Canadian Icebreaker Amundsen (Caseimage)
01 April, 2008

Polar bears destroyed Earth Hour

By Jesper Hansen

It is not a bright idea to turn off all lights in the Arctic night around the North Pole

Last Saturday people most of the world turned of the light one hour in the evening to show that they understand the problems of the global warming.

But one place on earth the lights were not turned off. It was on the Canadian icebreaker CCGS Amundsen, reports The Star.com. The vessel is in the middle of the Arctic ice near the North Pole on a scientific expedition to explore the effects of the global warming.

For safety reasons the captain decided toshut off only a handful of the ship's external lights to mark Earth Hour. The decision was necessary to prevent polar bears try to jump on deck

Yet the gesture had added significance because the icebreaker is halfway through a 10-month research expedition focused on understanding Arctic climate change. Drawing public attention to the urgency of climate change is the drive behind Earth Hour.

"We're not a city, but we are doing what we can without compromising our mission or the safety of people on board," said Captain Lise Marchand.

 

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CCGS Amondsen had to prevent polar bears from trying to invade the vessel.

(Photo: Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study)

 

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