2008 cooler than last year, but Planet still warming...

NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies has released its preliminary temperature plot for 2008 (December's not over yet). As the chart (above) shows, overall temps in the past almost-a-year took a dip, with 2008 the coolest year of the past eight.
http://globalwarming.change.org/blog/view/2008_cooler_than_last_year_yes_globe_still_warming_yes

Our expedition on TV: Planet Green

here it is - Happy Holidays

http://web.mac.com/knappy1/iWeb/ARCTIC/Young%20Ambassadors%20of%20the%20Arctic.html

Antarctic tourist ship leaks fuel...

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - An Antarctic cruise ship carrying 122 passengers and crew started to take on water and leak fuel after it ran aground on Thursday, an Argentine naval official said.

Admiral Daniel Martin told local television a nearby passenger ship was on its way to the stricken Panamanian-flagged vessel, called the Ushuaia after the Tierra del Fuego port from which it sailed in Argentina on Sunday.

He said none of the boat's passengers had been injured.

"We've received information from the captain of the Ushuaia that the boat is grounded ... with a minimal amount of water coming in and some fuel loss," Martin said.

He said the ship lay some 186 miles (300 km) southwest of Argentina's Marambio military base on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Cruise travel has grown in Antarctica in recent years, with tourists paying thousands of dollars to see towering icebergs, seals, whales and penguins.

A year ago, more than 150 crew and passengers, many of them elderly, escaped unhurt in a dramatic rescue after their cruise ship hit ice off Antarctica and sank.

The ship is operated by Antarpply Expeditions, based in Ushuaia.

"I didn't see one cube of ice!"

A commercial ship travels through the Northwest Passage...
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/11/28/nwest-vessel.html

New rifts form on Antarctic ice shelf

Well, ice shelves are breaking in Antarctica too...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/29/antarctic.ice.shelf.collapse/index.html

Gorbachev-Children ceremony - Nov. 21, 2008

Mikhail Gorbachev listens to children presenting findings of the 2008 Arctic expedition:
more photos at:http://www.sagaxexpeditions.com/2US%20-%204.5%20-%20Russia%20Photos-Videos.html
and videos at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FO1hYmqKPo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvRvr6p5gkk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmcCefS_528
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B956u8QM8IY

Greenlanders vote on expanding autonomy

Greenlanders vote on expanding autonomy on Tuesday. A 'Yes' (likely), will mean more interest in oil and minerals exploration revenues in the future, to compensate for Denmark assistance which would likely decrease with autonomy...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_re_eu/eu_greenland_referendum

Gorbachev honors Arctic Young Ambassadors

Moscow - November 21, 2008 – President Mikhail Gorbachev honors participants of the Pax Arctica Arctic expedition 2008 with Young Ambassador Award. From Left to Right: Beth Idlout, Aïnhoa Hardy, Flaam Hardy and President Mikhail Gorbachev (at the Gorbachev Foundation). More photos and details tomorrow...

http://gci.ch/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=374&Itemid=1

Moscow under snow!

The Pax Arctica team has arrived in Moscow last night.
Three children from the 2008 Arctic expedition, including Beth, all the way from Resolute Bay, are now in Moscow.
Together with a few sponsors of the expedition (Groupe UFG, KDS, Rabobank), they will be presenting the results of our findings to President Mikhail Gorbachev this afternoon.
We will report later on today.

Relocating an entire sinking nation... :(((

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/11/maldives.president/

The Lemmings Mystery

On French Television, my friends Olivier Gilg and Brigitte Sabard explain why populations of lemmings go up and down and up and down... (I was with them in Greenland last year). Enjoy! or via this link: http://www.france3.fr/STATIC/video/index-fr.php?titre=Lemmings&url=mms://a988.v101995.c10199.e.vm.akamaistream.net/7/988/10199/3f97c7e6/ftvigrp.download.akamai.com/10199/sgv/diff/videotheque/regions/bfc/emissions/cotedocs/7B5DA_b21a_jt_081018_lemmings.wmv&section=regions_bfc&rubrique=video

Rabobank supports Green Cross and the Arctic!

Oct. 8: off-site meeting with top officers of Rabobank near New York. I have a chance to present the conclusions of our Pax Arctica expedition. Very smart questions from a parterre of challenging business people. Thanks Emmanuel (Durand) for organizing this.

Arctic Transitions - presentation today Oct. 7, 2008

French American School of NY in Mamaroneck
8 AM sharp the auditorium was full of 6th through 12th grade students interested in learning about the PAX ARCTICA Expedition. Luc moderated the presentation with Flaam and Aïnhoa offering personal insights and memories about their month long experience. The slide show brought plenty of ohhh and ahh’s especially when photos of animals flashed up on the screen. Fleur Desazars said, “Ca m'a fait rêver”. (It made me dream.) Students seemed captivated and there were many specific questions about the environment. After the presentation one young student timidly asked Flaam “did you see Santa Claus”?

New Moon!

Here is the trailer of my friend Laurent Lichtenstein's new documentary "New Moon", describing man's efforts to return to the Moon in 2020. As we were on the southern side of Devon Island looking for polar bears, Laurent was filming at the Devon Island HMP, a "MArs analog" research station on the northern side of the island. Here is the link:

http://exposureroom.com/c13c8f4c8878416ea48138c2c4745607/

The Arctic comes to FASNY

Two proud students of the French-American School of New York, and their expedition friends, display the FASNY flag in front of a glacier near Otto Fjord on July 17, 2o08. They will present the results of the Pax Arctica Expedition at a school-wide meeting on October 7, 2008 at FASNY. Don't miss it!!