Copenhagen Climate Summit

Leaders and passersby of the Copenhagen Climate Summit would be hard pressed not to notice the growing crowd around a large, bronze, ice-covered polar bear skeleton melting under the elements. The Summit brought together more than 115 world leaders to discuss our earths changing climate, and the animals like polar bears who are already paying the price. While hundreds of topics were brought up and hashed out, the list was reduced to a few hard-to-ignore topics which leaders could then discuss in greater detail. The list includes the Kyoto Protocol, the possibility of a climate treaty, climate finance sources, emissions reduction, and deforestation. For the full list and details check out this great story from the UK Guardian.



Now, back to the polar bear sculpture itself. As soon as the sculpture was erected I was watching the live stream and getting teary-eyed at its awe inspiring symbolism. Yes, there was a live stream set up 24/7 so that interested patrons from all over the world could literally watch the polar melt little by little. The sculptures creator, Mark Coreth was first inspired to create the bear skeleton and its icy fur after an eye opening trip to a Northern Canadian island where he witnessed and learned about melting arctic climates. Several prominent figures publicized the sculpture, most notably British actor Stephen Fry who was eloquently quoted saying "Polar bears and their habitat should be meltingly beautiful, not melting away,"

Read more about the Ice Bear and Copenhagen Climate Summit here, and here.

Grin And Bear It

This is a great article I read about a former polar bear keeper at the Calgary zoo, in the Calgary Herald. She did a study on bear behavior, due to the odd depression-like behavior of one of her polar bears in the 90s, and has been studying such behavior ever since. I think studies like this are so important, there is not nearly enough studies being done on things like animal emotions. She discusses polar bear depression and "polar bear prozac", definitely worth a read. Perhaps the more scientific research we can compile on how much these guys FEEL, the more world governments will be inclined to care for their potentially nonexistent futures.

Grin and Bear It

Another good arctic-related story I read was a blog on Reuters about the UN climate talks starting in Bonn and the colorful protests commencing outside. I agree with the blogger, the cactus is my favorite.

Polar Bears and a Cactus Urge Climate Action in Bonn