Pax Arctica's Blog

Tear down the wall and save the planet!

2009-11-10T04:14:00.000-08:00

Tear down the wall and save the planet!

Gorbachev said today, “There is the wall between those who cause climate change and those who suffer the consequences. There is the wall between those who heed the scientific evidence and those who pander to vested interests. And there is the wall between the citizens who are changing their own behavior and want strong global action, and the leaders who are so far letting them down".

Matthieu Ricard in Paris

2009-11-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

I did get a chance to speak with Matthieu Ricard (http://www.matthieuricard.org/) this afternoon as he was doing a book signing at the Paris showrom of Yellow Korner (http://www.yellowkorner.com/)
Interestingly, his next possible photographic destinations: The Arctic, Iceland...
"Que l'amour altruiste règne en ton coeur"

Fr Left to Right: Yves Moutran, Christophe Laurent, Matthieu Ricard, Luc Hardy at the Yellow Korner gallery rue des Francs Bourgeois in Paris

Literary Lights 2009

2009-10-31T16:25:00.000-07:00

Local news: Literary Lights 2009
Greenwich Arts Council and Barrett Bookstore
We are delighted to confirm the participation of Luc Hardy, author of Arctic Transitions and Greenland Impressions, at Literary Lights 2009: A Book Festival on Thursday, November 12, 2009. The event will be held from 6:00 to 8:30 PM at the Greenwich Arts Council, 299 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830 (in the heart of Greenwich’s downtown shopping area).

All friends welcome! There will be wine and food and lots of great books and interesting authors (including me ;)). http://www.greenwicharts.org/literarylink.asp

GCI Teams up with Pureology Serious Colour Care

2009-10-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Pureology Serious Colour Care, a leading professional hair care brand of L’Oréal USA, has formed a global partnership with Green Cross International (GCI) in a pioneering venture to help encourage salon professionals to support sustainable practices and projects. Founded in 1993 by President Mikhail Gorbachev, Green Cross International’s mission is to help face some of the world’s most critical environmental challenges.
http://www.gci.ch/en/communication/news-of-green-cross-international/33-news/509-gci-teams-up-with-pureology-serious-colour-carer-

UFG hosts dinner for Jean-Michel Cousteau

2009-10-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

Sept. 14, 2009 –Paris: PaxArctica's Himalaya Expedition 2009 - main sponsor UFG hosts a dinner honoring Jean-Michel Cousteau, President of Green Cross France.
From left to right: Yves Moutran (GCF Board member)-Xavier Lepine (CEO Groupe UFG) - Jean-Michel Cousteau (http://www.oceanfutures.org/jmc/jmc_index.php) - Bertrand Fournier (Chairman of the Management Board of Sarasin Asset Management http://www.groupe-ufg.com/nos-expertises/isr/(France) - Luc Hardy (GCF Secretary General) - Adam Koniuszewski (COO, Green Cross International)

350

2009-10-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

TODAY, the 24 October, people in 181 countries came together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. At over 5200 events around the world, people gathered to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis. http://www.350.org/

More Americans Doubt Global Warming

2009-10-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

COUNTERINTUITIVE... but maybe at the end of a (relatively) 'cool' year, people look at a one-year data point instead of the centuries-long chart??
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/oct/22/climate-change-us-pew-survey
Michael Crichton's legacy lives on. A new survey by the Pew Research
Center shows a precipitous decline in the number of Americans who
believe in global warming. In 2007, 77 percent of Americans thought that
global warming was backed by scientific evidence. Today, it's only 57
percent, with the sharpest drop occurring in independent voters and
Republicans. The numbers were released just a week before the Senate
begins debating climate-change legislation. In anticipation of that, a
handful of scientific organizations have written Congress to confirm
that, indeed, global warning is a real phenomenon. How did this happen?
An associate director at Pew posits that bigger issues, such as the
economy and health-care reform, have taken the spotlight off climate
change as of late.

U.N.'s Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon PHOTOS!

2009-10-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

As the climate summit in Copenhagen approaches, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon shares his take on stunning photos that document how warming temperatures are changing the planet: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-13/shocking-climate-change-photos/#gallery=819;page=1

Conference - Thursday, October 22 @ 7 P.M.

2009-10-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

Luc Hardy
Vanishing Arctic Ice Shelves
Thursday, October 22

The conference will take place @ The Arts Center, Meeting Room, 2nd floor, 299 Greenwich Ave.
Thursday, October 22 @ 7 P.M.

