For all the nay-sayers in the house – yea, you know who you are – scientists have just published more information on global warming’s effects on the polar regions, confirming the sad state of our environment that will probably not heal itself for several millennium.

IPY has provided a critical boost to polar research during a time in which the global environment is changing faster than ever in human history. It now appears clear that the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are losing mass contributing to sea level rise. Warming in the Antarctic is much more widespread than it was thought prior to the IPY, and it now appears that the rate of ice loss from Greenland is increasing.