Over the past few decades, the earth has experienced an increase in average temperature. While scientists and others debate the cause or whether or not this a a natural or man-made phenomenon, there are nonetheless serious evident consequences that must be understood and addressed. Nowhere is the situation more evident than in the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps where glacial melt, resultant habitat modification, and other consequences are being explored by scientists and research organizations and studied by international policy-makers concerned about the implications of these changes for the future.