This past 21^st of September  I returned from an expedition to the arctic.  I was part of a team of 46 artists, scientists, writers, a photographer, filmmakers and students like me. We came from different parts of the world, from Brazil, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland; Germany, England, India and each province of Canada.

We started the past 31^st of August in Lake St. George, Toronto, Canada. From there we flew to Reykjavik and boarded the Russian ship “Akademik Shokalskiy”, we sailed the coasts of Greenland visiting Inuit villages, learning from them about their way of life and how is it  changing because of climate change. The third week we arrived at Baffin Island, Canada, visiting small towns like Qikiqtarjuaq, talking to Inuit students our age. The voyage finished in  Iqaluit the capital of the province of Nunavut.

In this voyage we saw with our own eyes what is happening. We took photographs, painted, made scientific measurements and discussed and wrote about what we saw. Our goal now is to spread word about what is happening in the arctic, to make people, especially people our age, know what will happen if we continue living like we are now and urge them to act.

It was late summer, so there wasn’t much ice, but we were told that things were not usually like this. An Inuit elder we talked to in Ammassalik, Greenland, told us how ten years ago their village was always covered with snow this time of the year. The only snow we saw was far up in the mountains. The ice melts faster now, making the Inuits travel a lot more to hunt for food.  Polar bears now came into the towns, starving and looking for food. These changes we saw are the first signs of what is to come. We realized then that we have to act now, while we can.

Global warming is global, that is why youth from eight different countries came together on this expedition. Each one will share their experience and start actions in their country. If many more people join us we believe we can change the future in which all of us will live in.

If you are interested in knowing more about this project and what we are doing, you can visit: www.capefarewellcanada.ca. And in Mexico we have a site: www.adioscapadeozono.blogspot.com written in both English and Spanish, showing what we are doing in Mexico.

Posted in global warming, Impacted Communities, Political Participation, Youth Leaders