According to presentations at the Alaska Forum on the Environment (still going on in Anchorage), it is expected that the Arctic will be ice-free by the end of the century. While increasing temperatures were predicted 25 years ago, no one expected it to be so fast.

Shipping will be able to use the Arctic Ocean year-round. However, the melt will go somewhere -- and areas like New Orleans will be where the water goes.

Crabs and other critters that need an ice cover during part of the year aren't thriving, while other species such a pink salmon are moving farther northward. Permafrost temperatures have increased two degrees at a depth of 20 meters. Arctic forests aren't growing as quickly as was predicted, while shrubs are doing very very well.

Global warming is a fact. What is in debate is the cause and what, if anything, we can do other than accept it.