All Blog Posts from Tech Talk

Perhaps not surprisingly, as we observe the 100th anniversary of Robert Peary's claim to have reached the North Pole the controversy attached to it remains. It's a tale complete with courage, intrigue, and possibly even deception. There are countless stories, articles and books about it, and there's not nearly enough room in this blog to get into all the details. Suffice to say, there may always be a differing of opinion when it comes to whether Peary or Frederick Cook reached the Pole first -- or whether either man ever reached it at all. But that's all sort of missing the point.

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A short posting today about a story airing this weekend on CBS Sunday Morning. It's another take on ice (you might remember I did a story in early February pegged to ice in a culinary sense), and this time it's tied to a new Nova/National Geographic special airing next week entitled "Extreme Ice." Photographer James Balog has spent the past two years capturing climate change in "real time" via 27 time-lapse cameras in places like Greenland, Iceland, Alaska and Montana. We also talk to Jim White from the University of Colorado as he analyzes ice core samples and explains how Balog's dramatic photos can provide illumination even for a science community that often gets too fixated on numbers. I hope you'll be watching.

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Working late tonight to finish a story for tomorrow's Early Show about a new warning from scientists about the pace of global warming. The AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) met in Chicago over the weekend and released a dire warning: previous models of industrial greenhouse gas emissions were low, and the feedback loop associated with warming temperatures will only escalate. What does this mean for the planet? You can read more here, and be sure to watch Monday morning.

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Hard to believe it’s been exactly a year since I traveled to the Arctic with our CBS crew – myself, producer Chloe Arensberg and cameraman Mark LaGanga. For those who remember our blog postings, you might also recall another passenger onboard that journey: my father, Doug. To mark the one-year anniversary, I’m posting a “video postcard” that encompasses both our time onboard the ship and some of my father’s history in the Arctic.

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It's been three weeks since we returned from our Arctic adventure, and tonight the first in our series of stories will air on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. There are four parts in total, with the remainder airing tomorrow, Wednesday and Saturday nights. Do these stories aim to solve the severity of global warming? Of course not. They are meant to shed light on an important subject to us all -- climate change -- and how what happens in the Arctic is tied to those of us in the south. It's a journey to the top of the world.

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RESOLUTE, Nunavut, Canada – Nothing about surviving in the High Arctic is easy. From the harsh climes to the isolation to the difficulty getting around, anyone here must contend with a vast expanse of untamed wilderness. Not that you have to tell that to the 229 or so Inuit and scientists who live here. We've been in Resolute for three days now, and as brief (southern) visitors, it'd be difficult to remain much longer. My wool hat's off to those who can make it. After three weeks away from home during this Arctic odyssey, tomorrow we return.

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RESOLUTE, Nunavut, Canada -- Here’s what’s disconcerting: being left with all of your baggage, on a gravel air strip considerably north of the Arctic circle, without a single familiar face around you. Odd after 15 days with the same people, all of them lovely, and seventy-six percent of them named Paul. We’ve just gotten off the ship in Resolute, Nunavut. The area is literally known by its Mars-like terrain. Even NASA acknowledges it.

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RESOLUTE, Nunavit, Canada -- Well, we're officially back on dry land. After a flurry of packing this morning, followed by a round of goodbyes and farewell photos with the scientists and Coast Guard, we then flew by helicopter just a couple miles to Cornwallis Island and the town (hamlet? village?) of Resolute. It was tough to leave the Louis, the place we called home for more than two weeks. It was especially hard to leave my dad. He's staying onboard for the next leg, about a week or so to Kugluktuk. For me, Chloe and Mark, our new surroundings are slightly overwhelming, and we're going to need some time to adjust.

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APPROACHING CORNWALLIS ISLAND -- Yesterday was filled with adventure, from standing atop of a rocky plateau on Devon Island to interviewing the chief mate, Bryon Gibbons, onboard a Zodiac with an iceberg as a backdrop. We even had a chance to (safely) drink water from the iceberg. Magical. See photos.

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With our time on the Louis rapidly coming to a close we’re madly getting as much material on tape as we can. It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we’re just trying to take it all in while we can. Plus the time with my dad, Doug Sieberg, at left, has been so special. He’ll be staying on the Louis until Kugluktuk, and then he may leave the Arctic forever after 30 years of coming here. I feel so lucky to have seen his work firsthand after growing up with stories and photos. Sometimes I think he was born about 200 years too late, with his passion for the open seas and wood-hulled tall ships and the life of a mariner.

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