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One thing you can say about the winter of 2010-'11, for what it's worth: the Arctic doesn't seem so remote anymore. You don't have to be a meteorologist to get the feeling that the polar atmosphere has sprung a leak -- that the freezing down here has something to do with the warming up there.

1. Tiger 2. Polar Bear 3. Pacific Walrus 4. Magellanic Penguin 5. Leatherback Turtle 6. Bluefin Tuna 7. Mountain Gorilla 8. Monarch Butterfly 9. Javan Rhinoceros 10. Giant Panda

"Warmer global temperatures aren't just wiping out the habitat of polar bears and penguins. They're also affecting many species closer to home -- including some right in your back yard. In this year's State of the Birds report, issued earlier this month, researchers from the National Audubon Society, U.S. Department of Interior, Cornell Lab or Ornithology, and others studied how climate change is affecting the habitats, ranges, and populations of birds across North America. OnEarth takes a look at eight vulnerable bird species from across the continent."

From 1950 to 2006 the United Nation Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO) estimated that 12,700 metric tons of fish were caught in the Arctic, giving the impression that the Arctic was a still-pristine ecosystem, remaining underexploited by the world's fisheries. However, a recent study by the University of British Colombia Fisheries Center and Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences throws cold water on this widespread belief. According to the study, published in Polar Biology, the total Arctic catch from 1950 to 2006 is likely to have been nearly a million metric tons, almost 75 times the FAO's official record.