Season 3 Findings
Washed Ashore. As someone who spends a lot of time on or near the sea, I am obliged to pass along the following update -before sharing the plan for ArcticEarth 2024 & 2025 (below).
Paul Mayewski
Expeditions 006 to 010
ArcticEarth SOUTH- After last winter’s decision to position the boat in the outer ranges of the Gulf of Maine in 2023, we set to it in June, with the first of four purpose-driven collaborative expeditions. All four trips allowed opportunities to connect the narrative dots within the larger bio-region of the northwest Atlantic (Maine to Greenland and Canada) that we call home. In 8 months, we will return to the NORTH, exploring both the west and east coasts of Greenland.
Season 2 Findings
Earlier this month, I was invited to give a talk and screen some video for 60 seasoned long distance sailors (CCA). The topic? My top three learnings from ArcticEarth’s first year:
1. The vessel ArcticEarth works well amidst ice (and melting ice)
2. A surprise for me- Greenland is geothermal!
3. Equitable & ethical engagement with Inuit communities & knowledge is foundational.
The first question in the Q & A, however, took us in a slightly different direction, “can you summarize what scientists are learning in the Arctic?” I replied that I’d follow up on that. Here’s my best shot, below.
Season 2, Expedition 001
ArcticEarth’s first charter is with the Climate Change Institute of UMaine, led by Paul Mayewski. Paul’s team’s goal over the next 10-11 days is to collect at least 50 coastal water samples in southwest Greenland, and define a baseline chemistry that will help Greenlanders and others track and understand future human impact in the area.
Season 1, Prepping the Vessel
A productive summer and fall on board the s/v ArcticEarth is slowly yielding to the cool quiets of late fall and early winter. This morning’s air temperature is 5°F in Qaanaaq, Greenland’s northernmost settlement on the west coast. Here on the Maine coast, it is a balmy 46°F, amidst the wet winds of an autumn …
Why ArcticEarth?
In 2016, I had the opportunity to film with some friends in the northern part of the oceanic region where I live -the northwest Atlantic. We visited Sermeq Kujalleq (“southern glacier,” in Greenlandic). Throughout the 2000’s, this was one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world, a giant moving belt that dumped massive chunks …