Download Issue 04 – Dec 2016 - Wicked Weather Watch

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December2016
Issue04:Inspiringthenextgeneration
ThePolarOceanChallengebrings
homemessageofclimatechange
Above:DavidHemplemanAdams,FounderofWicked
WeatherWatch.
Inside
POCcrewvisitschools
Over300childrentalkto
expeditionmembersabouttheir
adventures….
2,5
Theylettheirimaginationsrun
wildthenmetthePOCcrew!
Oursummercompletionwinners
describewelcominghomethe
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POC.
OnThursday20October,Northaboutandhercrewreturnedto
BristolfromtheirperilousArcticadventuretocircumnavigate
theNorthPoleinoneseason.ThehistoricPolarOcean
Challenge(POC)wasasuccess,butitbringshomeanimportant
message-thisjourneywasonlypossiblebecauseclimate
changeiscausingthenorthernicecaptomelt.
Untilrecentlytherehasbeentoomuchiceforaboattoget
throughinonesummer.TheNortheastandNorthwestpassages
usedtotake2-3yearseachtocompletebutduetotherecession
ofArcticseaicethenumberofice-freemonthsinthePassages
haveincreased,openingthemsimultaneouslyandsignallingthe
rapidprogressofglobalwarming.IttookthePOCjust4months
tocompletethewholejourney.
Theexpeditionwastoughforallofthecrew,butparticularlyfor
BenjiEdwards,theyoungestandonlycrew-memberto
completeallfourlegsoftheexpedition.
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AbigwelcomeforDavidatTheMead
On23rdNovemberDavidHempleman-Adamsvisited240
childrenfrom5Wiltshireschools;TheMead,TheGrove,Holt,
CastleMeadandRiverMead.
ThroughlinkingwithWWW,theschoolsavidlyfollowedthe
PolarOceanChallenge,learningaboutclimatechangewith2
schoolslinkinguplivetoNorthaboutduringthevoyage.
[Issue]::[Date]
ChildrenfromRiverMead
presentedtheirPOC
acrosticpoemtoDavid.
Possibleonlythroughclimate
change
October2016,whenitallbegan
Let’sraiseawarenessofGlobal
WeatherChange
Ontheday,Davidarrivedtobigcheersandtoldthechildren
Atonly14yearsofage,Ben
aboutthechallenge,theroute,lifeonboardandwhyitwasan
achievesadream
importantvoyage–bittersweetthattheyachievedarecordbut Recordings,observations,scientific
notgoodfortheworldastheysawfirsthandtheextentofice
datacollected
meltingandtheimpactofclimatechangeontheArctic.
ChildrenfromeachschoolpresentedamazingworktoDavid
throughpoetry,slideshowsandevenacomputergamewhere
hehadtonavigatethroughtheice!Theirprojectsshowedthe
enthusiasmtolearnaboutclimatechangeandtheexpedition.
ThechildrenalsohadtheopportunitytoaskBen,WWWYouth
Ambassador,aboutwhatitwaslikebeingtheyoungest
memberofthePOCcrewatjust14,aswellashavinggreatfun
piecingtogetheragiantpuzzleoftheArcticandtestingtheir
knowledgethroughapolarbearquizattheWWWstalland
seeingeachothersworkthroughthe‘marketplace’.
Outstandingviewsoficesohigh
CircumnavigatingtheNorthPole
likeneverbefore
Everybodydoyourbit,flickthe
switch
Allhandstothedeck!
Northaboutboat,thevesselmaking
itallhappen
Challengingthinkingabouthowwe
treatourplanet
Haveyouthoughtaboutthefuture
ofourworld?
Animal’shabitatschangingtoofast
toadapt
Lossoflifeisbecominginevitable
Lookaroundyouseethedamage
done
Everyoneunitetoslow,still,stop
thefastchange
Nothingstoppedthemfrom
achievingtheirgoalsasone
Giveitallyoucan,gottokeep
going–fightagainstclimatechange
Everybodynowneedstodotheirbit
2
toslowclimatechangetogether!
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Continuedfrompage
Theydidit!
Arecord-breaking18week
adventureatsea
13,500nauticalmiles
20crewmembers
ThefirstBritishyachttosail
anticlockwisearoundthe
ArcticOceaninonesummer
season
WhenBenjisteppedontodrylandweallgotasenseofwhata
momentousachievementthiswasforaboyofjust14yearsold.
AsWWWYouthAmbassador,Benjiwillbetalkingtoyoung
peoplearoundthecountryabouthisincredibleexperienceand
theimpactofclimatechangeonlifeintheArctic.Butfornow,
heishappytoreturntostudyingforhisGCSE’s!Youcanread
excerptsfromBenji’sblogontheWWWwebsite.
AmongstthosegreetingtheArcticadventurershomewere
Bristol’sDeputymayor,CouncillorEstellaTincknellandour
summercompetitionwinnersfromTheGroveSchoolin
Trowbridge.
ForDavidHempleman-Adams,renownedexplorerandWWW
Founder,thisexpeditionwasaboutmuchmorethanbeinga
record-breaker.Havingwitnessed1/3oftheArcticice
disappearingoverthelast30years(thissummertheiceshrank
toitssecondlowestlevelsincemonitoringbegan)Davidwants
todrawattentiontotheimpact.
Talkingofthetrip,Davidsaid:‘Thepossibilitytocircumnavigate
theArcticwasoneIwantedtotakedespitetherisksinorderto
focustheworld’sattentionontheArctic.Whilstwearedelighted
tohavesucceeded,itisextremelyworryingtoseethislackofice
sostarkly.Itshowswe'vegotrealproblemswithclimatechange.’
