ANTARCTICA ADVENTURE BECKONS TEAM ZAYED ENVIRONMENTALISTS
Voyage to end of the Earth and back inspires lessons that will change everyday life for us all
This month, three environmentalists from Abu Dhabi will travel to the ends of the Earth to join polar explorer Sir Robert Swan on the expedition Climate Force: Antarctica 2018.
The UAE’s Team Zayed includes Mariam Al Qassimi, the UAE co-ordinator of Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots programme, Rashed Al Zaabi, a mammalogist at the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, and Winston Cowie, the agency’s marine policy manager. The team will be one of 30 international groups making the trip.
Upon their return, they will be touring the UAE to explain the link between our daily actions in Khalidiya and Karama and the frozen landscapes of the Antarctic.
Antarctica, Mr Cowie explained, is owned by nobody but belongs to all of us.
“We’re very motivated to see what’s happening down there – learn from some of the top experts in the world and then come back to the UAE and inspire people to change their everyday behaviour and consider that we’re currently facing the challenge of our time in climate change,” Mr Cowie said. “It’s a life changer in that we’ll come back to the UAE and be responsible for energising the community.”
The everyday actions of individuals have a cumulative effect on our planet, be it taking a cloth bag to the baqala or carrying a re-useable cup in the car for chai karak.
“Even if it’s just as simple as somebody committing to never using a plastic bag, it’s easy,” Ms Al Qassimi said.
Children and adults are invited to participate by signing up to the 2041 Climate Force Challenge to reduce their carbon footprint and keep a daily video or written diary of their resource consumption.
The initiative was launched in Abu Dhabi by anthropologist Jane Goodall last month. Entries from the winning diaries will be selected for a film and book created by Team Zayed upon their return.
Mr Swan was the first man to walk to both the North and South poles and was entrusted by the French explorer Jacques Cousteau to save Antarctica by engaging youth and promoting renewable energy.
To that end, Mr Swan organises regular trips for youth and environmental ambassadors to Antarctica and founded the 2041 Foundation, named for the year the Antarctic Treaty can be renegotiated. The treaty states that Antarctica should be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and international co-operation in scientific research.
“Rob [Swan] is training some of the keenest young minds on climate change with a view that they negotiate the treaty for the greater good of all in 2041,” Mr Cowie said.
This expedition is a special one. In January, Mr Swan and his son Barney were the first to make the 965-kilometre journey to the South Pole using only renewable energy.
This expedition begins from Ushuaia, Argentina, on the
Ocean Endeavour with a 36hour crossing of Drake’s Passage. Upon arrival, Team Zayed will travel through Neptune’s Bellows, a channel known for its strong winds, Deception Island, formed from an active volcano, and Vernadsky Research Base, a Ukrainian Antarctic station. Between hikes and kayaking, the ship’s passengers will learn about climate change from scientists.
It may sound exotic but the message they will carry back to the UAE will be a local one.
For these three, the effects of climate change have become apparent closer to home.
“Climate change is happening here,” Mr Al Zaabi said. “We’re doing research regarding amphibians and climate change here in the UAE. Our habitats are fragile, we do have a lot of invasive species and dramatic changes in climate will affect our biodiversity.”
Mr Cowie said: “We’ve got a pretty unique marine environment here. In winter, the sea temperatures get down to 16°C and in summer up to 36°C, so anything you find here is generally living at the limit of its range, like coral species. With increasing temperatures of the water, that’s going to have an impact.”
We’re doing research regarding amphibians and climate change in the UAE. Our habitats are fragile, we do have a lot of invasive species and changes in climate will affect our biodiversity RASHED AL ZAABI Team Zayed