Students on Ice Blog

Dear Friends,

We would like to invite you to the premiere screening of our new documentary “Imiqutailaq – Path of the Arctic Tern” at the International Polar Year (IPY) Film Festival.

WHEN: Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 7:00pm

WHERE: Library & Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Admission is free.

“Imiqutailaq – Path of the Arctic Tern” is about a life-altering journey from one end of the Earth to the other, by two Inuit teens (Terry Noah and Jason Qaapiq) from Grise Fiord, Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost Arctic community, to the bottom of the world, Antarctica. The journey was the dream of the late Dr. Fritz Koerner (1932-2008), the irreverent and legendary glaciologist whom the people of Grise Fiord named Imiqutailaq (Arctic Tern), after the little seabird that flies from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back each year. The documentary touches on Fritz’s 50 years traveling Pole to Pole studying the ice, and how he wanted these Inuit youth to better understand the impacts of climate change, and inspire everyone to do something about protecting the Poles and the Planet.

Supported by the Government of Canada Program for the International Polar Year
Directed by Geoff Green and Michel Valiquette
Executive Producer Geoff Green, Students on Ice
Length – 55 minutes

For more information about the INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR FILM FESTIVAL visit http://www.cfi-icf.ca/index.php?option=com_cfi&task=showevent&id=35

On Tuesday, Dr. David Gray, SOI Expedition Educator, will present his film entitled ARCTIC SHADOWS, also screening at Library & Archives Canada.

ARCTIC SHADOWS
dir. David R. Gray Canada 2009 52 min.
An important contribution to the documentation and dissemination of arctic expedition history, ARCTIC SHADOWS is an exceptionally well-researched documentary film on the Arctic career of Dr. R.M. Anderson, former Chief Biologist of the National Museum of Canada and a world-renowned mammalogist. Woven together by Anderson’s own words taken from his extensive diaries and letters and read by a narrator, the film centres on Anderson’s three Arctic expeditions: the Stefanson-Anderson Expedition of 1908-1912, the Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913-1918, and the Eastern Arctic Patrol of 1928. Filmmaker David Gray does justice to the hitherto neglected legacy of Anderson, introducing the man and his immense contribution to Arctic study and awareness to the greater public. An evocative, informative film.

ARCTIC SHADOWS is supported by the Government of Canada Program for International Polar Year.
Dr. David Gray will be in attendance to introduce and discuss his film.

Dr. David Gray, SOI Expedition Educator, will screen his film entitled ARCTIC SHADOWS on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 7:00pm in the Auditorium of Library and Archives Canada (395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada).

View of wetlands and tidal streams in the Ashe Island area. (Photo Credit: NOAA)

Global Increase In Atmospheric Methane Likely Caused By Unusual Arctic Warmth, Tropical Wetness

Science Daily (September 28, 2009) — Unusually high temperatures in the Arctic and heavy rains in the tropics likely drove a global increase in atmospheric methane in 2007 and 2008 after a decade of near-zero growth, according to a new study. Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, albeit a distant second.

NOAA scientists and their colleagues analyzed measurements from 1983 to 2008 from air samples collected weekly at 46 surface locations around the world. Their findings will appear in the September 28 print edition of the American Geophysical Union’s Geophysical Research Letters and are available online now.

“At least three factors likely contributed to the methane increase,” said Ed Dlugokencky, a methane expert at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. “It was very warm in the Arctic, there was some tropical forest burning, and there was increased rain in Indonesia and the Amazon.”

In the tropics, the scientists note, the increased rainfall resulted in longer periods of rainfall and larger wetland areas, allowing microbes to produce more methane. Starting in mid-2007, scientists noticed La Niña conditions beginning, waning and then intensifying in early 2008. This kind of climate condition typically brings wetter-than-normal conditions in some tropical regions and cooler sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It can persist for as long as two years. In the United States, La Niña often signals drier-than-normal conditions in the Southwest and Central Plains regions, and wetter fall and winter seasons in the Pacific Northwest.

