Shivering teacher tells class about climate change

NEW YORK — Global warming was the topic, but one eighth-grader from Harlem posed a question that his teacher could answer with firsthand knowledge:

"Would it be easy for a kid to live in Antarctica?"

Science teacher Shakira Petit stamped her feet for warmth in the minus 7-degree weather of her surroundings and shook her head.

"There are no children here. It's all scientists," she said during a videoconference Tuesday with her students and others participating in a program sponsored by the New York-based nonprofit Global Nomads Group.

Petit, who teaches at the Promise Academy charter school, is spending two months in Antarctica to conduct climate-change research with The Offshore New Harbor Project in Antarctica. She's participating in the research expedition through Global Nomads.

Bundled in a hooded parka, boots and gloves, Petit told the students about icebergs and rising sea levels. She also pointed out various features of Antarctica's McMurdo Station, such as supply buildings, trucks with big snow tires and a cross in memory of explorer Robert F. Scott.