To answer that question I have to start at the beginning. As a teenager I was fascinated with the advances in technology that humankind have made and in particular, flight. By realising the magic of birds we have managed to see the world from new perspectives, to open up all places on the planet and even to escape it.
Change
The last couple of years I’ve had this deep niggling feeling inside me as I tried to reconcile my passions and work with what I deem most important and whom I aspire to be. It started of as that slight nagging feeling that we’ve all felt at some point, like a caught zip or sunglasses in long hair, but the zip didn’t free itself and the sunglasses became too entangled until it could no longer be ignored. There was only one solution: to change.
It Takes Two...
Two years is an awfully long time. Really, it is! Do you remember what you were doing two years ago today? Normally I would struggle answering that question myself, but on this occasion I know exactly what I was doing. Two years ago today I was sitting in a cottage in the Lake District preparing to give a Key Note lecture entitled 'Climate Change Through the Eyes of a Polar Explorer' at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia.
Key Note Lecture at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
On the 13th January I gave a key note lecture to an audience of over 700 students and faculty at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia on climate change. Some of whom are leading figures in climate science.
This topic is so important that I'm making the transcript of my talk available for all to read.
Climate Change Through The Eyes of a Polar Explorer
I was privileged to give a talk to over 700 academics and students at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the greatest challenge that our species has ever faced. A transcript of the talk will be available soon, but for now here are some highlights.
If you're interested in the talk delivered to your institution, please send an email.
"The rapid loss of the polar icecaps affect our entire planet and is something we simply cannot ignore any further"
-Explorer and Filmmaker Vijay Shah at his WEP 2016 Keynote Lecture 'Climate Change through the eyes of a Polar Explorer'.
"We must reduce greenhouse gas emissions today. ... This 2 Celsius target for reducing global warming is dependent on our actions." - Vijay Shah, explorer and filmmaker #WEP2016
Climate Change Through the Eyes of a Polar Explorer
Last few days of preparation before we head over to Saudi Arabia and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology to present at the Winter Enrichment Programme 2016. For those attending, there is a special surprise planned.
BAFFIN ISLAND CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECT 2010
It's been an incredible winter here in the UK. It's the wettest winter on record bringing flooding to many parts of southern England. It has also been surprisingly mild (average of 5.2C), making it one of the warmest winters on record. This is in stark contrast with Northern America which has been locked in a polar vortex bringing temperatures down to -40C for extended periods of time. These unprecedented conditions have been linked to climate change.
This reminds me of a video project I conducted a few years ago on our summer expedition to Baffin Island 2010. For us, climate change has always been a 'hot' topic and I took the opportunity on this expedition to ask the members, in the midst of one of the most beautiful places in the world and undoubtedly one of the places most at risk from changes in the climate, about this topic. I asked them 'Why should we care if the climate changes?' And in part two I asked them to discuss 'What needs to happen in order for us as a society to live more sustainably?'
See what the members answered in this video below, now edited for 2014:
In August 2010, a team of students, graduates and outdoor instructors spent one month on Baffin Island, trekking over 300km over tundra, morraine and glaciers.
During the expedition I asked them: Why should we care if the climate changes?