Cape Farewell Youth Expedition 2007

Doriana in the evening, Ny-Alesund.

Iceberg hunting.

Arnie and Dan fishing for ice.

Arnie, Dan and ice.
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Hayley on the bowsprit of the Noorderlicht.

Well..it is unusually hot here in Ny Alesund. I would say it is about 7degrees celcius!! The researchers here say that normally, they have had a snow storm by September 10th. This odd weather makes our journey even more significant. We are here to study the science and experience the art of climate change and here we are on September 19th and it is SO WARM!!!

Dan collected a HUGE chunk of ice from the fjord and towed it back to the ship using a boat with a large crane. He plans to get the students to carve the ice into an ice lens. This will be quite a project for the students.

 More to come

Shona’s Arctic QA Session

Wed 19th Sept, 4.30pm GMT (12.30pm Montreal)
Following Shona’s video diary broadcast she will be online live from the Arctic for 30 minutes to hear your responses and to answer any more questions. The live QA will take place on the link below from 4.30pm GMT onwards on Wed 19th Sept. To take part (click to read more and) follow the instructions below.
Join the Live QA session »
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Joe filming in Ny-Alesund.

Amelie on the Noorderlicht bowsprit.

Today I was able to do my science project! We were able to meet up with an American Glaicologist (Jack) and he took us up to see the stakes that he had put in last spring. The stakes are used to measure glacier mass balance (a measurment of how much has accumulated and melted on the glacier over a year). Since the summer has just ended we were looking at how much had melted since he was last on the glacier. The experience was incredible. The sun was shinning and the air was so fresh. Jack is a very kind man and he let us measure for ourselves the stakes and help him take the GPS readings. I learned a huge amout about glaciers and was over whelmed by the size of the glacier and the amount that had melted. It wasnt was dramatic as seeing the ice fall into the water (on the last glacier) but when I stood there and realised how much the glacier had moved over the past century and how fast it was receding made the think hard about what we have done to this planet and what we have to do. It was also very enpowering to know that the measurments that i was taking were going to be documented in real scientific journals and that it would be consulted by scientist all over the world and I did it with my own hands and eyes (at only 16!). T

Tonight is my live blog, so I hope all goes well and that i can speak to yall back home.

Love and miss you all (not too much though) ,

Shona x

Keith in London, Svalbard.