My Travel Tales

Entries tagged as ‘global warming’

Doing More For Polar Bears

November 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment

November 14, 2009
Churchill, Manitoba

Today was our final day in Churchill.  It always seems to come to a close too quickly.  As we ventured out, another group arrived to take our place at the Studies Center.  Depending on the weather, it’s possible the bears will only be on land for another few days or a week before the ice freezes and they’re able to commence their hunting and feeding season.

Churchill Candlestick Sunset

Churchill Candlestick Sunset

When we were reunited with our peers last night, those of us who went on the tundra buggy yesterday learned that the rest of the group also experienced a magical day.  They too were treated to a bear approaching the bus in close proximity and a display of bears sparring just off the side of the road.  And, of course, the candlestick sunset was in view to all those who were fortunate enough to be outside last night.  Unobstructed by large buildings and developments, Churchill sunsets are spectacular and seem to overtake the entire skyline, not just the West coast.

Another bear visited us at the Studies Center last night.  Most of us were upstairs for the evening’s class and did not see the bear.  However, a few members of our group, too tired to focus on the evening’s lessons, were resting in the quiet lounge and were again surprised by a bear that pressed its face up against the window.  J.D, Logan, Deborah, and David notified Studies Center staff about the bear and were able to capture a few pictures before the bear was scared off once more.  I saw some of the pictures and if any are emailed to me, I’ll post them here.  Again, the zoo imagery struck me with irony.  Although Studies Center staff couldn’t allow the bear to remain in such close proximity, I was happy we got to experience the feeling of being locked behind bars while a large, potentially dangerous creature observed us curiously.

polar bear close up

Polar bear close-up

We saw a few bears today, including another that walked right up to the window of our bus.  The bear got so close that we were instructed to close our windows.  After some bear observations, we pulled off the side of the road to build an igloo.  Chuck instructed us about how to cut and stack the ice to create the igloo structure.  Once built, we took turns crawling inside the igloo to get a sense of the warmth and cover it offered from the elements.  Chuck told a story about an igloo he built a couple years ago.  He said that it was so cold and stormy out that as soon as he completed the igloo an Arctic fox darted inside and curled up.

igloo building

Building an igloo

It was noticeably colder today, with fog and snow drifting around us.  We took a walk through the forest while Chuck pointed out the vegetation and various food sources it offers Arctic critters like hares and foxes.  We picked and tasted crowberries.  This forest outing was more pleasant than last year’s version that had us standing in 30 below temperatures, among several feet of snow.

On our way back to the center we stopped by a crashed plane that remains untouched among the rocks and terrain of Churchill.  The plane has been nicknamed “Miss Piggy” and ironically crashed in 1979 while carrying a large load of soda rumored to be Coca Cola (a company that adopted polar bears as its mascot) over the region.  I’m not sure why the plane hasn’t been hauled away, but it’s quite a sight to see lodged among the rocks.

We went back to the Studies Center, had a nice meal, and gathered our luggage.  Our departure from the Studies Center was delayed briefly when, once again, we were visited by a polar bear. After the bear moved out of the area and we could safely leave the Center, we headed for the train station. We passed by our igloo on the way to the train station and pulled over to have another look.  It was dark outside so Chuck crawled inside the igloo and illuminated it with a flashlight so we could get a sense of how it would look with a fire burning inside.  We boarded the train, most of us expressing sadness to be departing the wonder of Churchill and the polar bears.

I was heartbroken to be leaving.  Throughout the duration of our stay, we learned more about the political issues in Churchill that make it difficult to further protect the bears and prosecute some of the unscrupulous people that are exploiting them.  Tourism generated by people wanting to see the polar bears is the primary source of revenue for the town, so people are resistant to further regulate tour operations.  There’s a lot that needs to be done for the polar bears of Churchill, both locally and globally.  There are initiatives I’d like to become more involved in, some that are more challenging to take on from a distance.  Having witnessed the corruption of some tour operators and photographers, I began contemplating what it would be like if all humans left the Churchill area and let polar bears live undisturbed.  The bears would still face the threats of our global impact on the Arctic region, but it seems several unnecessary day-to-day stresses would be eliminated without our presence on their land.

