World View of Global Warming

Polar Thaw

"Polar Thaw" a 30-print exhibit of photographs from locations of Arctic and Antarctic climate warming, opened spring 2000 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington DC. It has also been exhibited at the Science Museum of Minnesota, and is at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago during fall 2003

This exhibit, with detailed, informative captions, is available for display in museums, science centers, public libraries, and other funded venues. For more information, see the "Polar Thaw" information page or visit

http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/polar/polarinx.asp.

National Science Foundation icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer cruises at dusk in the Antarctic Peninsula, on a study of disintegrating ice shelves. Print from "Polar Thaw" exhibit (see below).

Caribou of the Porcupine Herd in the U.S. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, during their annual migration. This herd and other large mammals are threatened by changes to arctic ecosystems due to the warmest temperatures in at least 400 years. Print from "Polar Thaw" exhibit.

POLAR THAW: Global Warming in the Arctic and Antarctic

• An exhibit on early yet powerful effects of climate change in the polar regions.
  
• Thirty large color prints, mounted, captioned, and ready to hang.
  
• For science museums, technology centers, and other public venues.
  
• Sponsored by Natural Resources Defense Council. http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/polar/polarinx.asp
  
• First shown at American Association for the Advancement of Science Gallery,
  Washington D.C., spring 2000.

For details on how to lease this exhibit, see below and contact Gary Braasch, info@worldviewofglobalwarming.org or Jo Krinn, jkrinn@nrdc.org

Background to the exhibit and the facts of climate change at the poles.

The last years of the 20th Century were the warmest years of the past thousand, and the first years of the 21st continue a long-term trend toward a much warmer climate. Scientists report that since the mid 1970s, the average global surface temperature has increased at a rate of more than .2° C per decade.

The IPCC international science study of climate change predicts readings will be 2-6° C higher by 2100 if emissions of heat trapping industrial gases are not reduced. By comparison, the world has warmed by 5 - 9° C since the depths of the last ice age, about 18,000 years ago. The same climate models predictive of temperature rise also show the atmosphere heating faster at the poles than other places on the planet.

The polar regions have been terra incognita for scientists and the holy grail for explorers since the 16th century. Although the days of Hudson, Cook, Shackleton, Amudsen, Byrd, Nansen and Peary are gone, the quest for knowledge in these forbidding climes has not ended. New mysteries such as climate changes have drawn scientists to the high latitudes.

Photographs from the World View of Global Warming are available for license to publications needing science photography, environmental groups and agencies, and other uses. Stock photography and assignments available.

Please contact  requestinformation@worldviewofglobalwarming.org or Gary Braasch Photography (503) 699-6666.

Use of photographs in any manner, in part or whole, without permission is prohibited by US copyright law. These photographs are registered with the US Copyright Office and are not in the Public Domain.

Gary Braasch, Photographer PO Box 1465 Portland, OR 97207 USA USA Phone: 503.699.6666 Cell: 503.860.1228