The Pacific Walrus says: "The time has come...We have many things to talk about, people!"

In what she modestly calls a "doodle," talented writer and illustrator Karen Romano Young captures the plight of the Pacific Walrus as it faces a decline in vital Arctic sea ice.   "The walrus, some say, could be as much a poster child for the effects of climate change as its compatriot, the polar bear," says  Young in The Walrus Post.

(Click on image for larger version)

According to Young, the doodle is "based on my walrus photographs and the information I found by researching the work of scientists Chad Jay of the U.S. Geological Survey, Carleton Ray of University of Virginia,  and Lee Cooper and Jacqueline Grebmeier of the University of Maryland Chesapeake Biological Lab, and by talking to ICESCAPE’s own Karen Frey, from Clark University.”

Online Resources:

Learn more about Karen Romano Young from her Web site.

For more on walruses, climate change and Arctic sea ice, see the following from our climate change blog:

• Sea Ice Extent Far Below Previously Recorded Levels in Northern Route of Northwest Passage .  18 Aug 2010.
• Arctic Sea Ice in July is Second Lowest on Record, Maintaining Rapid Longer Term Decline. 8 Aug 2010.
• Average Arctic Sea Ice Extent Drops to Record Low for the Month in June. WWF Climate Blog, 7 July 2010.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Reports on Pacific Walrus and Polar Bear Stocks in Alaska.  3 Jan 2010
• As Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Annual Minimum, Large Number of Walrus Corpses Found Along Alaska Shoreline . 18 Sep 2009.
• Dramatic Footage Shows Consequences for Walruses as Arctic Warms. 1 Oct 2009
• Videos along with other multimedia materials related to walruses.
• As Sea Ice Reaches Annual Minimum, Impacts of Arctic Warming Grow. 16 Sep 2009.

See also:

• National Snow and Ice Data Center. Includes Frequently Asked Questions about Arctic sea ice.
•  Center for Biological Diversity: Pacific Walrus
• Pacific Walrus Response to Arctic Sea Ice Losses. USGS fact sheet.
• US Fish and Wildlife Service, Walrus fact sheet [PDF].