For folks in Seattle, there's a good couple of talks coming up at the Pacific Science Center:

Dr. Konrad Steffen, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), will give two lectures on March 5th and 6th on sea level rise. Dr. Steffen's lecture is part of the first annual
JISAO lecture series titled "Climate Change: A Wake Up Call"

Sea Level Rise and Ice Sheets
Wednesday, March 5, 2008, 7:30 - 8:30
Pacific Science Center, Eames IMAX Theatre
Admission to each Eames IMAX lecture is $5.00. Admission is FREE to Faculty, Staff and Students of the University of Washington, Pacific Science Center Members, and Town Hall Members.

Cryospheric Response to Climate Change
Thursday, March 6, 2008, 7:30 - 8:30
UW, Kane Hall, Room 210 (Admission FREE).

The skinny:
Air temperatures on the Greenland ice sheet have increased by 4 deg C since 1991. The ice sheet melt area increased by 30% for the western part between 1979-2006. The increasing trend in the total area of melting
bare ice is unmistakable at 13% per year, significant at a probability of 0.99. Hence, the bare ice region, the wet snow region, and the equilibrium line altitude have moved further inland and resulting in increased melt water flux towards the coast. Increase in ice velocity in the ablation region and the concurrent increase in melt water suggests that water penetrates to great depth through moulins and cracks, lubricating the bottom of the ice sheet. New insight was gained of subsurface hydrologic channels and cavities using new instrumentation and a video system during the melt peak in August 2007. These new results will be discussed in view of the rapid increase in melt area and mass loss of the Greenland ice sheet due to increasing air temperatures.