Everybody seems to be heading to the Arctic these days.
With global warming triggering a thawing of the massive ice caps that have covered the North Pole for millennia, bordering countries are trying to stake claims on land masses, open seas and suspected oil and other mineral reserves.
The results of global warming are seen first and strongest in the polar regions. The Arctic sea ice has shrunk at an average annual rate of about 70,000 square kilometres per year since 1979.
There’s suddenly a new race to the North Pole, not so much to reach it first – as happened in the early part of the 20th century – but to grab a piece of real estate.
And now, science journalists can join the race.
The World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) has just announced a competition offering science journalists the chance to win three week-long trips aboard the Canadian research icebreaker Amundsen. It is being organised in collaboration with the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the International Polar Year Circumpolar Flaw Lead Project.
Winners will fly to Inuvik (Canada), and hop aboard a Twin Otter aircraft to the famous icebreaker. There, they will receive first hand experience of global warming where it is unfolding the fastest, says a circular from WFSJ.
To enter, professional journalists are invited to send their CV, coordinates, key pages of passport and a one-page essay on why they should be selected.
World Federation of Science Journalists
28, rue Caron, suite 200, Gatineau (Québec) Canada J8Y 1Y7
Email: info@wfsj.org
Tel.: +819 770-0776
Fax: +819 595 2458
www.wfsj.org
Applications must be received before 5 November 2007.
Open Minds! (formerly: Moving Images blog) 