Observations from satellites and ground sites suggest that biomass burning – the burning of plant and other organic material that releases carbon dioxide and methane – contributed about 20 percent, of the total methane released into the atmosphere in 2007.

However, during the scientists’ 2007 measurement of methane for northern wetland regions, including the Arctic, temperatures for the year were the warmest on record. This temperature increase coincided with the large jump in the amount of methane measured in that area.

Dlugokencky and his colleagues from the United States and Brazil note that while climate change can trigger a process which converts trapped carbon in permafrost to methane, as well as release methane embedded in Arctic hydrates – a compound formed with water – their observations “are not consistent with sustained changes there yet.”

Methane is typically created in oxygen-deprived environments, such as flooded wetlands, peat bogs, rice paddies, landfills, termite colonies, and the digestive tracts of cows and other ruminant animals. The gas also escapes during fossil fuel extraction and distribution and is emitted during fires.

Authors of the study are Dlugokencky, L. Bruhwiler, P.C. Novelli, S. A. Montzka, K. A. Masarie, P. M. Lang, A.M. Crotwell, and J.B. Miller of NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado; J.W.C. White of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado; L. K. Emmons of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado; and L.V. Gatti of the Laboratorio de Quimica Atmosferica, Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, São Paulo, Brazil. Crotwell and Miller are also at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences in Boulder, Colorado.

Adapted from materials provided by National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

For more information, visit http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090927151132.htm

SOI is pleased to support the UN-led Seal the Deal campaign which aims to galvanize political will and public support for reaching a comprehensive global climate agreement in Copenhagen in December, and KYOTOplus, a Canadian public engagement campaign to support an urgent solution to the global warming crisis.

Listen to SOI’s message to Seal the Deal: Seal the Deal at COP15!

Visit www.sealthedeal2009.org.

Listen to a message from Canadian youth about the importance of the upcoming UN negotiations on climate change: Canadian Youth on Climate Change

Visit www.kyotoplus.ca.

Ashley Tufts (Antarctic ’04 / Arctic ’05).

BJ Bodnar (Arctic ’07 / Antarctic University ‘09).

Amber Church (Antarctic ‘05 / Arctic ‘08) and an Inuk girl.

Taryn McKenzie-Mohr (Arctic ‘09, left) and Jennie McDowell (Arctic ‘09, right) at the Arctic Circle.

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SOI Alumni join the Canadian Youth Delegation to COP15

Students on Ice is pleased to announce that Ashley Tufts (Antarctic ’04 / Arctic ’05) and BJ Bodnar (Arctic ’07 / Antarctic University ‘09) have been selected to join the Canadian Youth Delegation (CYD) to the 15th annual Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15).

Ashley and BJ will join three other SOI Alumni on the CYD – Amber Church (Antarctic ‘05 / Arctic ‘08), Jennie McDowell (Arctic ‘09) and Taryn McKenzie-Mohr (Arctic ‘09).

The entire SOI family wishes Ashley, BJ, Amber, Jennie and Taryn the very best as they advocate for a meaningful agreement to be reached in Copenhagen, Denmark.

If anyone would like to make a financial contribution to support Ashley, BJ, Amber, Jennie and/or Taryn to get to COP15 in Copenhagen, please contact expedition@studentsonice.com.

If you want to get involved in supporting the important work of the CYD from home and join the CYD-COP15 Home Team, please contact apply@studentsonice.com.

SOI encourages all Canadians to sign the KYOTOplus petition for strong government action against global warming: www.kyotoplus.ca.

SOI encourages everyone to support the UN-led Seal the Deal Campaign that aims to galvanize political will and public support for reaching a comprehensive global climate agreement in Copenhagen in December: www.sealthedeal2009.org.

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UNFCCC Convention and Protocol

Over a decade ago, most countries joined an international treaty — the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — to begin to consider what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable. More recently, a number of nations approved an addition to the treaty: the Kyoto Protocol, which has more powerful (and legally binding) measures. The UNFCCC secretariat supports all institutions involved in the climate change process, particularly the COP, the subsidiary bodies and their Bureau.