On the flip-side, it could be argued that studying the bears is a necessary means to help sustain their population.  And I know from personal experience that my encounters with polar bears have sparked positive lifestyle changes in those I’ve shared stories with and those whom have read my blog.  I certainly intend to make this annual journey for as long as the trip is offered and the bears are in existence.  At the same time, I’d love to see some additional regulations implemented by the town of Churchill.  Perhaps they could institute limited visitor permits, impose a tax on tour operators to accrue more funds to help study and sustain the bear population in the area, fine and prosecute those who bait bears for personal gain and profit . . .

bear eyes

An important question

The vivid dream I had that sparked my initial Arctic expedition one year ago involved an interaction with the last polar bear on Earth.  He was sitting on the last piece of remaining ice, looking at me as if to say, “What are you going to do?”  As I looked into the eyes of the polar bears we encountered during this  year’s journey, I saw them asking the same question.

I intend to become more informed about the local issues in Churchill. I intend to find out how, as the people bringing an influx of revenue-generating business to the area, we can further influence additional changes to help protect the polar bear population in Churchill.  I am also committed to further personal lifestyle changes to minimize my impact on climate change, as well as becoming more informed and involved in the global issues that threaten the sustainability of the polar bear population.

What are you going to do?

Categories: Polar Bears
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Taking Action for Polar Bears

December 9, 2008 · Leave a Comment

My Arctic Adventures Blog featured on MySpace

My Arctic Adventures Blog featured on MySpace

I woke up this morning to an email from MySpace – they’re featuring my blog on their Our Planet channel: http://www.myspace.com/ourplanet.  Many thanks to MySpace for sharing these stories and helping spread awareness about polar bears and how we can all help preserve the Arctic region.

Also, big thanks to Chuck (Dr. Jonkel), Shannon, Matt and everyone at The Great Bear Foundation for the amazing experience and sharing their wealth of knowledge.

The main reason I spent 8 days on planes, buses, and trains, traveling to the Arctic was to experience first-hand the affects of climate change on polar bears and Arctic ecology.  It seems awareness of climate change has increased and more and more people know that the survival of polar bears is threatened, but it can still feel like “a problem over there” — not part of our day to day consciousness.  I don’t believe this is malicious, it just isn’t top-of-mind for many people, most of the time.  I live in LA where it’s 73 degrees and beautiful almost every day of the year.  It’s hard to expect everyone in LA to think about ice caps melting and polar bears heading toward extinction, on a day to day basis.  People all over the world are consumed with their own survival, happiness, and daily responsibilities – global warming is not top-of-mind, even though they’re aware of it.

The thing to remember is that it’s all connected. The way we live, wherever we live, has an impact on the environment as a whole, which in turn has an impact on us. Dr. Jonkel (Chuck) reminded us that people are wasting time debating whether Global Warming is something people are causing or just “part of mother nature’s natural cycle.” He encouraged us to recognize that both points of view are valid – some of the climate change we see is mother nature “doing her thing” AND some of it is caused or accelerated by what we’re doing. All Chuck asked of us is that we help the part that we can control – the impact we have on the earth and the things we can do to minimize that.

Several groups have put together lists of simple steps to combat global warming in our everyday life. Stop Global Warming has a great list: http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_actionitems.asp

The NRDC is also doing work on climate change: http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/default.asp

Global Warming Solution is a Missoula, Montana based organization founded by a Great Bear alum. Their executive summary is really helpful:

http://www.globalwarmingsolution.org/pdf/Summary.pdf

Global Warming Initiatives, Inc is a really cool company that helps businesses to reduce their carbon footprint while at the same time saving money on energy efficiency:

http://www.gwi-nc.org/

The lists of simple steps are great in that they are easy to achieve and anybody can do things like switch to energy efficient light bulbs, etc. And if we get enough people to do these things, we can make a difference.

We can also support initiatives like the Western Climate Change Initiative:

http://www.westernclimateinitiative.org/

This is an alliance of seven western states and two canadian provinces working on ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We can pressure our schools, workplaces, and local and state governments to conduct greenhouse gas inventories, to determine how much impact they are having and how they can reduce that impact. It often saves money in the long run on energy costs.

