Thursday, April 26, 2007

Waterkader Haaglanden, Climate change, IPY


No kayak- but a work related post today. We had nice little symposium in Rijswijk with Waterkader Haaglanden this afternoon. Guest speaker was Peter Timofeeff (Meteorologist, well known from Dutch Television - Weatherforecast RTL4). Peter did a Dutch version of Al Gores story on Climate Change. A clear message: we don't have to wait, it's happening right know! Since 2003 all records are broken: temperature, rain, drought, wind. This April will be the warmest April-month measured ever in the Netherlands. Basking turtles. Extremes are getting normal. Living in a low Delta we should prepare and take measures.
This message was brought to a group of believers, professionals working on this matter. This group is aware of the urgency. But we know how difficult it is to get things done in the world of politicians and investors. And that's why an initiative like Waterkader Haaglanden is good: working on innovation in 6 strategically chosen projects research institutes, private and public parties are really trying to get things done. Very promising!

Addition 27. April:
Climate change, Greenhouse gases, Melting polar ice... A small step tot the International Polar Year (IPY) that a few weeks ago started. IPY, organized through the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), is actually the fourth polar year, following those in 1882-3, 1932-3, and 1957-8. In order to have full and equal coverage of both the Arctic and the Antarctic, IPY 2007-8 covers two full annual cycles from March 2007 to March 2009 and will involve over 200 projects, with thousands of scientists from over 60 nations examining a wide range of physical, biological and social research topics. It is also an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate, follow, and get involved with, cutting edge science in real-time. The IPY website is worth a visit, with fascinating pictures, blogs, articles and all kind of information about the mysteries the Arctic still hides.

Interested in Arctic life? Michael is an lover of Arctic things, actually an expert and regularly publishes in his blog about Arctic life and cultural heritage. So I started this post with work -> a little sidestep -> now we are back at the kayak scene ;-)

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