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Voyage of discovery

Wed., Dec. 9, 2009

The Spokesman-Review

Early this year I spent five weeks traveling in the Southern Hemisphere on a small science-oriented expedition ship that was in part sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and the Explorers Club. With my own eyes and ears I learned that the glaciers in southern Chile and Argentina are, in fact, retreating at an alarming rate.

After crossing some of the most fearsome seas on Earth to reach South Georgia Island in the sub-Antarctic I learned that the same is true in that distant and remarkable place.

To anyone in Spokane who has been taken in by covert coal company disinformation and partisan political rants about climate change, may I offer a thoughtful conversation over coffee about what is actually happening in this warming world.

Leland Alkire

Spokane

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