20130130_JL

Source: Weather Channel

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q_oPjIbGRM

Date: 30/01/2013

Event: WWF's Jim Leape: In near term risks from global warming, "polar bears are right up front"

Attribution: Weather Channel

People:

• Mike Bettes: Meteorologist, Weather Channel
• Jim Cantore: Meteorologist, Weather Channel
• Maria LaRosa: Meteorologist, Weather Channel
• Jim Leape: Director General, WWF

Jim Cantore: Well, I think some of the new information that's come out, certainly, Maria, of course, in our country - and this is not just about the United States here, it's about the entire globe - but certainly in our country, to see us break a record by a whole degree is an alarm. And that's something, obviously, that's a big statistic that's come out and through here. But, you know, it not only means impacts to us as humans but also to the animals and to nature itself. I want to bring in Jim Leape, who's the Director General of the World Wildlife Federation [sic]. Jim, thanks for joining us. When you think of wildlife in general, is it still the polar bears that are most at risk, here? In the near term?

Jim Leape: In the near term, polar bears are right up front. I think we're going to see - we're already seeing ice rapidly disappearing from the Arctic. But it's also important to remember they're the first of what will be many more to come, unless we control climate change.

Jim Cantore: Yeah, but you look at just the last few years of ice melt, over the Arctic. I mean, are they adapting? What are you seeing in their habits? Are we losing them? Or...

Jim Leape: Well, what you see is ice disappearing much faster than scientists predicted, even a few years ago. And that is cause for alarm, and makes us realise that actually, in the quite near future, ice could disappear almost altogether. And we need to be focussing now on: how do we protect what will be left, to make sure that polar bears still have a home.

Jim Cantore: Right now, the current projection, just for everybody at home, is a potential ice-free summer by 2022, which is, you know, right out there. So should that happen, you know, could the polar bears adapt to something or not? They really need the ice...

Jim Leape: Well, what we're looking at are - we've identified the region which is most likely to have ice, as that melt happens. Then we're working with partners like Coca Cola and with governments to figure out how that area can be protected.

Jim Cantore: This actually leads me to my next question. Companies really seem to be willing to help, I mean, and nobody cannot see the polar bear at Christmas drinking the Coke, if they just close their eyes for a second. But it's more than that. I mean, they really - they really want to help, don't they?

Jim Leape: They really want to help. In the case of Coca Cola, I mean it's partly wanting to help the polar bear, and that comes in a context of a broader commitment to doing their part to reduce emissions. And you see many other companies stepping up to begin to take action on this problem, and that's an important part of getting to a solution.

Jim Cantore: Right, other animals, plants... Can they adapt to the change?

Jim Leape: Well, if temperatures continue to rise on [sic] the pace we've now set, they're no better off. What happens to other ecosystems around the world? Clearly one of the first to go will be coral reefs, because of the twin threats of temperature change and acidification of the oceans. But then, you know, it will rapidly roll out to other ecosystems. If you live in the American West, you see the pine bark beetle killing trees on a massive scale. And that's the kind of thing you expect to happen with a changing climate.

Jim Cantore: And now - but on that same note, too we open up new areas. Permafrost areas will become areas that will grow, they'll have seasons, right?

Jim Leape: Yes. Yes. And there are all sorts of risks, of course, that come with that. You begin to melt the permafrost, you begin to release methane into the atmosphere, a very powerful forcer of climate change -

Jim Cantore: So this is really uncharted territory for plants, animals, humans.

Jim Leape: I think that's the biggest message, right? We're headed into huge upheaval, and we don't really know how it will unfold, but we know it could be catastrophic unless we find a way to bend the curves.

Jim Cantore: Jim Leape, thanks for your time, we appreciate that. All right guys, certainly a lot to adapt to, not only for us as humans but, as Jim was mentioning, plants and animals as well. Maria, back to you.

Maria LaRosa [in the studio]: All right Jim, thank you.

Mike Bettes [in the studio]: Jim, real quick before we let you go. Any talk about just human population, and how that's impacting the change in climate across the world?

Jim Cantore: There's no question, there's a lot of people in this world, and the human population's only going to go up, as we on the timeline, so the fact that we are helping or contributing certainly to the CO2 process - and Jim talked about that, as well - we need to curb the emissions.