This course will explore how these changes are having such a significant impact on our weather. From longer hotter summers and ice ages the large changes in climate drove the patterns of the movement of early humans from Africa to the European regions. The limitation of arctic cold during the Ice Age kept Humans out of the far north. However in the Asian areas where the animals the humans hunted moved north, the humans followed and adapted. They even found a frozen bridge that brought them to the American continents where most moved south. Some remained in the cold northern regions but were not really recognized until much later when European explorers attempted to explore the far northern regions of the planet. The history of Europeans who explored and exploited the north was filled with brave and tragic events as they met the tangle of ice and land. Later they explored the southern ice cover pole. As our knowledge of both Polar Regions expanded, we now understand enough to realize how rapidly these cold regions are changing. We will explore how these changes impact the distribution of precipitation, wind, and heat. Since the ice in the polar areas contains enough water that if added to the oceans Florida and major coastal cities would be under water. Since we are on a path that could lead to such sea level rise and is already impacting our weather, it is critical to understand why these changes are happening. Professor Emeritus after 45 years on faculty of Univ. of Virginia where he taught on environmental science and public health. After spending a summer in the Arctic and a year in Norway doing research, Dr. Allen has written papers on the influence of weather and human activities on the Arctic.