[SEMCO] Gordon Hamilton to speak July18 on Shrinking Polar Ice Sheets

[Melissa Lowe]

For Immediate Release:									Contacts:	
June 28, 2007				Melissa Lowe (Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary): 508 349-2615

"On Thin Ice": Scientist Who Discovered Accelerated Melting of Greenland Glaciers to Speak at Mass Audubon

South Wellfleet, MA. - Dr. Gordon Hamilton of University of Maine's Climate Change Institute will be speaking at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on Wednesday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. Dr. Hamilton, along with Ph.D. Student Leigh Sterns, discovered the accelerated melting of glaciers in Greenland. The Greenland Ice Sheet is particularly vulnerable to collapse, as are coastal portions of West Antarctica. The Greenland Ice Sheet contains enough water that if completely melted would raise global sea levels by ~7 meters. While such a scenario seems rather extreme, partial collapses may result in a devastating 1-2 meter rise in sea level. 

In this presentation on July 18, Dr. Hamilton will review the science that is changing the way we think about polar ice sheets and highlight the work his team is doing in Greenland and Antarctica.

This presentation the first in a series of public lectures hosted on Wednesday evenings in July and August by the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. All talks start at 7:30 p.m. and are held at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Cost per talk is $5 for Mass Audubon members and $7 for nonmembers. Registration is not required. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. For more information call 508-349-2615. Other talks in the series are:

		July 25		Turtle Gardens: Landscaping for Turtles with Barbara Brennessel, Wheaton College 
		August 1	The Living Salt Marsh with John Teal, Salt Marsh Ecologist and Tim Traver, Author
		August 8	Underwater Sounds of Fishes, with Rodney Rountree, UMASS Amherst 
		August 15	Restoring the Herring River with John Portnoy, CCNS Ecologist and Gordon Hamilton
		August 22	Trials and Tribulations of Migrant Songbirds with Dr. John Kricher, Wheaton College
August 29	Terns of Chatham with Ian Nisbet, Ornithologist and USFWS Monomoy Refuge staff

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The Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is located on the west side of Route 6, immediately north of the Eastham/Wellfleet town line.  Trails are open daily 8 am to dusk.  Sanctuary admission is free for members; $5 adults, $3 children for non-members. Call (508) 349-2615 for information.


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Melissa Lowe, Education Coordinator
Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
PO Box 236, South Wellfleet, MA 02663
mlowe at massaudubon.org
508-349-2615, ext 107

Protecting the Nature of Massachusetts
www.massaudubon.org/wellfleetbay