CYD-COP15 Advocacy

Addressing the climate crisis requires international cooperation. Only by working together can countries line up the requirement of science, development and global justice to create a deal that sharply reduces emissions, safeguards development rights and protects the world’s most vulnerable peoples and nations. The window is fast closing for global emissions to peak and begin declining if we are to keep climate change to manageable levels (i.e. – well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels). Meeting this goal while lifting many millions out of poverty requires urgent and coordinated action. In Copenhagen, the world will attempt just that.

COP15 is the conclusion of an intensive two-year negotiation process launched in 2007 under the Bali Roadmap to forge a new global agreement to tackle climate change. This agreement will chart the course of international action on climate change after the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012. The new deal will be based on four pillars – Mitigation (reducing emissions), Adaptation, Technology Transfer and Financing – and underpinned by a new ‘Shared Vision.’

Youth from around the world have played a powerful moral role in the talks, and the Canadian Youth Delegation continues to be critical in supporting the global youth movement, engaging Canadians and checking the Canadian Delegation. In Copenhagen, as the world struggles to come to an agreement on the very substance of our futures, these tasks will be more crucial than ever.

U.S. President Barack Obama addresses the Summit on Climate Change, Tuesday, September 22, 2009, as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon listens at the United Nations. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Obama: US ‘determined to act’ on climate change

by Jennifer Loven, AP White House Correspondent

AP (September 22, 2009) UNITED NATIONS — President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared that the United States is a serious partner in combating global warming, telling world peers “we are determined to act.”

“The journey is hard. And we don’t have much time left to make it,” Obama said in brief remarks at a high-level climate summit convened by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Obama sought to show U.S. resolve ahead of crucial talks in Copenhagen in December, when nations will try to reach a new global treaty to address climate change. He spoke at the start of a busy day of diplomacy at the United Nations that also was to include a three-way meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an effort to nudge forward the Mideast peace process.

“We understand the gravity of the climate threat. We are determined to act,” Obama said. “And we will meet our responsibility to future generations.”

He spoke after Ban admonished leaders to put aside differences and move more quickly on global warming.

Obama is under pressure to put political capital behind getting a serious clean-energy law at home and show that the U.S., an economic giant, will do its part to cut heat-trapping emissions. The U.S. House passed a bill this summer that would set the first mandatory limits on greenhouse gases, but a Senate version appears increasingly unlikely this year.

In his first presidential visit to the United Nations, Obama also sought to show a clear break from former President George W. Bush without referring to his predecessor by name. Bush’s critics said he didn’t take climate change seriously enough.

“It is true that for too many years, mankind has been slow to respond to or even recognize the magnitude of the climate threat. It is true of my own country as well,” Obama said. “We recognize that.”

Environmental experts warn of catastrophic changes, from rising sea levels to more drought, if industrial and developing nations cannot collectively address a warming planet.

“Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history,” Obama said.

Obama said his administration has made the “largest-ever” American investment in renewable energy. And he called on other nations – the rich and the developing countries alike – to rise to the challenge. He said undertaking costly environmental clean up work is difficult at a time when the world is trying to recover from a recession, but that it has to be done.

“All of us will face doubts and difficulties in our own capitals as we try to reach a lasting solution to the climate challenge,” Obama said. “But difficulty is no excuse for complacency.”

Tuesday’s U.N. summit and the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh later this week seek to put added pressure on rich nations to commit to greenhouse gas cuts and to pay for poorer nations to burn less coal and preserve their forests.

Obama sought repeatedly to hold everyone accountable. He said developed nations such as the United States have a “responsibility to lead” but rapidly-growing nations must do their part.

As for Obama’s Mideast diplomacy efforts, there were no expectations of a breakthrough from Tuesday’s three-way meeting. But it was seen as a crucial step for the president nonetheless.

After seeing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas separately, Obama was bringing the two together for the first Israeli-Palestinian meeting since Netanyahu took office in March.

Even if little more than a photo opportunity, it will probably be the most-watched portion of a marathon day of international diplomacy for Obama, a 12-hour sprint through many high-profile global problems and disputes.

