Greenland Trip W Iceland for ISLI Sept-2019 E
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Join an Exclusive Greenland Fact-Finding Expedition September 8-15, 2019 – 8 days / 7 nights Understand • Plan • Adapt VIP Program - Release Date: 28 January 2019 Special Greenland Fact-Finding Expedition For Admiral Level Supporters • September 8-15, 2019 – 8 days / 7 nights on Iceland and Greenland • Space on this exclusive trip is strictly limited to 11 participants Join an amazing priceless trip to experience the gigantic glaciers of Greenland and witness their historic melting. The purpose of the trip is to witness first-hand the rapid melting and collapse of the glaciers on Greenland, the largest island in the world, with an ice sheet averaging more than a mile high. Greenland is the best place in the world to see the scale of the problem as ice sheets and glaciers melt at speeds up to four times faster than just a decade ago. The world is warming; the Arctic is warming at double and triple the global rate. What happens in Greenland does not stay in Greenland. Shorelines all over the world will shift as the sea rises as a direct result of the melting ice in Greenland. It has enough ice to raise global sea level more than twenty feet (six meters) if it all melts. The International Sea Level Institute is hosting a special fact-finding expedition to Greenland, September 8-15, 2019. This unique itinerary is exclusively for the Admiral’s level supporters of the Institute. (See last page for qualification) This is an ideal time of year to visit to see calving icebergs, with moderate temperatures likely in the 30’s and 40’s Fahrenheit (single digits Celsius). It will be led by Institute President John Englander, a veteran of many polar expeditions. Program Highlights • Fly far out onto the vast ice sheet by chartered helicopter to see the “rivers” of meltwater. • Walk on a million-year old glacier, now disappearing in full view • Photograph enormous icebergs from water-level by boat • Get behind the headlines, and the hype through private briefings from front-line scientists, Arctic experts, military leaders, and locals who have lived there for generations. Detailed tour description 8-September (Day #1) • Arrive Reykjavik. Participants travel on their own to Reykjavik, Iceland (Airport Code KEF) • You will be greeted at the airport for transfer to the Exeter Hotel in the harbor area • 4 pm - Afternoon coffee / tea to meet fellow expedition members • Receive your insulated waterproof Arctic parka to use on this expedition and beyond, embroidered with the Institute logo • Dinner on your own to explore wonderful Icelandic restaurants 9-September (Day #2) • 8:00 Breakfast at Exeter Hotel (All meals provided unless noted.) • 10:00 Pick up at the hotel with private driver/guide to go to the Raufarholshellir Lava Tunnel for a one-hour tour. Explore this magnificent geologic feature, a unique experience and a great opportunity to witness the result of a volcanic eruption. We will walk in the path of lava that flowed during an eruption about 5,200 years ago. Helmets and lights will be provided. Reykjavik, Iceland Significance: Understanding that Iceland is on the volcano-active Mid- Atlantic Ridge, the youngest land on the planet, is important context for the geologic processes at work globally. • Lunch • Afternoon – Relax. Time- zone adjustment. Explore Reykjavik • Group Dinner & Orientation 10-September (Day #3) • Breakfast at Exeter Hotel Crystalline Structures in Lava Tunnel - Iceland • Private transfer to Reykjavik Domestic Airport (RVK) • Flight to Ilulissat, Greenland (JAV) departs 10:15, arrives 11:30 (3 time zones earlier) Air Iceland Connect #NY439 – 37 Pax Bombardier Turboprop • Private transfer to Hotel Arctic (4 Star). Check In. Private rooms with bath, all with fjord view. • Lunch / Orientation meeting with any updates to itinerary based on weather forecast, etc. • Guided City Walk of Ilulissat • Dinner - Hotel Arctic Ilulissat, Greenland 11-September (Day #4) • Breakfast at Hotel Arctic • Full day tour by boat to Eqi Glacier (pronounced “Eh-QUI”) with lunch included This is a day for stunning photography at the glacier calving face with waterfalls and icebergs. Each day, hundreds of tons of ice enter this fjord, 80 km north of Ilulissat, adding to global sea level. Eqi is one of the few places where it is possible to observe a calving glacier at very close range, conditions permitting. Whale sightings are likely. • Dinner at a local restaurant 12-September (Day #5) • Breakfast at Hotel Arctic • Morning boat trip on the local Ilulissat ice fiord to see the massive icebergs up close. Ilulissat is the Greenlandic word for “icebergs”. The Ilulissat Icefjord is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We go to the mouth of the ice fjord, where a submerged moraine (sand bar) causes the large icebergs to “ground” (hit bottom) in rows – before they embark on their journey out into the Atlantic. The