Ice Blog

A continuation of The Ice Blog on DW by environment journalist Irene Quaile, @iceblogger
Since my first experiences of hiking in the Alps in the 1970s, I have had a fascination for ice, snow and sky. Later, as an environment journalist with Deutsche Welle, I had my first opportunity to visit the Arctic in 2007. It was the start of the international polar year and Moira Rankine of Soundprint in the USA approached me along with other award-winning science and environment colleagues from international broadcasters with a view to making a series of radio features on the Arctic and the Antarctic. After just one trip, I was hooked. When the snow melts on Svalbard was my first feature for the series. The years that followed took me back to Svalbard, Greenland and – in 2008 – to Arctic Alaska, where the Ice Blog was born. I am fascinated by the fragile beauty of the unique ecosystem, the people who live there, the animals and plants that thrive in the cold. And I am deeply disturbed by the extent to which our behaviour has warmed and goes on warming the planet, endangering the icy regions which play such an important role in regulating the climate all over the globe.
Hooked on the Arctic
2026: Reform the UN COPs but look beyond for rapid climate action
COP30 in Brazil ended without a mention of the need to phase out fossil fuels, in spite of growing damage from climate warming impacts. These UN negotiations have to be reshaped, the influence of the fossil fuel industry reduced while the transition to a low-carbon world speeds on elsewhere.
COP30: Only highest possible ambition can cut global damage from accelerating ice loss
Given the heated times we live in, (in all the senses of the word) it was highly unlikely that this year’s State of the Cryosphere Report would bring good news about the impacts of climate warming on our frozen regions. Global ice loss is not letting up any time soon. On the contrary. Ten years…
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