The bumper sticker, “think globally, act locally” has never meant as much as it does today. The average meal travels 1,500 miles to our dinner plates, consuming fossil fuels for transport, processing, refrigeration, etc. One of the biggest changes we can make in our everyday lives is to buy locally, eat locally, and eat seasonally. By gardening or participating in CSA’s, we not only reduce the fossil fuels used to feed ourselves, but the plants we grow also help to produce clean air and to sequester carbon. Can or dry the extra food from your harvest, and you can eat your bounty year round. Grow squashes, potatoes, and other hardy vegetables that can grow late in the season and keep throughout the winter.

Chuck would say that one of the most important things we can do is to raise awareness of the polar regions. There are few people living up there, and their voices are rarely heard. Most people think of the north as a barren waste of ice. The more people learn about the Arctic, the more they will care about it. That’s the point of Chuck’s “Learning to Talk Arctic” lecture. As people become more familiar with the polar regions, they will care more.

I fell in love with polar bears during this trip.  I stood 30 feet away from them and watched in awe as they played, searched for alternative food sources, and walked across the ice with power and grace. I think about them every time I put gas in my car or ask a business to turn off the air conditioning when it’s cold outside (and inside). I think about the collective positive impact we can have by taking simple steps in our own lives and educating (and sometimes pressuring) business owners to make positive changes.  And then I do everything I can to help ensure the survival of polar bears and make a positive impact on the Earth.

Curious Bear

Curious Bear

Categories: Polar Bears
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Videos: Hanging Out With Polar Bears

November 24, 2008 · Leave a Comment

These videos were taken during our second to last polar bear outing.  Prior to this day, it was 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit which was too warm for the ice to form and move to the shore of The Hudson Bay. Polar bears rely on this ice so they can go out and hunt. Thankfully, as we were leaving Churchill a cold storm moved in.  Locals were enthusiastic and hopeful that this storm would finally bring the ice to shore so the bears could eat. The bear’s hunting season is getting shorter each year – the ice shelf forming later and breaking up an average of 2-3 weeks earlier than it used to. 

The first video shows a polar bear seemingly walking with a destination in mind, but he stops for a playful time out before continuing on his way.  

The next video shows a bear shielding himself during a windstorm and 19 degrees below temperatures!

We only saw one mother bear with a cub during our trip.  And days when we saw 8 bears, we should have seen 20-30 bears according to Dr. Jonkel (“Chuck”) who has been leading this trip for 25 years. Chuck made sure we understood this is not a good sign.  It’s not only further evidence that the polar bear population is decreasing, but indicates that reproduction is decreasing as well. 

So, what can we do? That’s coming next!

Categories: Polar Bears
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Learning How To Talk Arctic

November 21, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Several people have asked where I was, geographically, during the polar bear trip.  It’s hard for most people to picture how far North we were. Our location in Churchill, Manitoba (on the Hudson Bay) is important because this is where the ice forms earliest.  The bears rely on the formation of the ice shelf so they can go out and hunt.  So the bears come here first to await the formation of the sea ice.  It’s also important because there are some pending international decisions that affect this region. Here’s a map to give a better sense of where we were and how this plays into foreign policy that affects the polar bears:

Churchill, Manitoba

Churchill, Manitoba

On the evening of November 12th, following a day of Arctic adventure and spotting bears, Dr. Charles Jonkel (“Chuck”) taught us about the relevance of where we were sitting and some critical changes and decisions that will affect the polar bears.  

Chuck explained that the Polar Basin is actually quite small.  We need to do more than we’re doing now to preserve the ecology here. We need to increase awareness and let people know how to impact positive change. The polar bear is particularly vulnerable. It’s a rare example of a terrestrial animal that lives on a food source under the ice – the ringed seal.  The polar bear is an animal that depends on 2 totally different environments to survive, which makes it vulnerable in 2 ways: threats to its environment and threats to the environment of its food chain. 

Chuck spoke about the crucial stretch of the Northwest Passage, which was blocked for 65,000- 100,000 years with old ice, unusable.  About 15 years ago Americans discovered the Northwest Passage. Canada claims the Northwest Passage (including Hudson Bay) belongs to them, but this is in dispute with other countries that border these waters including America and Russia.  The ice in the Northwest Passage melted out 3 summers ago, bringing Asia and North America 2,000-4,000 miles closer (because now we can cut straight through, instead of having to go around).  This will have a huge impact on shipping industries, importing and exporting.  Now there’s major money involved and countries are battling over this region. There are no treaties  governing the area yet, but they will be written and countries will be fighting for control.  It’s important that we understand the politics at play here because the countries that border this region will have tremendous impact on the Arctic ecology (for better or worse). 

