ice

After an unnecessarily long legal battle, the NRDC, Greenpeace, and the Center for Biological Diversity finally won some protection for the polar bear. Now listed as a federally "threatened" species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the new classification forces the current administration to recognize the negative impacts of global warming.

I've got to hand it to Joe Romm--veteran energy expert, revered climate blogger, and now gambling man--he's putting his money where his mouth is. Accused in some camps of being a touch alarmist in his predictions of the imminent effects of climate change, he's taking wagers on the melting of arctic sea ice.

The bet: Romm's putting down $1000 on his prediction that "the Arctic Sea will be essentially ice-free" by 2020.