Life at the poles takes place at a delicate balance near freezing temperatures. Things change immensely when it’s just a few degrees warmer or cooler because that means the difference between ice and water, Divoky said. So the poles can show the first effects of global warming.

One such effect is that mathematical models predict the sea level will rise by 1 meter in the next 100 years, Brigham-Grette said. One in six people on the planet live within 1 meter of sea level, she said.

“The consequences of that, the cost of that has not been revealed,” she said.

Scientists agree that global warming is happening, and nearly all agree it can be attributed to human causes, Licht said.

“That’s not the question,” she said. “The question is how are we going to deal with that in the future.”

The earth does go through cyclical changes, but the changes it’s going through now are very unusual, she said.

“It’s the rate of change that’s surprising — so fast,” she said. The scientists don’t know everything, but there’s enough information to act on, she said.

Brigham-Grette said Polar-Palooza will show the changes the climate is facing, but it isn’t all “doom and gloom.”

“There are ways of adapting, but we have to be smart,” she said. “… Business as usual is going to have consequences.”

Julianna Parker366-3541jparker@normantranscript.com