Other information Chuck shared with us during this lecture are: 

  • It’s harder for bears to get to their food source (seals) in Alaska now. Cubs and moms can’t swim 100-125 miles.  Jonkel thinks it’s possible there will be no more bears in Alaska in 5 years.
  • The bear population is decreasing in Churchill as well.  10 years ago we would have seen 35 bears today.  We saw bears today, but not 35 (approx 8).
  • Last June Russia started drilling off-shore.  They hired a company to teach them how to do it (“a non-conscious French company”). They turned down an offer from Chevron who was trying to teach them responsible ways to drill.  Instead, they’re working with people who are not concerned about protecting the ecology.
  • Fishing boats are coming in and competing with the polar bear’s foodchain.  Millions of dollars are involved in shipping areas so there’s going to be a big fight if we want to regulate this to help preserve the environment. 
  • Greenland is 5 times as big as Montana, with 2 miles thick of ice.  The ice is melting.  Greenland controls what happens with continental glaciacian.  We’re at the tail end of the 4th continental ice age. There could be a 5th one.  Greenland is functioning as a thermostat – could trigger a 5th ice age. 

Chuck suggested we continue to learn about this region and pending policies that impact it.  He prompted us to write letters to the Russian and Canadian governments.  If nothing else, LEARN about it. Chuck said the reason he was “teaching us to talk Arctic” is because when people hear something they don’t understand, they tend to tune it out.  He wants us to be familiar with the region, the terminology, the animal and plant life so that we can participate in the discussion. 

Categories: Polar Bears
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Living The Dream: Sharing Ice With Polar Bears

November 14, 2008 · 1 Comment

 

Polar bear resting on ice

Polar bear resting on ice

This journey to the Arctic began with a powerful dream about a polar bear. In my dream, I was face to face with a polar bear, on the Arctic ice.  Well, today I was face to face with several polar bears (23 to be exact).  It was breathtaking. I had to keep reminding myself that I was here and they were here. This wasn’t a National Geographic program or a film – I was literally on the ice, with the polar bears. 

Today we were much closer to the bears than we have been in the past. We watched them build “day beds” in the snow, where they could shield themselves from the wind and rest. We saw them eat kelp, which we learned provides the bears with salt and water, but isn’t very efficient due to the amount of calories it burns to process it (and bears need to hold onto their calories). We saw them lying side-by-side. 

 

Bear in Day Bed

Bear in Day Bed

Today was the coldest day of our week in Churchill.  It was -9F and -23F with windchill.  Most of the bears were conserving energy.  The bears can’t hunt until the sea ice comes to shore and unfortunately that hasn’t happened yet. The bears know they need to hold onto their calories so that they have a reserve until they can go back out and hunt again.  I asked Chuck how this differs from 15 years ago.  He said that 15 years ago, at this time of year, all the bears would have been 20-30 miles out on the ice, hunting.  They’d stay there all season and come back to shore as the sea ice breaks up in Spring.  However, due to climate change, the sea ice now rolls in with the wind for a day, the bears go out and try to hunt, and then have to come back to shore before the pieces of ice go back out to sea. There was one day before we arrived when the bears were out on the ice all day (and nobody saw them).  But there hasn’t been any sea ice since we’ve been here and the bears are hungry and tired.

 

Arctic Hare sheltered by a rock

Arctic Hare sheltered by a rock

We also saw an Arctic hare – the first one of the trip. It was hard to see him in the white snow, sheltered behind a carefully selected rock.  Arctic hares have an average life-span of 2 to 3 years. We spent the entire day on the tundra, watching the animals in their natural habitat. 

There’s a lot more to share and many, many more photos, but it’s time for our evening lecture/lesson so I must sign off.  

Tomorrow we begin the 4-day journey home and I’ll be without internet access most of the way.  But I’ll post more blogs when we return! 

In the meantime, you can view some more pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44304&l=d9334&id=508093336

and here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44306&l=5452a&id=508093336

Categories: Polar Bears
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