The Israeli-Palestinian sit-down wasn’t announced until Saturday and comes with the two sides still far apart on what it would take to resume peace talks that broke off in 2008.

U.S. envoy George Mitchell failed last week to bridge the gap between the two sides on the issue of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory, putting the long hoped-for three-way meeting in doubt. Obama has asked Israel to freeze all settlement construction, a condition for Abbas to resume negotiations. But Israel has only committed to a partial halt.

Still, the sides decided to go ahead, even though Obama is considered unlikely to resolve the settlement showdown and announce a relaunching of peace talks.

“We have no grand expectations out of one meeting,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

One reason to have the meeting is the need to get momentum going.

“The U.S. wants to and the U.S. needs to negotiate in public,” said Jon Alterman, a senior fellow in Middle East policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former State Department official in President George W. Bush’s first term. “There’s a perceived need for the U.S. to visibly be involved in making progress on Arab-Israeli issues.”

Obama’s agenda on Tuesday also included meeting Chinese President Hu Jintao at a fraught time in the Washington-Beijing relationship; playing luncheon host, as America’s first black president, to sub-Saharan African leaders for talks on boosting opportunities for young people in their poverty-stricken nations; delivering key speeches to former President Bill Clinton’s Global Initiative and to a U.N. heads-of-state session on the stalled issue of climate change; and ending the day with a U.N.-sponsored leaders dinner.

For more information, visit http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA?SITE=NCASH&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Climate change plan needs teamwork: Obama

by CBC News

CBC News (September 22, 2009) UNITED NATIONS — U.S. President Barack Obama urged world leaders in New York for a one-day climate change summit to work together to prepare a new carbon emissions treaty.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged world leaders in New York for a one-day climate change summit to work together to prepare a new carbon emissions treaty.

“The threat from climate change is serious, it is urgent and it is growing,” Obama said. “Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it ? boldly, swiftly and together ? we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe.”

World leaders are in New York at the request of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in an attempt to generate political momentum ahead of December’s UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen that is meant to create a global treaty on carbon emissions to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is one of about 100 high-profile guests who will be meeting with Ban during the one-day summit to discuss the environment and climate change.

“Failure to reach broad agreement in Copenhagen would be morally inexcusable, economically short-sighted and politically unwise,” Ban said as the summit opened. “The science demands it. The world economy needs it.”

‘We must all do it together’

“Each of us must do what we can when we can to grow our economies without endangering our planet ? and we must all do it together,” Obama said, urging countries to be ready to move forward in time for the meeting in Copenhagen.

Former U.S. president George W. Bush rejected the Kyoto accord based on its exclusion of major developing nations such as China and India.

Developed countries that have damaged the climate over the last century have a responsibility to lead, Obama said.

“But those rapidly growing developing nations that will produce nearly all the growth in global carbon emissions in the decades ahead must do their part as well.”

Developing countries must be supported because they do not have the same resources to combat climate change but have the most at stake in a solution, he said.

“It will do little good to alleviate poverty if you can no longer harvest your crops or find drinkable water,” Obama said.

Little progress expected

Analysts have said Tuesday’s unofficial discussions are not likely to lead to any major progress unless significant plans are laid out by China or the United States.

China and the U.S. each account for about 20 per cent of all the world’s greenhouse gas pollution created when coal, natural gas or oil are burned. The European Union is next, generating 14 per cent, followed by Russia and India, which each account for five per cent.

The EU is urging other rich countries to match its pledge to cut emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020, and has said it would cut up to 30 per cent if other rich countries follow suit.

In his opening speech, Obama said the U.S. has entered a “new era” and promoted his country’s passing of an energy and climate change bill, investment in renewable energy and efforts to become more energy efficient.

His administration has announced a target of returning to 1990 levels of greenhouse emissions by 2020.

Billions are also being invested in wind energy projects and carbon capture technologies to clean up coal plants, he said.

Push to continue at G20

Obama said he will push G20 members to phase out fossil fuel subsidies when they meet in Pittsburgh on Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, China has already said it is seeking to draw 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Chinese President Hu Jintao told the summit his nation will continue to take “determined” action.

