Topic: Arctic Circle

The Molson Ice Polar Beach Party was a promotional contest that flew 100 winners to the Arctic Circle for a concert featuring Metallica and Hole. The technical crew performed a "cybercast" from the remote location using multiplexed phone lines. Despite being a "dry" oil barracks environment, the event was light for 24 hours a day, with local children riding bikes at midnight.

The Siberian town of Verkhoyansk recorded a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the highest ever recorded in the Arctic Circle. Meteorologists noted that a nearby weather balloon measured 70 degrees a mile up in the atmosphere, supporting the surface reading. While the event is linked to climate change, the hosts debate the mathematical relationship between altitude and temperature drop.

President Barack Obama is scheduled for a three-day tour of Alaska to highlight the immediate impacts of climate change on the region. The President's itinerary includes meetings with residents of the Arctic Circle and discussions regarding shoreline erosion and melting glaciers. The administration warns that Alaskan temperatures could rise by 6 to 12 degrees by the end of the century, threatening coastal villages and local ecosystems.

A group of students on a climate change research trip in the Arctic Circle was attacked by a polar bear, resulting in one death. The hosts note the irony of the event, given the common narrative that polar bears are dying out due to global warming. They also mention Al Gore's recent "Climate of Denial" article in Rolling Stone.

Adam Curry tells the story of his trip to the North Pole for the "Molson Ice Polar Beach Party," a contest featuring performances by Metallica and Hole. He describes the logistics of flying into the Arctic Circle, the 24-hour daylight, and encountering a local drug dealer in a remote village.