Polar Bear Plunge Raises Climate Change Awareness

Never mind the snow and ice. Saturday’s Polar Bear Plunge was downright tropical - compared to last year.

More than 100 environmentalists from around the region ran into the chilly waters of the Potomac River Saturday morning at National Harbor in Maryland, participating in the seventh annual “Keep Winter Cold” Polar Bear Plunge to raise funds for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN). Temperatures hovered around the freezing point, but last year the temperature was 17 degrees, said CCAN Communications Director Jamie Nolan.

This year marked Nolan’s second time doing the plunge for a cause greater than herself. “We’re out here to try to raise awareness, to tell Congress that we want them to act on climate change now, to end our addiction to fossil fuels and move toward clean sources of energy, like wind and solar power,” she said.

Participants had raised $45,000 for CCAN as of Saturday, and Nolan said she hoped to beat last year’s total of $50,000.

Women in bikinis and men in swimming trunks or Speedos gathered near the shoreline just before the plunge, jumping up and down to keep warm. Then, they ran into the water, filling the air with shrieks and shouts. Some immediately ran back out while others waded in the river for a minute or more.

One participant, Nathan Pierce of Boston, kept warm prior to the plunge, tightly bundled but looking forward to the run into the river.

“I’m here to jump in the really, really cold water to support climate action,” he said. "… I’m really excited, and we want the winter to stay cold.”

Saturday marked the seventh plunge for Anne Havemann of Washington.

“I’m extremely concerned about global warming and climate change,” she said. “… It’s a global problem, but there are things you can do here on a local level to really make a difference. And so one of the things we do is to have this big plunge every year to raise awareness and gather people together, and it also raises money for a great organization.”

You wouldn’t know it from Saturday’s chilly temperatures, but recent government data showed that 2011 was the ninth warmest year on record. Participants urged lawmakers to promote the switch from fossil fuels to electric cars and renewable energy sources.

Leading U.S. climate scientist James Hansen, who addressed the crowd prior to the plunge, said it was imperative to act now against climate change on behalf of the next generation.

“It’s very important for young people to understand they should be getting mad,” he said. “Angry - that kind of mad. Because what we’re doing now, by burning all the fossil fuels, we’re getting some benefit from that, the current generation is, but it’s the young people in the next generation who are going to suffer the consequences, and the other species on the planet.”