Lecture in English

In the summer of 2008, Luc Hardy led a 16 person expedition composed of scientists and “young ambassadors”, ages 9 to 17, to the Canadian Arctic to report on the rapid changes in the area. Slides of the voyage to this beautiful, but largely inaccessible region will accompany Mr. Hardy’s lecture on the eyewitness accounts as well as the scientific findings. Luc Hardy, President of Sagax in Greenwich, is also a keen environmental advocate and the founder of the Pax Arctica Initiative, created to increase knowledge of the threats facing the Arctic, to spread global peace, and to promote new ecological regulations in the region. Mr. Hardy will have on hand copies of his book, “Arctic Transitions: Witness to Change - Young Ambassadors in Nunavut”.

http://www.afusa.org/af/greenwich/conferences.htm

Gorbatchev - "On a évité une troisième guerre mondiale"

2009-10-13T10:56:00.001-07:00

"Le dernier président de l'URSS donne sa version personnelle des événements qui ont conduit à la chute du mur de Berlin, et dit ce qu'il pense d'Obama, de Medvedev et de Poutine." (source: Le Figaro)
Gorbatchev.pdf

Thawing Tibetan Plateau

2009-10-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

After surveying the Himalayas for many years, the respected Chinese glaciologist Yao Tandong recently warned that, given present trends, almost two-thirds of the plateau’s glaciers could well disappear within the next 40 years.
For more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/26/opinion/26Schell.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=yao%20tandong&st=cse

Paul Krugman on climate change

2009-09-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

From Nobel Prize winner economist Paul Krugman:

... The prognosis for the planet has gotten much, much worse in just the last few years.
... In a rational world, then, the looming climate disaster would be our dominant political and policy concern. But it manifestly isn’t. Why not?
... Responding to climate change with the vigor that the threat deserves would not, contrary to legend, be devastating for the economy as a whole.
... Even as climate modelers have been reaching consensus on the view that the threat is worse than we realized, economic modelers have been reaching consensus on the view that the costs of emission control are lower than many feared.
... So the time for action is now. O.K., strictly speaking it’s long past. But better late than never.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/opinion/28krugman.html

Mera Glaciers Stakes Located

2009-08-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

Aug 26th, 2009

Since the weather improved slightly, we left early to reach Mera Glacier hoping to find at least a few of the stakes that were put in place by scientists last year. After hiking for a couple of hours we reached the front of the glacier. Using the handheld GPS, we identified locations of a few stakes. We noted the reference number of the stakes and took measurements of the emerging heights. We also calculated the thickness of the snow on top of the glacier at the stake location. Some of the stakes appeared to be in the exact same position as last year. Other have moved (in some cases over 100 meters). After completing our field work, photos and video recording we returned to camp which is located lower in the valley. We will be reporting all the gathered information to our scientific partners.

Monsoon Fury

2009-08-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

August, 25th 2009

After much delay caused by the fury of an exceptional monsoon, our approach of the Mera Glacier has been slow. We finally made it to Kahre, the last camp before reaching the Mera glacier, where we expect to do some of our field work. The morale of the team is relatively high despite the very poor weather conditions and reduced visibility. We will follow up tomorrow. With a little luck we will have reachd the Glacier.

http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/detail.php?article_id=23138&cat_id=7

Ocean Temperatures Are Highest on Record

2009-08-17T06:38:00.000-07:00

National Briefing | Environment
Ocean Temperatures Are Highest on Record
By CORNELIA DEAN
Published: August 14, 2009

Average temperatures of waters at the oceans’ surface in July were the highest ever recorded, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The agency said the average sea surface temperature was 1.06 degrees higher than the 20th-century average of 61.5 degrees. Though July was unusually cool in some areas, like the eastern United States, analysts at the NOAA Climate Data Center said the combined global land and ocean surface temperature was 1.03 degrees higher than the 20th-century average of 60.4 degrees, the fifth warmest since worldwide record keeping began in 1880. The agency also said that, on average, Arctic sea ice covered 3.4 million square miles in July, 12.7 percent below the 1979-2000 average and the third lowest on record, after 2007 and 2006.

Himalayan Expedition to Record Climate Change Effects

2009-08-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

Geneva, 14 August -- In partnership with Green Cross International, the “Pax Arctica —Himalayas Expedition 2009” will help record changes in the Himalayan glaciers that feed seven of Asia's greatest rivers. The Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze and Huange supply water to about 40 per cent of the world’s population...

Please go to this link for more info and download the Press Release:
PR-Nepal-f-1%2012-09-50.pdf

Geoengineering...

2009-07-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

After Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, lauching millions of tons of sulfur into the stratosphere, the average temperature of the planet dropped by about a degree ºF...
Geoengineering anyone?: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060804-global-warming.html

When you feel it, It's already too late!

2009-07-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

Interesting video... hits home...

Greenlanders become 'independent', all 58,000 of them!

2009-06-22T05:22:00.000-07:00

Two years to the day after our expedition celebrated Greenland National Day in the village of Ittoqqortoormit, on the east coast of Greenland, Greenland is becoming quasi-independent. More in this article
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/world/europe/22greenland.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=greenland&st=cse

Let's watch this small (population) but large and important 'country' (size, Arctic location...) as it matures into a fully independent nation!