‘PermanentirreversiblechangeintheseaicelandscapeoftheArcticseemsinevitable.Thelivesof
peoplelivinginthenormallyyear-roundiceboundcommunitieswillalterdrastically,aswillthe
habitatsofwalruses,whales,seals,polarbearsandwholeecosystemsinthesea.Wecantrytomake
surethatthischangeishandledcarefully,sustainably,responsibly.’
DavidlaunchedWWWtoraiseawarenessabouttheimpactclimatechangeishavingintheArctic.
“Iwanttoinspireyoungpeopletogetinvolvedandbepartoftheconversation,tothinkabouthowwe
canprotectthefutureoftheArcticbeforeitchangesbeyondrecognition,howweareaffectedherein
theUKandwhatsmallstepswecanalltaketohelpmitigatetheimpacteffectsofclimatechange.I
hopethatschoolsacrosstheUKwillpartnerwithus.Weareallinthesameboat”.
WWWusesuniquefirst-hadinsightstocreatefresh,newmaterialsforteachersand
childrenalike.(Seepage6).FormoreinformationonthePOCandclimatechangevisit
wickedweatherwatch.org.ukorcontactusaboutwhatwecanofferyourschool.
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EthanandCaitlinaboardNorthabout
[Issue]::[Date]
Overthesummer,WWW
ranacompetitionasking
childrentotelluswhere
theywouldexplore,what
theywouldtakeonan
expeditionandwhy.
Itwastoodifficultto
choosejustonewinnerand
sotheprize-tomeetthe
crewofthePOC–was
jointlyawardedtoCaitlin
andEthan,bothfromthe
GrovePrimarySchoolin
Wiltshire.
“Wecouldn’tbelieveitwhenwefoundoutthatwewerethecompetitionwinners.Wehad
allbeensetthechallengeforhomeworkandwedecidedtoenterthecompetitionaswell.
WehavebeenfollowingthePolarOceanChallengeatschoolaspartofourAdventuresand
Explorerstopicsoitwasamazingtomeetthecrewinperson.Whenwewavedthemback
intoBristol,Benletusgoontheboatandwegottoseewheretheysleptandmadetheir
food.Wealsopretendedtosteertheboat!Kindly,Bencutsometeddiesfromthefrontof
theboatandgaveusoneeach.Therestofourclasswereveryjealous!“
CaitlinandEthan
ReadEthanandCaitlin’scompetitionentriesonwickedweatherwatch.org.uk
EthanandCaitlinwith:DavidHempleman-Adams,themascotsfromNorthabout,andBenjiEdwards.
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HazelaboardNorthabout
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CalmwatersnearVardo
BringingthePolarOceanChallengetolife
HazelRichardsonwasacrewmemberonthefirstlegofthePolarOceanChallenge,
sailingfromBristoltoVardoandcrossingovertheArcticCircle.ShevisitedSt
Andrew’sschoolinCongresburytotellstudentsallaboutheradventure.
Havingsailed1,900nauticalmilesfromBristoltoVardo,anislandsurroundedbytheBarentsSea
intheHighArcticandneartheRussianboarder,Ireturnedaricheradventurerwithunique
experiencesandaconcernforclimatechange.WhenaskedbyWickedWeatherWatchifIwould
helptobringtolifethewondersofthePolarOceanchallengeIjumpedatthechancetoinspire
youngpeople.
Morethan70childrenacrossyears1and2atStAndrewslistenedintentlyandIwashugely
impressedwithquestionsrangingfrompolarbears,thereductioninseaice,sealifeandthe
effectsofclimatechangeonhabitats.TheylovedtryingontheArcticclothesandbootsand
learningabouttheequipmentusedtosavespace,weightandtime.
Beforeleaving,Iremindedthemofpastexplorersandhowimportantitwasforthemtoworkasa
teamandsupporteachother.AsIwalkedthroughtheschoolcorridor,oneofthepupilsaskedme
torememberhisnameashewasplanningtobeanexplorerhimselfoneday.IsmiledknowingI
hadinspiredthemalltolearnhowtheycanplaytheirpartandensureseaiceandpolarbears
continuetosurvivetheharshworldofclimatechange.
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Workingwithschools
InspiredbythevisitsofDavidandHazeltotalkin
schools?Inneedofnewresourcesforlessons?Then
whynotworkwithWickedWeatherWatch!
KS2resources
WWWhasdevelopedaschemeofworkthatmeetsKS2
curriculumforGeography.The6lessonscanbetaught
overatermorindividuallessonsusedasaone-off.The
themeis“Let’sgoonanawesomeArcticAdventure”and
topicsincludecoldclimates,theArcticCircle,Imagesof
theArctic,afocusonGreenland,Arcticwildlifeandthe
Arcticinthefuture,withinsightsintoclimatechange
woventhroughout.Allresourceswillbeavailablein
January.
Connectingyoungpeopleglobally
WWWismakingconnectionswithschoolsintheArctic
andhopetobeabletolinkthemtoschoolshereinthe
UK.Letusknowifyourschoolwouldbeinterested.
Firsthandinsights
Ifyouwouldlikeaspeakertotalktoyoungpeopleabout
thePolarOceanChallengeorclimatechangethen
contactusonthedetailsbelow.
Contactus
GillJohnson:[email protected]
VickyOram-Ahern:[email protected]
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www.wickedweatherwatch.org.uk
[Issue]::[Date]
Inthenews
WWWYouthAmbassador,
BenjiEdwards,featuresin
theRoyalYachting
Associationmagazine
Winteredition:“Ontopof
theworld–theArctic
Adventuresofone
remarkableyoungsailor”.
TheGuardianonwhywe
needtobreakthesilenceon
climatechangeandtalk
aboutit–toeveryone.
Readanarticlethatyouwantto
share?Emailusthelinkandwe’ll
putitonourwebsite.
[email protected]