Piece Description

In this one-hour special report, hosted by Walter Cronkite, journalist Daniel Grossman travels to the ends of the earth - literally - to gain firsthand accounts of the latest research on the state of the world's ice cover in this new era of climate change. "Meltdown: Inside Out" takes us on a global tour from the massive ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, to tropical mountain glaciers, to the sea ice of the far north and south, introducing us to the leading scientists in the field. Daniel Grossman takes us on the Greenland Ice Sheet, where a team of glaciologists uses a fascinating variety of techniques to investigate recent dramatic changes in the ice sheet's outflow. "Meltdown: Inside Out" next goes high in the Peruvian Andes, where renowned geologist Lonnie Thompson is continuing his 30-year study of Quelccaya, the world?s largest tropical mountain glacier. Thompson explains that Quelccaya has lost 30 percent of its volume in his time there, and will probably be gone by the end of this century. In "Meltdown: Inside Out," we hear the latest projections from scientists at the forefront of climate change study. Daniel Grossman transports us to the Antarctic Peninsula, where researcher Bill Fraser tracks declining penguin populations, then aboard a ship through the Arctic winter to within 800 miles of the North Pole, where we explore the anticipated effects of increased human activity. "Meltdown: Inside Out" is a timely and important program, enhanced with extra materials for your listeners at our website: http://www.insideout.org/documentaries/meltingice/ From the American Academy for the Advancement of Science: "(Meltdown: Inside Out) addresses a complex and very important issue with sophistication and with a very strong grounding in science." http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2008/1112sja.shtml#radio For more information, please contact Namita Raina National Program Administrator WBUR Boston 617-353-8160 nraina@wbur.bu.edu