The Ice Blog hasn’t been updated for a few days, but only because of technical problems, not a lack of stories, I could have been writing non-stop.
It will take a while to catch up, but I have to start with sharing my “small world” story with you.
I was on the plane (sorry, yes, but for a greater cause…) to Barcelona for the IUCN World Conservation Congress.

(I know this is a boat, not a plane, but it is all related. Bear with me – and see below):

(This is the TARA, a famous Arctic research vessel, far from the Arctic, but still in the service of publicising global warming, open to the public at the IUCN congress in Barcelona).

Meanwhile, back on that plane: I got talking to my neighbour from the USA, who was also heading for the event. He turned out to be Gary Braasch, a nature photographer who is now dedicating almost his entire work to photographically documenting and publishing climate change.
The climate photographer’s global warming website
He told me how he became so concerned about global warming back in the 1990s that he decided to start working on that theme – and has never stopped since.
He got his latest book out of his bag to let me have a look.
Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World (University of California Press).
I am trying to acquire a copy. The photos are great – and the information, as far as I can judge from a skim on the way to Barcelona – is thorough but readable.
“Oh, the inevitable polar bear”, I said.
“I’ve got much more beautiful pics of polar bears” – says Gary.
“But they’ll be on ice, this one’s on land, because his seea ice is melting away” – says IQ.
“Exactly”, says Gary, evidently pleased to be sitting beside a kindred spirit.
His picture reminded me of a segment from an interview I had just been editing, with the ornithologist and indirect climate change monitor George Divoky.
George Divoky and Friends of Cooper Island
George told me in the interview that the sea ice was on the retreat, the permafrost of his island was melting and his campsite was being visited too frequently by polar bears who wouldn’t have touched it with a bear-claw before.
I told Gary the story.
“That’s George’s camp” – he said. “That’s where I took that picture – and we had to call search and rescue because of the bear”.
A small planet indeed.

This is some of the flotilla of sailing boats that brought committed conservationists to Barcelona in Spain for the IUCN congress. Not a bad idea. It drew loads of spectators down to the port for the “Sailing to Barcelona” parade and boat village, where they could visit the research boats and find out about scientific research.
My colleague Nina Haase and I were guests on board the “Garlaban”, which is chartered for marine research by the “Institut Océanographique Paul Ricard”. Thanks again to the Institute’s President Patricia Ricard our skipper “Jacqui” for letting us be on the boat and record interviews with the scientists and crew for our report on “Sailing to Barcelona” for the environment.
All about the marine research of the institute

This polar bear (Ursus maritimus), is pictured on the pack ice in the Arctic circle. The photo is from WWF.
(c) WWF / www.JSGrove.com

more on the photographer

I read a story about a whole group of polar bears, said to be swimming for their lives off the coast of Alaska. I asked my colleague Emily Schwing in Alaska if she had any more background. She agreed to send us her own guest blog entry. Here it comes:

On August 16th, nine polar bears were sighted swimming in the open waters of the Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska. Federal observers were conducting aerial surveys when they spotted the bears swimming more than 15 miles off shore. One bear was sighted nearly 65 miles off the coast and some of the animals were reported swimming north.

Environmentalists argue the recent sighting could indicate that polar bears are opting to take longer, more dangerous, energy demanding swims in search of land or stable sea ice. Sea ice coverage in the Artic was reported at a record low in 2007 raising serious questions about the extent of polar bear habitat available to the marine mammal. Polar bears depend on sea ice as a way to hunt ringed seals and other prey.

Between 1987 and 2003, only 12 bears were observed swimming in open water. But in 2004, 51 bears were found swimming in the open ocean. That same year, four polar bears were found drowned in the Beaufort Sea following a storm. The fate of the nine bears sighted last week is unknown.

According to biologists with the US Geological Survey, polar bears are very strong swimmers, but distances of 50 to 100 miles could be exhausting for the animal. Scientists and environmentalists alike speculate that as sea ice continues to decline, events like this could happen more often

Federal marine contractor, Science Applications International Corp was conducting the aerial surveys for the Minerals Management Service, which leased 2.76 million acres offshore for future oil and gas development in February. The surveyors were looking for whales and other marine mammals when they spotted the polar bears.

