Professor’s environmental research on global warming brings him to the top of the world

There was something beautifully alien about the Arctic landscape.

Professor Laurence Smith looked beneath his plane as it flew over the broken Alaskan tundra. There were no trees, but rather a vast white sheet broken into geometric patterns and shapes, resembling hexagonal tiles. In the distance was a gray ocean hugging the structures of white ice floating within it.

"I saw herds of caribou, thousands of them, moving across the plain. In the background, there was the most beautiful light quality you'll ever see," the UCLA geography and earth sciences professor said.