Regarding Must View which presents the following subject http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc4OzpgTOhk, I would like to add the following comments which might be considered Off-Topic, so I am posting it here.

I'm not a scientist, but I've been interested in this subject for 30+ years and have studied and continue to study the subject. I know that this is a political issue, but it is one that effects the planet earth, and not only birders, but all of humanity. It deals with the fact that if something isn't done, and done soon, that our planet will fail to exist as we know it now causing problems for humans, plants, and animals.

It is very scary, but nothing new to me. I studied about the greenhouse effect and global melting in Environmental Geology at the University of Houston back in 1980. Yes, we need a certain amount of the "greenhouse effect" to keep our planet warm, but too much can cause an increases in global temperatures, thus causing for melting of the glaciers. The "enhanced greenhouse effect" is the one that we have to worry about today. It is caused by an excess of gases being released into the atmosphere thereby increasing the temperature of the earth's climate.

About 14,000 years ago or so, during the Pleistocene Glacier the average world climate was only about 6° cooler than it is today. So it wouldn't take much to increase the average world climate to cause for the continued melting of the glaciers. And if you look at a map of the world, you will see most of the world's major cities are located on water ways. A slight increase in temperatures can easily cause for flooding of these cities.

I was recently in Alaska and went out on a boat to "see" the glaciers. At Portage Lake, where there used to be several glaciers that fed into the lake, there is only one left today, Portage Glacier, and that is receding.

Why are people just now getting so excited about it when it has been talked about for years? We need to get something done before it is too late for future generations. There are a lot of ways that this problem can be taken care of including decreasing our carbon dioxide emissions which have steadily been increasing in the atmosphere over the last three centuries due to the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and land-use change. This is just one way of helping. Do some research and become politically active to help our planet earth.