The world’s governments will come together in the United States for a summit on the state of the North and South Poles on Monday. The purpose of the summit is to discuss the most important aspects of global warming.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will open the 2 week event, which will include government representatives and scientists from 47 countries.

Dealing with the poles may not be at the top of most governments’ climate agendas, so environmentalists hope to show that the poles provide the best insight into just how damaging global warming has been to the planet.

Polar ice is melting much faster than previously thought, according to a joint study last week by the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Washington.

Arctic summers could be ice free within 30 years, says the study, and that could have a dramatic effect on global sea levels and temperatures. Previous reports had promised 100 years till ice free summers.

“It’s important that people understand that climate change in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic. What happens there affects the rest of the world,” Neil Hamilton, director of the Arctic programme at the World Wildlife Fund, said in a conference call.

Baltimore, Maryland will be the actual local for the conference after Clinton’s send off in Washington early Monday morning. The conference will review the latest science, the impact of tourism and protecting the environment and species in the polar region.

Evan Bloom, a State Department official who will lead the US delegation to the summit, said climate change would also be a “major focus” of the talks as an ice breaker to the Copenhagen talks.

“All of these major gatherings have a relationship in a way to Copenhagen,” Bloom told reporters. “Certainly climate change is a major focus of what the discussions will be.”