Siberia

In the couple of decades I've watched environmentalists go to ever-greater lengths to get out their messages, I've seen few more wacky stunts than the one planned by two guys from Canada: Running the length of the world's oldest and deepest lake, Lake Baikal in Siberia, in the wintertime. While pulling along 100 pounds of supplies behind them. And live-blogging the whole thing, of course. (What?!? No Twitter!?!)

Ray Zahab and Kevin Vallely -- shall we just call them "the wackos" from now on? -- plan to  set off on March 1, which means the ice will still be plenty hard on Baikal. (Fun fact: Less than a decade ago, Zahab was a pack-a-day cigarette smoker and couch potato!)

Their cause: to highlight the value and scarcity of fresh water. Nowhere else in the world does a freshwater lake hold as many gallons as does Baikal. It has more of the wet stuff than all of America's Great Lakes combined.

You may have heard of these wackos before.

Fires and beetle infestations are devastating northern forestsin a cycle that is both caused by and promoting climate change, reports Charles J. Hanley of the Associated Press. As the climate warms, forests in Siberia, Europe, Alaska and northern Canada will grow weaker while pests grow stronger with milder winters. These boreal forests are key in absorbing carbon dioxide, but as they succumb to warming, they would become a source of greenhouse gases as they decay and burn.

Change is already happening in western North America, where a mountain pine beetle epidemic has killed 6.5 million acres of forest from Colorado to Washington and 35 million acres in British Columbia. The spruce bark beetle has already consumed 1 million acres in the Yukon during a 15-year epidemic. Scientists say these unprecedented epidemics are signs the climate is already changing, especially in the north.

Plant life in the north is also shifting, as warmer temperatures double the amount of shrubs and grasses on tundra, according to Bob Weber of the Canadian Press. Because the shrubby vegetation is darker, it would absorb more solar energy, possibly increasing the rate of global warming even more.

– Emily Linroth