Polar Plunge news and tips for attending, creating and finding a Plunge...
There are few more photogenic events than a bunch of people jumping in cold water in the winter, and few individuals who look forward to the media spotlight more than politicians. As awareness of global warming has grown exponentially in the past year, many politicians are looking for ways to get involved and show their support - why not let them take the Polar Bear Plunge with you?
We are having great success doing this in Maryland, with a number of county officials, state legislators, and even a member of the Governor's cabinet joining us at our Plunge. (We're still working on Governor O'Malley himself!) One helpful hint: some politicians really fear cold water even more than most, so for any who are, consider suggesting that they be part of the "blanket brigade," staying on shore to hold the blanket and cup of hot cocoa for their fellow legislators who are actually going in. You can get more of them involved this way, build more connections with folks you need to influence, and get more media attention for your Plunge.
Need any additional ideas or sample text for inviting legislators - just drop us a line here at the National Polar Bear Plunge!
Hey, it's no crazier than jumping in a cold body of water in the winter, and at least one Plunge group is going to make their statement on global warming (and raise money) by skiing down a slope in their bathing suits on December 8th!
It also makes sense when you consider that skiing is an important, popular and very visible industry, and last year many ski operators took a financial beating, in the Northeast especially, when temperatures stayed in the 60s and even 70s throughout December and early January. This makes a skiing Plunge an ideal way to promote our message, Keep Winter Cold - Fight Global Warming! (And if there is no snow on the slopes that day, the skiing will be shorter, but the message even more powerful.)
Our good friend Robin Hoek is setting up the skiing Plunge in
Apsen, Colorado, and has enlisted the support of the local ski operators.
To talk to her about how she's done it, and to set up a skiing plunge
yourself, contact Robin at 303.469.0925, or through www.myspace.com/greenactionnetw
Taking nothing away from the huge significance and dire consequences of the Iraq War, and with great applause to all those who organize to stop it (including many of us here at the Polar Bear Plunge), it's hard not to notice the discrepancy between the media and government attention lavished upon the Iraq War, and that given to global warming. As famous environmental author and Step It Up founder Bill McKibben reflected in the Washington Post last week: "Forget the Petraeus report -- what historians will note about September 2007 is that the Northwest Passage was free of ice for the first time since humans started keeping track."
As record arctic ice melt combines with more powerful hurricanes and extreme weather (drought, floods, heat waves) all over the planet, the need for extreme action on global warming - like jumping into a cold body of water in the winter - has never been more urgent. Thanks so much for joining a Plunge near you - or starting one of your own!
Read Bill McKibben's full commentary, with links for Step It Up 2, by clicking here - The Race Against Warming.
As we have often said, there are few better barometers of the advance of global warming than the condition of our polar ice caps.
And once again today, we are confronted with dramatic news that ice is melting - and global warming advancing - much faster than previously thought. As was reported today, the summer ice pack in the Arctic - air conditioner to the planet and home of the majestic polar bear and other equally stunning animals - reached a new record low, smashing the old record set in 2005. Incredibly enough, 69,000 square miles of ice - roughly the same size as the state of Florida - has melted... in just the past seven days!
Read More....
What if winter were no longer cold? What if there was little or no snow for skiing, no hard frosts to kill off insect pests or bring out the sap of a maple tree to make that delicious syrup? How would polar bears and other animals that need the cold survive?
There is no more compelling time keeper of the urgency of climate change than the condition of the Arctic. Sea ice in the Arctic is like Earth's air conditioner - it helps reflect sunlight back into space, as well as regulating the complex pattern of global weather and temperatures.
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