Jennifer Marohasy » Climate-Related Policy Should be Evolutionary Not Presumptive

From this assessment I draw a straightforward conclusion for policy. In a subject area where so much remains uncertain or unknown, today’s confident and far-reaching policy settings should not be taken as given. Policy should be evolutionary, not presumptive; and its evolution should be linked to a process of inquiry, review and advice which is more open, more balanced and more professionally watertight than is now the case. Rather than asserting like Mr Miliband that ‘the science’ is ‘settled’, and building costly, radical and supposedly permanent action programmes on that unwarranted presumption, governments should take steps to ensure that they and their citizens are more fully and more objectively informed and advised.

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David Henderson was the chief economist at the OECD from 1984 to 1992.

To Capture a Polar Bear | Ice Stories: Dispatches From Polar Scientists

It is difficult to study what may be the most mobile mammal on earth; in some areas polar bears have home ranges over 500,000 sq km. Because bears move over such a large area and because they travel on variable sea ice, they are difficult to trap. Instead, finding and darting bears from a low-flying helicopter is the most common capture method.

We are using this helicopter this spring as a platform from which to dart bears. The pilot maneuvers the helicopter low and close to the bear, then a gunner leans out the window on the far side and uses a specialized firearm to shoot a dart into the bear. The dart contains a drug that immobilizes the animal and puts them under anesthesia. Here, the helicopter is parked in front of the lab with covers over the engine and the base of the rotors; space heaters beneath the covers keep critical components warm enough to start in the morning.

We are using this helicopter to aid in spotting bears, and to carry personnel and gear. It is smaller than the darting helicopter. The white tank attached to the belly is an extra fuel tank, giving us an additional 30 minutes or so of flight time.

The sea ice at this time of year is very interesting. Almost the entire Arctic Ocean is frozen over, creating vast ice sheets. Ocean currents and wind push these sheets against each other and they break and crumple into jumbled ridges where they meet. This leaves a totally flat landscape punctuated by randomly-strewn ice chunks, some bigger than houses. It is an otherworldly place to fly over, and to walk through.