The 2018 Scott A. Margolin '99 Lecture in Environmental Affairs

“Changing Poles with Global Impacts” by Robin Bell, PGI Lamont Research Professor at Columbia University

Change in the polar regions is rapid, visual and visceral.  The large ice sheets are retreating and the Arctic sea ice is thinning.  The evidence for change is very robust.  These changes have global impacts from the weird winter weather in New England to the rising sea levels around the globe.  Understanding how these changes will continue in the future and what we can do to minimize future change requires deeper understanding of the basic mechanics of how ice is delivered into the global oceans from the continental scale polar ice factories.  My work has been at the frontiers of how these ice factories function and what will control their future global impacts.  Polar discoveries that matter to our shared global future range from hidden volcanos, lakes the size of New Jersey and rivers that run uphill.   These discoveries will improve our ability to act on polar change reducing the global impacts.