogs to diseased crops, the evidence is everywhere. Leakey is joined by famed oceanographer Sylvia Earle, who takes us underwater for an equally vivid call to arms.

Featuring presentations of sounds now extinct from the wild, as well as recent video footage from the Arctic, this astonishing and moving picture of the planet today presents in no uncertain terms what’s at stake in the fight to preserve our planet’s rich biodiversity.

Participant(s):

• Sylvia Earle
  

  Sylvia Earle is an oceanographer, marine botanist, ecologist, and writer. The National Geographic Society's explorer-in-residence since 1998, she tirelessly works for the preservation and exploration of the world's marine ecosystems. She has led more than 50 expeditions and spent more than 6,500 hours of her life underwater.

• Bernie Krause
  

  Bernie Krause is a bioacoustician — an expert on the sounds of nature — who has traveled the world recording and archiving the sounds of endangered creatures and environments. He is President and CEO of Wild Sanctuary, Inc., one of the world’s largest archives of natural sounds.

• Richard Leakey
  

  Paleontologist Richard Leakey’s discoveries have helped shape our understanding of human origins. He is a committed conservationist and staunch advocate for the protection of Kenyan wildlife. A former director of Kenya’s Wildlife Service, he is the author of several books including The Sixth Extinction.

• David Thoreson
  

  David Thoreson is an adventurer, photographer and sailor who has bicycled 10,000 miles around North America; sailed 36,000 miles around the planet; and crossed the Atlantic three times by sail. In the summer of 2007, he completed the Northwest Passage, where he filmed a documentary about the effects of climate change.

Erratic Weather Patterns

Last week, May 2nd, I was driving back to the upper Midwest from Santa Fe, NM, and listening to "The Weather Makers," by Tim Flannery on my iPod. This is an amazing piece of work on how the climate works and how we have gotten to this point in our history.

As I drove along the eastern plains of the Rockies the wind began to blow and I altered course to get to the interstate ASAP. Winds built to @70 mph and I could not help to think how crazy this was to listen to this book about weather patterns changing while the weather patterns were changing.

Near the lovely hamlet of Limon, CO, I nearly got my truck ripped apart by a gust the Weather Channel later reported to be over 90 mph. Soon it began to snow and a blizzard began out of nowhere, this on May 2nd mind you.

I managed to turn around and inch back to Limon and hit happy hour with the ranchers at the South Side Tavern. I was happy to be in for sure. I could not help overhearing a rancher next to me state, "this has been the windiest spring I can ever remember." This to me is more evidence, "folk evidence," as I like to call it of our climate changing.

I later learned there was a record number of tornadoes ahead of this violent system and four feet of snow in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Very interesting times we live in to be sure.

Issues Making Sense

Journal Entry- Tuesday, February 5, 2008.

It is all making sense now. Linkage. It is important to pull little bits out over time and connect them. Yesterday I posted something very interesting which has been gnawing at me for some time like a carcass left out in Nunavut.

Tipping points. We are seeing them NOW.



Published on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 by The Independent/UK
Scientists Identify ‘Tipping Points’ of Climate Change
by Steve Connor

Nine ways in which the Earth could be tipped into a potentially dangerous state that could last for many centuries have been identified by scientists investigating how quickly global warming could run out of control.

Professor Lenton added: “But we should be prepared to adapt, and to design an early-warning system that alerts us to them in time.”

Irreversible changes

* Arctic sea ice: some scientists believe that the tipping point for the total loss of summer sea ice is imminent.
* Greenland ice sheet: total melting could take 300 years or more but the tipping point that could see irreversible change might occur within 50 years.
* West Antarctic ice sheet: scientists believe it could unexpectedly collapse if it slips into the sea at its warming edges.
* Gulf Stream: few scientists believe it could be switched off completely this century but its collapse is a possibility.
* El Niño: the southern Pacific current may be affected by warmer seas, resulting in far-reaching climate change.
* Indian monsoon: relies on temperature difference between land and sea, which could be tipped off-balance by pollutants that cause localized cooling.
* West African monsoon: in the past it has changed, causing the greening of the Sahara, but in the future it could cause droughts.
* Amazon rainforest: a warmer world and further deforestation may cause a collapse of the rain supporting this ecosystem.
* Boreal forests: cold-adapted trees of Siberia and Canada are dying as temperatures rise.

Booby Traps and Tipping Points

The 2007 Time Magazine book on global warming was one of the best all round features on the issues I have seen to date. We all tend to think of natural history moving at small, incremental, and glacially-slow speeds, but recent revelations suggest otherwise. This quote has stuck with me:

"Global climate systems are booby-trapped with tipping points and feedback loops, thresholds past which the slow creep of environmental decay gives way to sudden and self-perpetuating collapse." 2007 Time Magazine special edition on global warming.