He laid out new plans for extending China’s energy-saving programs and targets for reducing “by a notable margin” the “intensity” of its carbon pollution. He also said China will boost its forest cover and invest in “climate-friendly technologies.”

India is also expected to outline plans that include becoming more fuel-efficient, burn coal more cleanly, preserve forests and grow more organic crops.

For more information, visit http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/09/22/climate-change-un-ban-new-york381.html

Geoff Green, Students on Ice Founder & Executive Director (Photo: Lee Narraway, Students on Ice)

Hello friends,

Our recent Students on Ice Arctic Expedition 2009 was an enormous and numinous success! We spent two weeks exploring the east coast of Baffin Island and parts of the Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay. The 60 students from every province and territory in Canada and other corners of the world had a life-changing experience that will undoubtedly help to shape their perspectives and their futures. The highlights were many, including encounters with Bowhead whales; a Polar bear feeding on a seal in the pack ice; over 100 Walrus in one day; a hike to the Arctic Circle in Auyuittuq Park where the evidence of Climate Change was overwhelming; visits to Nunavut communities; a jam-packed education and research program focused on the sciences, flora & fauna, culture, conservation, art, music and much more. And of course we had a whole lot of fun!

The main purpose of this email is to thank all of you who helped in so many ways to make this experience possible! We could not do it without you. In fact, this summer 80% of the students participating were funded through scholarships, grants, contests and other partnerships. It is hard to believe that 2010 marks the 10th Anniversary for Students on Ice! We have several exciting events and expeditions planned to help celebrate! We will keep you posted about these in the months ahead.

I also want to share with you some of the emerging outcomes from the recent expedition, including the two videos below made by the SOI team to push for action at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) in Copenhagen this December. Please watch them and share them with your networks. We are very pleased and proud that several SOI alumni (staff and students) will be going to Copenhagen as members of youth delegations and other groups.

SEAL THE DEAL AT COP 15!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGeEt2-jpag

CANADIAN YOUTH WITH A MESSAGE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqku9wGlcnc&feature=related

To see some of the other 16 videos from the Arctic 2009 expedition, along with student and staff journals, photos, media coverage and more, please go to:
www.studentsonice.com/arctic2009

Finally, the new documentary “Path of the Arctic Tern” (formerly called Southern Exposure) produced by Students on Ice and supported by the Government of Canada Program for the International Polar Year will premiere on September 30th at 7:00 pm at the IPY Film Festival being held at the Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa. Admission is free.

This is a one-hour documentary about a life-altering journey from one end of the Earth to the other, tracing the journey of two Inuit teens (Terry Noah and Jason Pijamini) from Grise Fiord, Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost Arctic community, to the bottom of the world, Antarctica. The journey was the dream of the late Dr. Fritz Koerner (1932-2008), the irreverent and legendary glaciologist whom the people of Grise Fiord named Imirqutailaq (Arctic Tern). Fritz spent 40 years traveling Pole to Pole studying the glaciers of the Arctic and the Antarctic and he wanted these Inuit youth to better understand the impacts of climate change, and to inspire everyone to do something about it.

Hope to see or hear from you soon…

In the Polar spirit,

Geoff

Global Climate Week: September 21–25, 2009

Global Climate Week is planned to coincide with the United Nations Secretary-General’s High Level Summit on Climate Change on September 22, 2009.

This important week and the lead-up weekend will be marked by synchronized activities in more than 100 cities to urge world leaders to seal a fair and effective climate agreement at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen this December.

Global Climate Week will unite efforts, whether individual or collective, calling for urgent action to combat climate change – the greatest challenge of our time.

Cities, organizations, groups and individuals are invited to mobilize their networks and join the effort.

Enter your Global Climate Week pledge at www.sealthedeal2009.org. Afterwards, share your activities with the world by uploading a report, including video and photos.

