Husky News

Polar Explorer Will Steger is taking his message about global warming solutions on the road. Mike Simonson reports from Superior.

Minnesota native Will Steger has lead dog-sled expeditions to Greenland, the North Pole and the other end of the world, Antarctica for more than 21 years. During that time, he’s seen dramatic changes, changes he believes people in warmer climates will soon be seeing. “I’ve traveled around these great ice shelves in Antarctica. These have disintegrated so anyone that lives in the north, it’s been extremely obvious in the last decade. We’re just starting to see it here now.“ Steger uses the Northwest Passage as an example. For the first time in recorded history, that Arctic area was open for shipping from east to west. He says more extreme conditions are on the way. “To me, it’s a moral issue because we’re going to lose a lot of wildlife plants in the Anarctic: The Polar Bear, the walrus, the ring seal that lives on the ice. In 30 years they just won’t have a habitat.” Global warming expert J. Drake Hamilton with Minneapolis-based “Fresh Energy” is part of Steger’s traveling forums. She says individuals can ease global warming. “Yes, that’s the idea. What the science says is that we all need to reduce oru emissions by about 2% a year. We need to gradually but surely make a transition to clean energy technologies.” Hamilton suggests people turn off their cell phone chargers, TV’s, computers and room lights when they’re not using them and wash clothes in cold water. She says the clothes come out just as clean. The conference starts at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Holiday Inn in downtown Duluth. It’s free and open to everyone.

Source: Business North