There's not a lot of encouraging news when you take a close look at the plate of the polar bear and its home in the Arctic.

We're going to lose the Arctic ice cap eventually and that will be a disaster not only for the bears and not only for the whales and not only for the seals,

but will be a disaster for all of us everywhere because we're losing an ecosystem.

I'm Rick Steeves.

Naturalist Richard Alice has been probing the changing world of the polar bear

and he joins us today on Travel with Rick Steves to tell us where things stand for both the wildlife

and for the native people of the Arctic.

He warns that global warming has already accelerated the obliteration of the polar ice cap

and explains what that'll mean for the entire northern hemisphere in just a few more years.

And what's happening to the polar bear is going to... Northern Hemisphere in just a few more years.

And what's happening to the polar bear is going to affect all of us.

Sure, when we travel it takes a toll on our environment.

But when we travel to learn, we can be part of the solution.

And that's our aim in the hour ahead on Travel with Rick Steves.

There may be time to reverse the path global warming's taking from the top down on our planet as today's guest Richard Ellis explains on Travel with Rick Steve's.

He's here to tell us why we've got to take what's happening in the Arctic seriously.

And later in the hour hour we'll take your

calls to hear about the encounters you've enjoyed in your travels. I'm Rick

Steve's thanks for coming along today. Seems like one of the most loveable

creatures on the planet is the polar bear.

Everybody seems to love polar bears and people who care about the environment are realizing that the polar bear's

environment is vanishing.

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