Polar Bear Safety Lecture

When I took this picture in Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Salbard Archipelago I was standing on a carpet of fine gravel with the cold wind trying to pick out the wrinkles in my face. At the same time I was desperately trying to listen to one of the expedition team telling us what to do if we encounter a Polar Bear. I couldn’t help thinking there was one behind every rock and at the same time they must have been hungry because nothing, absolutely nothing is growing here.

The rather unconventional health and safety lecture is a rite of passage for all visitors who come to Spitsbergen and you are constantly reminded wherever you travel here that we humans are merely guests in this the kingdom of the world’s largest land carnivore.

I’m pleased to say that in many ways the bears’ lives are put before ours as there are series of strategies from shouting to large “flash/bang” flares designed to frighten the bear off, the high powered rifles carried by the guides would  only be used as a last resort.

It's a fact of life that as 'soft'  Polar expedition cruising increases the wildlife will come under more pressure but this seems to be kept to an absolute minimum as all cruise operators have to sign up to Antarctic and Arctic codes of practice. Visits here are a wondereful thing as it brings home to people the need to protect these stunning areas.

The good thing about Polar cruising is that the season is so short and numbers limited as to how many people can be where, also the winter gives the land a chance to carry on with its natural rhythms.

   

Waste of Fresh Water

The images of earthquake survivors fighting over scarce resources in Haiti is a grim reminder of what is to come in parts of our overpopulated planet. In addition to earthquakes, extreme weather brought on by global climate change, be it drought or floods from excessive rainfall, is causing misery and suffering to countless millions with increasing frequency. Water and food, in that order, are the most basic human needs following a natural disaster.

Yet, as thirsty, dehydrated Haitians strive to survive on the bald rock which is all that is left of their part of the once-lush, tropical island in the Caribbean, trillions of tons of fresh water from glaciers and icebergs at the polar extremities of the planet are slowly melting into the sea.

What a terrible waste!

Is there nothing that can be done to harness the water from tidewater glaciers and icebergs before they make life on our planet more precarious by expanding the size of our oceans? Are we set to passively let part of our species die of thirst or drown?

On a cruise to Antarctica earlier this month, I asked the ship’s glaciologist if that was any ongoing research on ways to harness water from icebergs in these times of mounting scarcity. He said hadn’t heard of any and could only point to the initiative of a Saudi prince, who in the mid-70s had the idea of towing a 100 million-ton iceberg wrapped in sailcloth and plastic from Antarctica to Saudi Arabia. Prince Mohamed al Faisal was convinced that despite the cost of towing the iceberg to Saudi Arabia and loosing up to 20% of the mass from melting en route, the fresh water that would be left would be much cheaper than producing it locally in a desalinization plant. Apparently, nothing came of the idea and some scientists argued that once in waters around the equator all that would be left of the berg would be the rope at the end of the tow.

I’m not convinced that we should give up on the idea. After just a few days of watching huge icebergs from the Larsen Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula like this one floating northward, I would hope that there is research going on somewhere to find ways of harnessing this immense resource. Reports this month that icebergs calved from the Mertz Glacier are drifting towards New Zealand would mean that there would be no need to tow them through equatorial waters to harvest the fresh water. Once harvested in New Zealand or at the tips of South America or South Africa, the water could be moved to drier parts of the planet using conventional methods.

If not for concern for humankind, there could be money to be made from icebergs.