I've got something of an unhealthy obsession with the ends of the earth.  Since contracting the "arctic fever" (as those in the know have come to call it) on climate change science and arts voyage from Svalbard to Greenland in the fall of 2007, I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to get back to the North.  In the meantime, I settle for whatever writing, photos, videos, or discussion I can find about the poles.  It's typically a pretty thin diet--an article here, a poorly produced public television segment there.  Imagine my delight, then, when I caught word of Polar-Palooza--something of an online portal and traveling roadshow featuring a wealth of info and multimedia presentations that highlight the importance of the poles on the entire Earth's system, while also delving deep into the effects of climate change on the regions. 

Lucky for me, and all New Yorkers, Polar-Palooza came to the Big Apple this past weekend, settling in at the American Museum of Natural History and punctuated by a Times Talk on Saturday featuring the Times' own Andy Revkin and a cast of polar and climate experts.  

At AMNH, a Polar Fair filled the Grand Gallery with displays of arctic ice melt, the aurora borealis, exhibits of traditional indigenous life in the far north, and the science of a warming planet.  In the nearby Kaufman and Linder theaters, speakers talked of exploration and climate research and the forced adaptation of communities in these extreme environments. 

Revkin's Times Talk, titled "Stories from a Changing Planet," was a sort of "greatest hits" collection for the whole weekend, bringing together four of the most charismatic and entertaining presenters in Polar-Palooza's catalog.  The dynamic, multimedia event featured Richard Alley, Penn State glaciologist and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change co-author (the IPCC was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore); Mary C. Albert, U.S. lead scientist on the 2008 traverse of East Antarctica; Michael Castellini, seal and penguin expert, and Orville Huntington, an Athabascan Indian from interior Alaska, who sees climate change every day as he hunts and fishes.

If climate science ever got its fair share of attention in our cultural consciousness, Richard Alley would be a household name.  Few scientists are as entertaining, clear, and authoritative as he is.  Not afraid to break into song or dance to better explain these concepts that (let's admit) often induce a glaze over audiences' eyes.   ("A cross between Woody Allen and Carl Sagan" is how Revkin has described him.)  In his years teaching at Penn State, Dr. Alley has clearly spent some time figuring out how to make the subjects "pop" for students.  But don't take it from me.  Watch Dr. Alley in a Polar-Palooza presentation from 2007 as he explains how the Earth's ice ages and warming intervals actually do prove that greenhouse gasses have a warming effect.  (The point of natural variance being one that's often employed by deniers and skeptics.)  

Bringing focus down to ground level, Mary Albert spoke of the three-month scientific trek that she lead across East Antarctica, a place where ice sits two to three miles thick.  Drilling ice cores along the way, the team gathered samples that can trace back ten thousand years, providing vital data in the examination of the Antarctic ice shelf over past periods of climate change, which can then be used to help model future conditions.  Michael Castinelli talked about the wildlife on both poles, investigating the health of marine mammals and discussing the imminent threat to their habitats.  

Shifting from hard science to  culture, Orville Huntington brought us to his village of Huslia, in the Koyukuk River valley, a "place of many spirits," and also a place that has seen temperatures rise by 6.5 degrees over the past 50 years.  Precipitation is down, and more frequent fires that are changing the ways his people go about their lives.  A photo of a tree that had long been considered the strongest of the area, showed that it was dying.  "We're not going to have conifers anymore.  And we build our homes from them." Video of Huntington and his neighbors on hiking and fishing trips revealed faltering ecosystems and populations (like the vital salmon run) collapsing.  

I often feel that the more you know about climate science, the more pessimistic (or terrified, perhaps) you are about the future.  It was refreshing, and more than a little bit relieving, then, to gather the collective sense of hope from the assembled experts.  Scientifically speaking, we can avoid the worst fates of climate change.  Now it's up to the politicians and the public.  

Polar-Palooza has video podcasts online, including some featuring the speakers mentioned here.  Check out Orville Huntington in his element and Mary Albert on her expedition.