RELATED INFORMATION

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PANGNIRTUNG IN STATE OF EMERGENCY

The community where the Polarventure expedition ended is in a state of emergency due to flash floods.

The remote Arctic community fears an unprecedented flash flood may be washing away the ground it sits on from underneath.

Engineers are trying to get into Pangnirtung, Nunavut, where the meltwater-swollen Duvall River is raising fears of subterranean erosion that could collapse under the town's homes and buildings but flights have been grounded due to bad weather.

"We're seeing enormous cracks that are developing in the land and sinkholes that are well away from the river," said town administrator Ron Mongeau.

One crack north of the river is about 20 metres long, a metre wide and at least a metre deep, Mongeau said. Sinkholes are also developing in the area, which is roughly halfway between the riverbank and about 30 housing units cutting off these people from the rest of the town.

Canada apologies to the Inuit

BBC News story on Canada apologising for treatment of the Inuit children during the periods up to the 1990's.

Video: Global Warming and the Inuits

Silent Snow - by Vijay Shah (5th Jan 2008)

I was recently sent a copy of a short film made by Jan van den Berg. It is a powerful film following two teenage Inuit girls as they see their communities and lives slowly disintegrating by 1) pollution from heavy industry in Europe, the Americas and Asia that is poisoning all living creatures (including humans) in the Arctic, and 2) climate change that is melting their land.

"The world is poisoning us and [now] they don't [even] want to buy our products....[Instead of seals] they want us to eat hamburgers, but these are made from the countries that are poisoning us."

The Inuits are the involuntary front-line communities affected by climate change and pollution. If we do not learn by the mistakes we have made from their suffering then we will all be affected by the same predicament.

For more information on the silent snow project and of the upcoming full length documentary please visit www.silentsnow.org.

Arctic summers ice-free 'by 2013'

Article on BBC News (12/12/07). Click here.

WALKING THE AMAZON

In April 2008, Ed Stafford and Luke Collyer, friends of Polarventure, will attempt to walk over 4,000 miles from the source of the Amazon River in southern Peru to the mouth in Brazil. The expedition will be uninterrupted and unsupported. Click here.

"This is a fantastic expedition, one of the great firsts left to do. Good luck guys!" Polarventure

Special Delivery Film Premier

In the summer of 2006, Snowline travelled to the Indian Himalaya to shoot the short film, ‘Special Delivery’, a dramatisation based on a true story. Special Delivery is the account of a box belonging to a Zanskari that is taken on a journey past some of the highest mountains on Earth.

The film follows the owner as he drives the box to his home, where its secret is finally revealed. The film will be premiered on Regent Street in the Apple Store on the 11th October and will be introduced by Al Boardman, Paul Deegan and Seb Mankelow. If you’d like to learn more please Click Here

NASA Finds Greenland Snow Melting Hit Record High in High Places

A new NASA-supported study reports that 2007 marked an overall rise in the melting trend over the entire Greenland ice sheet and, remarkably, melting in high-altitude areas was greater than ever at 150 percent more than average. In fact, the amount of snow that has melted this year over Greenland could cover the surface size of the U.S. more than twice.

Explore - Expedition and Planning Seminar

Wish to learn more about Expeditions and their planning? Then the Royal Geographical Society will be holding their yearly Seminar - Explore! Explore is the place to find inspiration, contacts and practical advice for planning a successful expedition or research project, through a weekend of workshops and talks.

Explore will be held at the RGS in London on the weekend of the 24-25th November. If you’d like to learn more please Click Here

BSES Disko Island Expedition 07

Antony Jinman writes about being a Mountain Leader to Greenland for the BSES in the summer of 2007.

July 2007 took me to the isolated region of Disko Island in Arctic Greenland. The expedition was conducted by British Schools Exploring Society, who we are raising money for. The expedition was fairly large consisting of 5 teams of about ten young explorers and the support staff. The aim of the expedition was to conduct scientific research within the Arctic environment as well as ambitious self supportive mountain and ice phases. Each team was to operate completely independently from one another. Some of the Young Explorers have written about there experiences below.

During the science phase of the expedition we plotted a transect across a section of the valley to see how typical the vegetation was. We tested the NDVI (normalised difference vegetation index) of the quadrat areas selected and also looked at the vegetation types and their % cover. Height gain and soil moisture were also among the things tested, to give us the clearest idea of how the flora has changed in the valley

For me, some of this stuff was difficult to understand to begin with, but I found that I picked up an awful lot as we went along and by the end, was able to give the latin names for certain plants on cue! This unforgettable experience has been a great help for me gaining experience and field knowledge for my forth coming university course,- Rachel Clutterbuck - Young Explorer.

From traversing glaciers to swimming with icebergs there was always something to explore or climb on Disko Island. We were trained in how to live and travel safely in the wilderness and carried all our food and equipment as well as planning our own expedition phases.

Climbing peaks was a big feature of the expedition; we summited eleven in total, two of which were capped with thick snow. We ascended these wearing crampons and took turns to break path. Reaching the peaks often involved rock climbing, scrambling and ridge walking as well as trekking across snow, however the spectacular views from the summits always made it worthwhile.

River crossings were particularly ‘exhilarating’ as the current was often so strong that we had to take off our trousers and cross the frosty water in arrow formation. We also had the opportunity to take a dip with the icebergs and shower under icy cold waterfalls.

Camping on the ice was an experience I will never forget. The glacier was extremely wet and we had to hold the tent down using ice axes and ice screws. We learnt how to rope up and travel safely on glaciers which was again a fantastic experience.

In conclusion, Disko Island was an amazing expedition and very rewarding. The young explorers who come on these expeditions often have no or very little expedition skills. Its the mountain leaders job not only to make sure that they are save but to teach them the skills required and to see them develop within themselves. These expeditions are extremely rewarding for the young explorers and I’m sure will help them achieve whatever they wish from life.

Although the long days and less than perfect conditions were often challenging, the sense of achievement when we were stood at the top of a peak or cooking dinner together always outweighed the struggle to get there.- Emily Franke - Young Explorer

The BSES Expedition to Disko Island was amazing, and has driven my want for exploration to new heights.Peter Blackwood - Young Explorer

I went to DISKO and it was the best experience i have ever had. Peter Kneen