This is my second year of attending this conference hearing internationally renowned experts discuss climate change.

Operation Sierra Storm is a leading National Weather Conference held each year in Tahoe. It is a cutting-edge meteorological forum and seminar for network television meteorologist from around that country that features leading scientists and experts discussing newsworthy topics, trends for today and the future. It is also a combination of on-going education, networking opportunities and live-broadcasts which make OSS an industry leader. One seminar, during the series invites the public and we were eager to attend.
The first speaker was Bernice Notenboom, a climate journalist, science writer, keynote speaker, and (most exciting to me) a professional adventurer. In 2008, she became the first woman to reach the North, South, and Cold Pole (in Siberia) and traverse Greenland’s icecap on skis in one year.

On assignment for National Geographic Traveler, she discovered the fragility of the arctic sea ice. Over the next five years, Bernice set out to report about the changing climate of extreme environments. Today, she shared with us what she found, her concerns and her hopes. She has made a movie, The Arctic March, that explains her last North Pole adventure and her findings. I'm glad there is someone like Bernice advocating for this far off frozen land that has such impact for us all.
The keynote speaker was Dr. James Hansen, formerly Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University's Earth Institute, where he directs a program in Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions. He was designated as one of the 100 most influential people on Earth by Time Magazine in 2006. Dr. Hansen is recognized for speaking truth to power, for identifying ineffectual policies as greenwash, and for outlining actions that the public must take to protect the future of young people and other life on our planet
Dr. Hansen frightened, enlightened and educated the audience. In addition, he shared his belief that Oil Companies should become Energy Companies. I liked that idea. He expressed his concerns and his ideas for helping our planet. While I didn't walk away as optimistic as last year, I did gain knowledge and have faith in people, like Dr. Hansen, to do what needs to be done... for the future generations.