The Weekend

Day 1 – Saturday, September 19th
Global Tree Planting Drive

Mass tree planting activities may actually help save the planet! Beginning on 19 September, each tree pledged or planted during Global Climate Week will carry the Seal the Deal! message – a direct call for political action on climate change. Let us know how many trees you are pledging to plant and where. The planting can be part of your Clean up the World activity.

Make sure tree-planters sign the Climate Petition at: www.sealthedeal2009.org. The tree-planting drive is carried out in cooperation with the UN Billion Tree Campaign.

Day 2 – Sunday, September 20th
Climate Petition Day

Organize public events or online activities to encourage as many people as possible in every corner of the world to sign the Climate Petition. We need millions to show their support in favour of a definitive agreement on climate change by signing the Climate Petition, which calls on leaders to sign a definitive and equitable agreement on climate change this December.

The Week

Day 3 – Monday, September 21st
Climate Change Assembly Day

Young people around the world will hold peaceful assemblies in support of definitive global action on climate change, under the banner “Seal the Deal!” The Climate Petition will be made available online in a print-friendly format to allow campaigners to hand over a meaningful statement to their national and local authorities, urging governments to reach an agreement in Copenhagen.

Day 4 – Tuesday, September 22nd
Seal the Deal! Green Day

Wear SOMETHING GREEN to show support and solidarity for sealing the deal in Copenhagen on the day the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, hosts world leaders at a UN High Level Event on Climate Change in New York. Leaders will come face-to-face with the latest support for the Climate Petition.

You can also:

* Arrange for a Seal the Deal! Support Day at work or school
* Add a message to the Climate Wall Twitter, blog, or write an Editorial or a letter to your editor
* Download the Seal the Deal! Screen Saver
* Get creative and do your own thing to show support for urgent action to combat climate change!

Day 5 – Wednesday, September 23rd
Go Climate Neutral Day

Power down! Go climate neutral for the day in a personal show of support for a definitive agreement on climate change.

Countries, cities, businesses and organizations:

* Pledge innovative action to lessen your carbon footprint.
* Join the UN Climate Neutral Network www.unep.org/climateneutral

Communities and individuals:

* Ride your bike, car pool or take public transport
* Enjoy a candlelit dinner while you turn off the lights
* Find ways to offset your carbon footprint.
* Make a pledge and upload your action, photos, video, songs and comments at www.sealthedeal2009.org

Day 6 – Thursday, September 24th
Climate Voices Day

Join the global chorus calling on world leaders to act now to protect people and the planet, and to power green growth. Have your voice heard on climate change and acknowledge the heroes and victims of climate change, as well as the individuals and groups who are taking positive action to combat climate change in their communities.

Nominate your local climate champ at www.sealthedeal2009.org

Record your testimonial of how climate change is affecting you at the Climate Wall

Day 7 – Friday, September 25th
Climate Solutions Day

The latest science shows our climate is changing more rapidly than expected. But it is not to late to change our habits and implement solutions so that humans stop harming the climate. From low energy bulbs to fuel-cell cars, solutions for a low carbon future are evolving every day.

Showcase your green technology innovation and share it with the world at www.sealthedeal2009.org

Global Wake up Call
The world is sleepwalking into a crisis of epic and historical proportions. On September 21st, over 1,500 events in 112 countries organized by TckTckTck partners and individuals like you will sound the Global Wake Up Call in cities, towns and villages around the world. We need to wake up world leaders to the crisis of climate change by making noise and to show them that the world is ready for a bold climate deal.

You can participate in this epic day by signing the petition, or getting involved in a Global Wake Up Call event near you.

Sprout e-course is open to new applicants!
Are you interested in changing the world? Do you have an idea for a project in your community? The Sprout e-course provides innovative young people (ages 16-30) with a unique way to learn, grow and connect with like-minded leaders in a supportive online environment that encourages your hard work to create a better world. The Sprout journey offers a chance to learn more about community-focused project management, apply your knowledge and skills, interact with an international learning community of youth and an opportunity to turn your idea into reality. What are you waiting for? Sprout your project and change the world.

Applications for participants and e-mentors are due September 27, 2009. For more information please visit www.sproutecourse.org.

