Arctic Expedition

Features

We’ve been at sea for over two months now. The experience has been incredible – the landscape is like nothing else on earth. We didn’t see the sun set for nearly two months, and we have seen polar bears up close in their ever-shrinking sea ice habitat.

Being here really brings home how important it is that world leaders take ambitious action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible.
The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world. A team of independent scientists onboard our ship have already collected data that shows:
Rising temperatures mean Greenland’s glaciers are flowing faster and moving more ice from the Greenland Ice Sheet into the sea, which contributes to sea level rise.
Greenland’s glaciers are not only being melted from above by warmer air temperatures, they are also being melted from below by subtropical waters that are finding their way to Greenland.
The glaciers are calving such huge icebergs into the sea that earthquakes measuring up to five on the Richter scale are generated.
The research from the Arctic Sunrise is adding to the growing scientific consensus that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007 sea level rise estimate is way too low. Rather than the predicted 20-60cm, scientists now think sea levels will rise one to two metres by 2100.
Although the situation is more urgent than previously thought, we at Greenpeace absolutely believe it’s not too late to stop catastrophic climate change. The solutions exist but what we are lacking is the political will. In the run-up to the international climate change meeting in December we will we be using the data we have gathered to convince world leaders that they must act fast and sign up to a treaty that is fair, ambitious and binding.
Reaching some of the most inhospitable areas of the globe to undertake research like this using state of the art technology is expensive – but vital to the success of our campaigns.
That’s why we are asking supporters around the world to help fund our expeditions by making a donation online now.
£25 could help pay for remote cameras that document how climate change affects glaciers.
£50 could help pay for the communication system that makes image and video transmission possible from our remote position in the high Arctic.
Please donate now and help us support research to convince world leaders that urgent action must be taken at Copenhagen and beyond.