Around the Americas |
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- SAILING EXPEDITION AROUND NORTH
AMERICA -
- THE NORTH WEST PASSAGE FOR AN INTERNATIONAL CONSENSUS ON GLOBAL WARMING |
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Fighting Global Warming: A matter of great
urgency
Departure from Tromsø on May 17th, 2008 Tromsø - Rekjavik arrival to Tromsø on May 17th, 2009
AROUND NORTH AMERICA Global warming is no longer an hypothesis: it’s a reality which affects the whole planet, and more particularly the polar regions where signs of shrinking ice fields or the now frequent, drift of giant icebergs lead us to predict that the worst is yet to come. The international scientific community agrees that we are likely to face catastrophic events with potentially dramatic consequences for life on earth such as: melting ice caps, rising sea level changing oceanic currents, increasing climatic extremes, population exodus, mass extinction of animal and plantspecies…Faced with this major threat, we have no choice but to act internationally in order to take emergency measures and set up policies that are likely to effectively deal with this issue.Nevertheless, industrialized countries, which are mainly responsible for causing this phenomenon, have adopted a wait-and-see policy. Canada and the United States are stillrefusing to commit to any international treaty, which they see as too restricting. In Europe, Sweden is the only country to have developed an ambitious plan, which goes beyond the modest commitments of the Kyoto Protocol. The International Polar Year (IPY) will
attract the attention of both the general public and the international
media on Arctic and Antarctica. It is the ideal opportunity to sensitize
the international community – from ordinary citizens to politicians
– to the vital need to preserve the Poles, these privileged
witnesses of the current imbalance of our planet and essential“traveling
companions” of the human species. It is only by saving the
poles that we can hope to avoid a parallel human disaster that such
a loss would presage.The IPY presents us with an ideal opportunity
to spread the message of the “Around North America Project”: “The Earth is like a ship and men are his crew.We have to act in unison so that its voyage may continue. Let’s act together for an international consensus in support of the environment and its natural resources. The world of tomorrow must be preserved today ! THE PROJECT AROUND NORTH AMERICA A fabulous expedition to the heart of the
ArcticA commitment to ensure our future A nautical odyssey Olivier
Pitras is the first French skipper to have successfully sailed the
North West Passage in 1999. For two centuries, the discovery of
this mythical passage – which provides a Northernlink between
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans – was the obsession of generations
of polarexplorers and remains one of the greatest sea-going adventures
of all times. Aboard his polar yacht specially fitted for the arctic
navigation, Olivier will attempt to repeat his exploit as part of
the “Around North America” Project: his expedition is
set to weigh anchor from Norway in May 2008, to cover 18 000 nautical
miles and to undertake one year of sailing.
AROUND NORTH AMERICA Olivier Pitras / Manager 69 Nord /Expedition leader Gregory Heming / Study sessions coordinator Vonne Blanchet / in charge of logistics and promotion Yannick Vallencant / in charge of Media and promotion
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