One Web Day and Mozilla service week
The Worldwide Web belongs to everyone. Every person and institution that goes online to connect and create makes a contribution to the evolving Web that is transforming society. To celebrate the September 22nd One Web Day, TIG invites you to discuss how the internet is changing society. We are also promoting Mozilla Service week, where you can apply to donate your time to a worthy initiative or get tech help with your project.

International Day of Peace, September 21st
The United Nations’ International Day of Peace – marked every year on September 21 – is a global holiday when individuals, communities, nations and governments highlight efforts to end conflict and promote peace. Established by U.N. resolution in 1982, “Peace Day” has grown to include millions of people around the world who participate in all kinds of events, large and small. Get involved in events occurring in your community, or check out the Peace Day 24 Hour Global Broadcast featuring Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the International Day of Peace; as well as interviews with present and former high level UN officials and other world leaders.

Better the World: The Final Four
Better The World and TakingITGlobal are introducing “The Final Four” contest. It’s a way for all of you to not only help us out but give back to your school as well. During the contest (September 1st, 2009 to December 31st, 2009), the school that earns the most points and picks TIG will make it to the Top Four and win $4,000 for TakingITGlobal plus $2,000 for their school. Members have four months to earn as many points as they can. Just fill in your school in your profile and encourage your classmates to join you!

Arctic sea ice reaches annual minimum extent

National Snow and Ice Data Center (September 17, 2009) — Arctic sea ice appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the third-lowest extent since the start of satellite measurements in 1979. While this year’s minimum extent is above the record and near-record minimums of the last two years, it further reinforces the strong negative trend in summertime ice extent observed over the past thirty years.

Overview of conditions

On September 12, 2009 sea ice extent dropped to 5.10 million square kilometers (1.97 million square miles). This appears to have been the lowest point of the year, as sea ice has now begun its annual cycle of growth in response to autumn cooling. The 2009 minimum is the third-lowest recorded since 1979, 580,000 square kilometers (220,000 square miles) above 2008 and 970,000 square kilometers (370,000 square miles) above the record low in 2007.

The 2009 minimum is 1.61 million square kilometers (620,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 average minimum and 1.28 million square kilometers (490,000 square miles) below the thirty-year 1979 to 2008 average minimum.

Figure 1. Daily Arctic sea ice extent on September 12 was 5.10 million square kilometers (1.97 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1979 to 2000 median extent for that day. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole. — Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Conditions in context

This year, the minimum extent did not fall as low as the minimums of the last two years, because temperatures through the summer were relatively cooler. The Chukchi and Beaufort seas were especially cool compared to 2007. Winds also tended to disperse the ice pack over a larger region.

While the ice extent this year is higher than the last two years, scientists do not consider this to be a recovery. Despite conditions less favorable to ice loss, the 2009 minimum extent is still 24% below the 1979-2000 average, and 20% below the thirty-year 1979-2008 average minimum. In addition, the Arctic is still dominated by younger, thinner ice, which is more vulnerable to seasonal melt. The long-term decline in summer extent is expected to continue in future years.

Figure 2. The graph above shows daily sea ice extent as of September 15, 2009. The solid light blue line indicates 2009; dark blue shows 2008, dashed green indicates 2007; light green shows 2005, and solid gray indicates average extent from 1979 to 2000. The gray area around the average line shows the two standard deviation range of the data. — Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Comparison of the 2009 and 2007 September minima

The spatial pattern of the 2009 minimum extent was different than that of 2007, partly because of differing wind patterns. Compared to this year, 2007 had substantially more ice loss in the central Arctic, north of the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas because winds pushed ice in these regions northward. However, this year the Arctic lost more ice in the Beaufort Sea than 2007 because of southwesterly winds pushing the ice edge toward the northeast. Overall, the pattern of ice loss is similar to 2008 (not shown), although it resulted from different atmospheric circulation patterns.