The US department of the Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in May of this year, after a large body of scientific information indicated that arctic sea ice will continue to decline.

The state of Alaska, under Governor Sarah Palin is currently suing the US Federal Government over the listing of the bear citing a lack of strong scientific data and information that relies on too broad a timescale.

And this is Emily’s own blog

And if anyone hears any more about those bears, please let us know. You can put the comment on the blog or send a mail to features@dw-world.de

Emily found this interesting bear story on the reuters website and promises more on US and Canadian attitudes towards polar bears in the near future.

Canadians concerned about polar bears and climate change

Would you really want to give up areas like this:

To get more of this – at all costs?

Polls show that the economy and the high price of gasoline are the most important issues for American voters in the run-up to the Presidential election on November 4th. And the oil issue really seems to have taken over the campaigns of both candidates. John McCain has been pushing nuclear energy and more offshore oil drilling. Barack Obama has been doing the opposite – except that he seems to be bowing to pressure somewhat by saying he would agree to some drilling after all. Come on Barack, stick to your principles! Meanwhile, John McCain has livened up the debate – and attracted a whole new group of voters to the climate and energy issue – by drawing Paris Hilton into it all. He used pictures of her and Britney Spears in a television spot, aimed at attacking the “celebrity” cult around his rival Obama. Paris Hilton has had her “revenge” in her own spoof election ad – with her campaigning for President.
The New Candidate (just for fun)
On the serious side, the issue of expanding drilling is getting increasingly worrying. Polls suggest two-thirds of Americans would support lifting the current federal moratorium, which has been in place for 27 years. President Bush has called on Congress to lift its ban on drilling in the outer continental shelf and the Alaskan wildlife reserve. The problem is that people are looking for a quick way to reduce their fuel bills. Short of reducing consumption, there is none.

How do you like this version of a classic American poster? (And Obama’s campaign slogan).

Barack Obama mentioned the need for global action on climate change during his speech in Berlin last night. During the day, tourists and other visitors to the famous Brandenburg Gate met some unexpected characters – WWF campaigners dressed up as polar bears.

(Photos taken by Andreas Eister for WWF).
In a recent study conduced by WWF, the USA takes last place amongst the G8 countries in a climate policy ranking list.
There are high hopes that things will change after the election in November.
I’m putting a link here to the WWF Germany article on this. Unfortunately, it’s only available in German. Dear WWF, things like this are of wider interest, and Obama’s trip is making headlines around the world. Wouldn’t it be worth having your account and photos of a campaign like this available in English?
WWF Germany sends “polar bears” to welcome Obama

Today is the end of the cruise…

but definitely not the end of our voyage!

Sad, but full of motivation and inspiration, we left the ship today in the morning.
The last week was a lifetime experience for all of us and now we are all just about to start establishing our global movement against climate change!

We are still in Longyearbyen today, and tomorrow we are all heading back to Oslo.

This morning we had a very interesting lecture by Jack Kohler. He is something like a god amongst the glaciologists. He told us that all glaciers are melting all over Svalbard, at an increasing rate. We are not only seeing these trends here, but also in the rest of the world. And learning about this has been our challenge – our role is to be communicators about the impacts of climate change, whether this is melting glaciers, the extinction of the King of the North Pole (the polar bear), or how the effects here represent the potential global catastrophe if we do not take the initiative and act now.

Although our time here together is coming to the end, this is by no means the last you will here from us. ‘Us’ being not only the 18 voyage participants, but the other hundreds of thousands of concerned people who are ready for a global shift. Like never before are we going to talk and work on this issue, in order to protect, you, me, the planet and the many other people who unfortunately have no voice in this matter. Personally I cannot wait for the next chapter of this movement, and I’d love for you all to join me. You can keep updated with what we are up to by continuing to reading our blogs. Even better, I’d love to be reading about what you too are up to. Inspire me to inspire others.

And thanks to Timm Christmann from WWF for taking the pictures!!