Welcome to the SOI Arctic Expedition 2005


The Arctic Youth Environmental Leadership Expedition 2005 is the most extraordinary educational Arctic expedition for youth ever undertaken. It will serve as a powerful and unique international platform to create change, inspire, educate, give cause for hope, and raise awareness globally about the impacts of Climate Change and other environmental issues facing the Arctic Regions.

The just released Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA)*; the Kyoto Protocol; the Arctic Council priorities; the efforts to build 'circumpolar' co-operation amongst northern nations; and the role of the Arctic as cornerstone of our planet's ecosystem, are all perfect fits with the environmental leadership and conservation ethic message of this Students on Ice expedition initiative.

The ship-based journey from Iceland to Greenland to Nunavut, Canada, will involve 80 students, aged 14-19, from around the world, including indigenous students from all of the Arctic Council-Circumpolar countries. The students will travel on this transformative adventure together with a team of 30 world-class scientists, environmentalists and educators, including Justin Trudeau, Dr. Peter Johnson and Sheila Watt-Cloutier.

This summer's expedition has the potential to create change, inspire, educate and give cause for hope.

• It will involve students from all of the Arctic Council-Circumpolar countries, as well as students from China and India. This is an opportunity to encourage these countries and others to consider the needs and advantages of participating fully in the international effort to reduce greenhouse gases, and be better stewards of our global environment. We will use the expedition as a platform to highlight Arctic and Global environmental issues.
• Showcase the recent Arctic Climate Impact Assessment and the Kyoto Protocol.
• Raise awareness about the CoP 11 meeting in Montreal, Canada later this year.
• Highlight the Northern Dimension of Canada's Foreign Policy and the Northern Strategy.
• Focus on the Arctic Council priorities.
• Discuss development in the North such as drilling in ANWAR and the need for a conservation ethic.
• Build 'circumpolar' co-operation amongst northern nations.
• Focus on the role of the Arctic as cornerstone of our planet's ecosystem.
• Let the youth voice be heard...around the world - via websites, a documentary, national and international media, partnerships...
• Inspire future leaders and stewards for our planet...and much, much more.

“My journal writing only beings to describe the emotions that I felt in the arctic - and still feel. I felt at home there in a way that I never have before: a feeling that I will be searching out for the rest of my life as I look to make a home for myself. I know that I will be returning to the Arctic.”
Colleen Christensen~ student on Arctic Flow Edge Expedition 2004

This carbon-neutral expedition will be a powerful platform to highlight Arctic and Global environmental issues, the youth voice, and so much more. A documentary film, international media, and a "live" expedition website will track the journey and share the experience with thousands around the world. During the expedition, the students will produce an Arctic Youth Statement of Climate Change, which will be tabled by a youth delegation at the CoP 11-Kyoto Protocol meeting in Montreal this December.

Never has there been a more critical need to expose the youth of world to what is happening in the Arctic, the "canary in the coal mine" and cornerstone of our global environment, and to inspire them to be future leaders and stewards for our planet. Inspiring our youth, empowering their voice as a vehicle for change, and helping create a needed paradigm shift in our environmental ethos is just part of what we hope to achieve.

* All participants on the SOI Arctic Expedition 2005 will receive a copy of the recently released Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. This document and its key findings will be a major focus our our expedition's education program.

Here is a summary of the Key Findings :

• Arctic climate is now warming rapidly and much larger changes are projected.
• Arctic warming and its consequences have worldwide implications.
• Arctic vegetation zone are very likely to shift, causing wide-ranging impacts.
• Animal species’ diversity, ranges, and distribution will change.
• Many coastal communities and facilities face increasing exposure to storms.
• Reduced sea ice very likely to increase marine transport and access to resources.
• Thawing ground will disrupt transportation, buildings, and other infrastructure.
• Indigenous communities are facing major economic and cultural impacts.
• Elevated ultraviolet radiation levels will affect people, plants, and animals.
• Multiple influences interact to cause impacts to people and ecosystems.
  
  To learn more about the ACIA see - http://www.acia.uaf.edu/

Students on Ice is proud to be partnering with the Arctic Council-Circumpolar countries, and a number of national and international organizations, including the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, the National Inuit Youth Council, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, The Canadian Museum of Nature, The Explorer's Club, Lonely Planet, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Environment Canada's One Tonne Challenge, Earth Rangers and the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.