Once again this year, the Northern Sea Route through the Arctic Ocean along the coast of Siberia opened. Although some ice remained in certain regions, two German ships managed to navigate the passage with Russian icebreaker escorts. Russian vessels have traversed the passage many times over the years, but as ice extent drops there is more interest from other nations. As in 2008, the shallow Amundsen’s Northwest Passage briefly opened, but the deeper Parry’s Channel of the Northwest Passage did not. In 2007, both channels were open.

Figure 3. This image compares differences in ice-covered areas between September 12, 2009, the date of this year’s minimum, and September 16, 2007, the record low minimum extent. Light gray shading indicates the region where ice occurred in both 2007 and 2009, while white and dark gray areas show ice cover unique to 2009 and to 2007, respectively. — Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center

A word of caution on calling the minimum

Because of the variability of sea ice at this time of year, the National Snow and Ice Data Center determines the minimum using a five-day running mean value. We have now seen four days of gains in extent. It is still possible that ice extent could fall slightly, because of either further melting or a contraction in the area of the pack due to the motion of the ice.

For example, in 2005, the time series began to level out in early September, prompting speculation that we had reached the minimum. However, the sea ice contracted later in the season, again reducing sea ice extent and causing a further drop in the absolute minimum. When all the data for September are in, we will confirm the minimum ice extent for the season.

Final analysis pending

In the beginning of October, NSIDC will issue a formal press release with full analysis of the melt season, and graphics comparing this year to the long-term record. We will also announce the monthly average September sea ice extent, the measure scientists rely on for accurate analysis and comparison over the long term. We will continue to post analysis of sea ice conditions throughout the year, with frequency determined by sea ice conditions. The near-real-time daily image update will continue each day.

NSIDC scientists provide Arctic Sea Ice News & Analysis, with partial support from NASA.

For more information, visit http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2009/091709.html

Global surface temperature anomalies for the month of August 2009. Temperature is compared to the average global temperature from 1961-1990. Visualization of world’s land and ocean surface temperature. High resolution (Credit: NOAA)

NOAA: Warmest Global Sea-Surface Temperatures for August and Summer

NOAA (September 16, 2009) — The world’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest for any August on record, and the warmest on record averaged for any June-August (Northern Hemisphere summer/Southern Hemisphere winter) season according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The preliminary analysis is based on records dating back to 1880.

NCDC scientists also reported that the combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for August was second warmest on record, behind 1998. For the June-August 2009 season, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature was third warmest on record.

Global Highlights – Summer

* The June-August worldwide ocean surface temperature was also the warmest on record at 62.5 degrees F, 1.04 degrees F above the 20th century average of 61.5 degrees F.
* The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for the June-August season was 61.2 degrees F, which is the third warmest on record and 1.06 degrees F above the 20th century average of 60.1 degrees F.

Global Highlights – August

* The worldwide ocean surface temperature of 62.4 degrees F was the warmest on record for any August, and 1.03 degrees F above the 20th century average of 61.4 degrees F.
* Separately, the global land surface temperature of 58.2 degrees F was 1.33 degrees F above the 20th century average of 56.9 degrees F, and ranked as the fourth warmest August on record.
* Large portions of the world’s land mass observed warmer-than-average temperatures in August. The warmest departures occurred across Australia, Europe, parts of the Middle East, northwestern Africa, and southern South America. Both Australia and New Zealand had their warmest August since their records began.
* The Southern Hemisphere average temperatures for land and ocean surface combined were the warmest on record for August.

Other Notable Developments

* For the year to date, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature of 58.3 degrees F tied with 2003 for the fifth-warmest January-August period on record. This value is 0.99 degree F above the 20th century average.
* According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Arctic sea ice covered an average of 2.42 million square miles during August. This is 18.4 percent below the 1979-2000 average extent, and is generally consistent with a decline of August sea ice extent since 1979.
* NSIDC data indicated Antarctic sea ice extent in August was 2.7 percent above the 1979-2000 average. This is consistent with the trend during recent decades of modest increases in August Antarctic sea ice extent.

Watch NOAA’s visualization of the world’s land and ocean surface temperature.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the oceans to surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

Current sea ice extent as measured by NOAA’s GOES, POES, and DMSP satellites. High resolution (Credit: NOAA)