main glacier producing icebergs is called by multiple names: Ilulissat Glacier, Sermeq Kujalleq (Greenlandic), Jakobshavn Isbræ (Danish). This is the most productive glacier in the Northern Hemisphere and the world’s fastest ice stream, now moving more that 40 meters (150 feet) a day. It is believed to have spawned the iceberg that sank the RMS Titanic. • Lunch at Hotel Arctic • Afternoon: Helicopter charter landing far out on the mile-thick ice-sheet. Walk on a glacier that has existed hundreds of thousands, possibly a million years. See the streams of meltwater and the “moulins”– the vertical meltwater tunnels, responsible for the rapid collapse of the ice sheet, accelerating sea level rise. • Early dinner • Special evening in a local turf hut to hear the natives’ view over Greenlandic coffee and local delicacies. Wrap yourself in traditional skins and blankets made from local animals. Hear the legends and mythology that have been told over generations. The Inuit have a special perspective on the dramatic changes from their ancestors and in their lifetimes. 13-September (Day #6) • Breakfast at Hotel Arctic • Morning - Video Conference Briefing by Dr. Robert Corell, Arctic expert; co-founder of the International Sea Level Institute; former scientific Chair of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, and leader of numerous scientific efforts globally. Bob will give his assessment of what is happening in the Arctic as it relates to global sea level rise and answer any questions that have arisen during the week about the science of climate change and the rapidly changing Arctic. • Lunch at Hotel Arctic • Afternoon – Trip to Sermermiut, the old settlement south of Ilulissat that UNESCO named as a World Heritage site. Ruins document that over the last 4,000 years several Inuit cultures lived here. Hear about the Inuit people’s life and traditions before the Europeans came to Greenland. We follow the wooden walkway (protecting the permafrost) to the rock cliff Nakkaavik, "the place to fall." Also known as the Old Ladies Gorge this is where the elderly would end their lives to avoid being a burden on their families. With the icebergs as backdrop, it is a powerful place to consider how cultures have changed greatly over millennia, and how things now are changing at a rate hundreds of times faster. (photo below) • Time to shop for souvenirs & native artwork in Ilulissat • Dinner on your own to explore Ilulissat. 14-September (Day #7) • Breakfast at Hotel Arctic • Group discussion about takeaways from the week, focusing on the question of how to connect with wider audiences about the profound challenge posed by rising sea level, with a particular view to the role that the International Sea Level Institute can best fill. • Check out of Hotel Arctic • Transfer to Ilulissat airport with box lunch • Flight Ilulissat-Reykjavik Air Iceland Connect #NY400 12:15-18:25 • Private transfer from Reykjavik domestic airport to Exeter Hotel • Farewell Group Dinner 15- September (Day #8) • Departures per your own arrangements Greenland is magical. This trip is a rare opportunity to see a world changing in front of our eyes and is directly relevant to sea level rise. We expect the trip to reach capacity quickly. To become an Admiral’s level donor and reserve your place, contact: John Englander [email protected] Direct: +1-954-684-5859 TERMS & CONDITIONS: • Private expedition (tour) is exclusively for Admiral Level Supporters, those who have contributed twenty thousand US dollars or more to the International Sea Level Institute, which may be tax deductible. The Institute is a U.S. Registered 501c3 nonprofit organization, incorporated in Florida. o A $2,000 donation will confirm one of the eleven spots or may be put on a waiting list. o Balance of funding is due June 15, or reservations will be released on July 1st to the waiting list. • The Institute will cover the costs for all arrangements starting in Iceland September 8th, including: roundtrip air travel Iceland - Greenland, quality accommodations and meals, travel by helicopter or ship as warranted, and the final hotel night and dinner in Reykjavik. • Expedition members will be responsible for their own travel to and from Reykjavik, Iceland. • If the minimum participation of six people is not met by April 1, 2019, the trip will be cancelled with any donations available for refund. • Participants may join the Institute’s Advisory Council, subject to approval by the Board of Directors. The Advisory Council welcomes new members who can offer guidance, financial support, or global connections to assist our efforts to communicate this issue while there is still time for intelligent adaptation. • Offering terms and itinerary details subject to change without notice. • Greenland Travel, A/S, based in Copenhagen, is the fully licensed and bonded tour operator for this program under contract with The International Sea Level Institute, the intermediary agent for this expedition.