Jean-Michel Cousteau on Board of GreenCross France

2009-06-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce Green Cross France’s new Board of Directors. At the meeting in Paris on 2nd June, a new Board was elected with, as its Chairman, Mr. Jean-Michel Cousteau. In addition to being a Green Cross International (http://gci.ch/) Honorary Board Member, Jean-Michel Cousteau is a well-known and respected explorer, environmentalist, educator and film producer (http://www.oceanfutures.org/). Educating people on water issues has been one of his focus areas. As the Executive Vice President of The Cousteau Society for nearly 20 years, and currently as the Founder and President of Ocean Futures Society, Jean-Michel travels the globe meeting with leaders and policymakers in governments and businesses, as well as with people at the grassroots level.

Other members of the GC France Board include Luc Hardy [that's me ;) - 2nd from right on photo], co-leader of the Pax Arctica expeditions, as secretary general; and Adam Koniuszewski [right], GCI Chief Operating Officer, as treasurer. Other Board members are Jean-Marie Martin, a former Director of the National Center for Scientific Research and a well known adviser on environment and sustainable development – also for the European Commission; and Jean-François Mermet [left], who has been the Deputy Mayor of Lyon and Vice-President of the Lyon city agglomeration for over two decades.

Explorers Club - Flag Report!

2009-06-10T14:33:00.001-07:00

Upon returning from the Arctic last summer, we provided a full report to the Explorers Club. Our Flag report Flag# 61 is now live on the Explorers Club website site and can be viewed and downloaded at the following link: http://www.explorers.org/expeditions/reports/reports_2008.php
or click on:

Flag 61
PAX ARCTICA
July 4th-31st, 2008
Luc Hardy MR’08

ENJOY!!

HOME

2009-06-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

Quand j'ai rencontré Yann Arthus-Bertrand à Resolute Bay au Nunavut l'été dernier, il finissait de filmer HOME. Par la suite, il a généreusement accepté de préfacer mon livre 'ARCTIC – Transitions'. « HOME » sortira simultanément, le 5 juin 2009, dans 126 pays, et sur tous les médias : cinéma, télévision, DVD et Internet.
En France, de nombreuses projections gratuites seront organisées en plein air. Les circuits UGC et CGR offriront une séance gratuite dans leurs meilleures salles.
Le DVD sera en vente à prix coûtant à la FNAC et le film sera accessible gratuitement en streaming sur You Tube.
France 2 – qui s’est dès l’origine engagée sur le projet – diffusera “HOME” dans sa version télévisuelle à 20 heures 30, la soirée se poursuivant par un débat.
Pour les Parisiens, une projection gratuite sur écran géant aura lieu au Champ-de-Mars à 22 heures, les pelouses étant ouvertes à tous dès 16 heures.
Ce film exceptionnel est un cri d’alerte et d’amour pour la planète, notre maison, notre “HOME” à tous. Il vise à contribuer à sa façon, c’est-à-dire de manière sensible et émotionnelle, au mouvement de prise de conscience des graves problèmes écologiques auxquels nous sommes confrontés et à nous inciter à agir.

Le 5 juin, agir, pour chacun d’entre nous, c’est simplement aller voir “HOME”.

http://www.home-2009.com/fr/index.html

To purchase my new book:

Arctic Transitions: Witness to Change - Young Ambassadors in Nunavut
Luc Hardy (Author, photos and text) - Foreword/Préface by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Hardcover - 144 pages, 400+ photos – English/French text (in the same book)
ISBN: 978-0974608020

Whether you are in the USA, Europe or Asia, you can order it at:
http://www.sagaxexpeditions.com/2US%20-%2011%20-%20Books%20-%20Arctic%20Transitions.html

In the USA you can also order on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-TRANSITIONS-Witness-Ambassadors-Nunavut/dp/0974608025/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228507726&sr=8-1

Breathing Earth...

2009-05-27T14:53:00.001-07:00

The Earth breathing (and suffocating....) in real time!

http://www.breathingearth.net/BreathingEarth.swf

Un mythe planétaire...

2009-05-25T05:31:00.001-07:00

Dans la série des bouquins pseudo-scientifiques, un de plus à éviter (ou bien à lire pour s'amuser), "CO2 - Un Mythe Planétaire" de Christian Gérondeau. Une divagation mal recopiée de Bjorn Lomborg (le scientifique Danois qui au moins reconnait le changement climatique et l'intérêt de lutter contre, mais se demande s'il n'est pas plus juste d'investir dans la santé mondiale, etc. - ça passe encore). Mais avec ce livre, on tombe dans le complot religieux qui serait la source de tous les profits de ces sociétés d'énergies nouvelles? hello... Mais comme le rapporte Tertullien, les dérèglements climatiques de l'époque, crues du Tibre, absences de crues du Nil n'étaient ils pas la faute des Chrétiens?
J'attends toujours une vraie thèse scientifique, documentée, intelligente, qui challengerait les conclusions (peut-être) parfois trop dramatiques de certains environnementalistes.

Recherches sur la séquestration géologique du carbone...

2009-05-24T12:37:00.001-07:00

Mardi dernier, 19 mai, à l'Académie des Sciences dont il est membre, Claude Allègre anime un débat sur ce sujet. Reconnaitrait-il qu'en effet le climat change autour de lui? A suivre...