i'd picked up a kurt vonnegut book about a year ago, and i found this quote from kurt vonnegut. i'll read it to you, but i know you can read it. even as i speak, the very last polar bear may be dying of hunger on account of climate change, on account of us. and i will sure miss the polar bears. their babies are so warm and cuddly and trusting, just like ours. thank you. [applause] there's going to be a microphone passed to the questioner because they want to be able to hear you on booktv. >> richard, is the decline of the ice cover in antarctica matching the arctic, or are they at different rates? >> now for the first time i don't have to repeat the question. the rate is approximately the same, but the terrain is -- not terrain, but it is different because antarctica's a continent. it has an ice sheet that covers the entire continent virtually whereas the arctic is an b ocean surrounded by land. there are glaciers in the arctic, in greenland, in iceland, there are glaciers in canada, in alaska, these glaciers are melting. the glaciers in the antarctic are also melting. both plac