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Save The Arctic

SAVE THE ARCTIC TOUR THE MELTING ARCTIC IS THREATENED by oil giants like Shell and Russia's Gazprom. But people around the world are rising up to save the Arctic and the polar bears, whales, and other creatures that reside there. This summer, two Greenpeace ships, the Esperanza and the Arctic Sunrise, are adventuring north on their behalf. Let's take a look at their journey. PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD are calling for an Arctic sanctuary in the currently unowned and uninhabited area around the North Pole. The sanctuary would be dedicated to science and off-limits to polluters. Why? Because it belongs to all of us. GREENPEACE Arctic Sanctuary Boundary North Pale Esperanza Tour Arctic Sunrise Tour to ice edge ALASKAN HIGHLIGHTS NORWEGIAN/RUSSIAN HIGHLIGHTS PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND ICE EDGE In the last 30 years, we've lost as much as 75 percent of the 23 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Prince William Sound is still suffering from the spill's impacts. floating ice cap at the top of the world. The Arctic Sunrise will go to the ice edge several times this season to study sea PRIBILOF ISLANDS ice decline and its impacts and bear witness to this disappearing world. St. George and St. Paul are home to Alaskan Natives who have lived in balance with the ocean for thousands of years. Known as the "Galapagos of the North," the islands provide shelter for O MURMANSK This area is the staging ground for the industrialization of the Arctic. Greenpeace is journeying to the Russian Arctic to expose the appalling practices of the Russian oil companies, which are already seriously affecting the Arctic ecosystems and indigenous communities' livelihoods. more than 2 million sea birds. THE BERING SEA CANYONS The Bering Sea Canyons are the largest underwater canyons on earth. The Zhemchug and Pribilof canyons GASPROM RIG The Prirazlomnoye field is surrounded by national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Gazprom is entirely unprepared to deal with a serious accident-its clean-up systems are only designed to handle up to 1,500 tons of spilled oil, though the platform will be able to hold up to 120,000 tons of oil at any given time. are both larger than Arizona's Grand Canyon. These largely unexplored canyons drive one the largest marine ecosystems on the planet but are being damaged by destructive industrial-scale fishing. Greenpeace will be doing submarine research there in hopes that the area will become a protected marine reserve. BUSINSK, KOMI REPUBLIC, RUSSIA The Russian Minister of Nature estimated in April 2012 that about 300 million to 500 million liters of oil are leaked into the Arctic through Russia's rivers every year. Those rivers serve as the Learn more at beringseacanyons.org. O POINT HOPE only source of drinking water for many in the area. Point Hope is ground zero for the impacts of climate change. The loss of sea ice has created more open water, which creates larger waves and causes erosion. There, the Inupiaq town has lost 200 yards to the sea in the last few decades alone. Now the community faces the risks of Shell's arctic drilling plans in nearby waters. YUZHNO-RUSSKOYE OFFSHORE OIL FIELD Rosneft is conducting seismic research this summer; this is the first step to begin drilling. The noise from these seismic tests is disruptive to whales and other wildlife. O BARROW CANYON Under ice for most of the year, Greenpeace plans to be the first to explore underwater canyon GREENLAND with a research submarine. A BAFFIN BAY SHELL'S CHUKCHI DRILL SITE Baffin Bay is home to 80 to 90 percent of the world's narwhals. During exploratory drilling in 2010 and 2011, Cairn Energy discharged more than 160 tons of red-listed chemicals into the bay. The summer home of gray whales, no research submarine has surveyed this area before. Shell's plan to begin exploratory drilling risks a destructive oil spill in an area of unknown biodiversity already threatened by climate change. Greenpeace will dive there to collect baseline research on the sites before drilling begins, to show the world what is at risk. B SHELL'S BEAUFORT DRILL SITE YOU CAN CREATE A GLOBAL SANCTUARY IN THE ARCTIC. TAKE ACTION AT SAVETHEARCTIC.ORG. Created By COLUMN FIVE

Save The Arctic

shared by ColumnFive on Sep 15
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The melting arctic is threatened by oil giants like Shell and Russia's Gazprom. But people around the world are rising up to save the Arctic and the polar bears, whales, and other creatures that resid...

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