Ice

The pic for this blog is the cover for a book produced by Rolf, a wonderful Baffin Safari client from a few years ago.

It is a beautiful picture book, however, what first caught my attention was the title of the book ( most of the book is written in German ).

"Before it melts away "

No question, the earth is warming, and so is the arctic. Fortunately, for those of us who operate tours on Baffin Island, the north east Canadian high arctic has, in recent years, escaped drastic warming relative to most high arctic regions. But it is still warming.

Visitors who are new to the high arctic cannot always distinguish between seasonal ice and multi-year ice ( its not always easy for anyone ). Very thick seasonal ocean ice, which can be pushed up into massive chunks by wind, currents, and tides , can be confused with iceburgs. It is a dynamic place best understood by the Inuit who live there.

The Arctic year round ice sheet is shrinking, however annual ice in the arctic ( like many other places ) continues to form , and continues to be seasonally very thick ( a meter or more ). This seasonal ice is not going away ( although its seasonal lifespan may be slightly shortened over time ).

Warming has an impact on the Arctic , as it does everywhere. It impacts the people and the wildlife.

This is why the title caught my attention - the words have great meaning, however, that meaning can be interpreted differently by many.