Eric Rock

© Natural Habitat Adventures Expedition Leader Eric Rock

Scientists can now measure individuals’ direct contributions to global climate change—and the results are staggering.

According to a recent paper published in the journal Science (yes, that’s “science”), lead author Dirk Notz calculates that for every person who drives a car 2,500 miles or takes a round-trip flight from New York to London, the one ton of greenhouse gases emitted results in three square meters of sea ice vanishing from the Arctic. That is approximately 32 square feet! And for the average U.S. family, well, kiss a football field’s worth of Arctic sea ice goodbye every 30 years.

Credit: NASA

© NASA

Go tell that to a polar bear!

All is not lost, though! Now, more than ever, we can—and have to—embrace our own inner low carbon economy, which also has myriad other benefits even if climate change was not occurring. From insulating our homes and changing all of our light bulbs to LEDs (which also have significant cost savings) to supporting local energy efficiency and renewable energy development, we can all take measures in our daily lives to help reduce the negative social and environmental impacts associated with fossil fuel extraction.

National Geographic; Paul Nicklen

© Paul Nicklen, National Geographic

And when it comes time to travel…really, do go tell it to a polar bear. Or rather, experience their majesty in the wild and learn about their plight and fight for survival. You can learn firsthand about the incredible work that World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and their conservation travel partner, Natural Habitat Adventures, are doing on one of their life-changing Churchill Polar Bear tours.