By the way, the iceberg shown in the background of the photo from his video is a fake – done by CGI. That’s not a good way to start in my opinion. The man is Alex Bellini, a “professional adventurer and motivational speaker” who plans to live alone on a melting iceberg off the coast of Greenland for one year, to emphasize the urgent need for climate change action. Apparently, he thinks melting icebergs is a recent phenomena.
According to Treehugger:
This bold one-man campaign comes at a time when a chorus of scientists, organizations and policymakers continue to warn about the accelerating loss of Arctic ice.
Thus, extreme circumstances seem to call for extreme measures, but for this former finance student from northern Italy who has already run 23,000 kilometres (14,291 miles) of marathons, rowed solo across the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans, this new project seems even more extreme.
Watch Bellini explain his actions himself:
Starting in spring of 2015, Bellini plans to find a suitable iceberg in the northwest region of Greenland, where he will remain for up to a year as it slowly melts. Provisioned with with 300 kilograms (661 pounds) of dried food, Bellini will shelter in a survival capsule, the Kevlar-reinforced kind used for ocean oil rigs, until it becomes too risky — at which point he will take to the sea in the capsule, floating adrift until he is rescued.
===============================
Place your bets now, I don’t think he will make it past about six months. Most every time we’ve seen people go to the Arctic to “emphasize the urgent need for climate change action” they find that the Arctic isn’t as warm and tolerable as they think it must be, and they come woefully underprepared. Just ask the Catlin Expedition, the Polar Defense Project, and the “Row to the Pole” folks, all of whom failed miserably. They tended to view the Arctic like this BBC story did:
Just Crazy, him living or at least trying to live on the iceberg will melt it faster.
BTW I never heard more about this from may, was the craziest one I to date.
Los Angles, CA, March 14, 2014 –(PR.com)– Ice Cycle boldly stands in the way of climate change by returning a human-constructed glacier to Greenland. Ice Cycle technicians will collect donated ice cubes from restaurants and other food service facilities in Los Angeles in specially designed containers. Virtual ice cubes will also be donated in a web campaign to allow participation and raise awareness to as many people as possible. The ice cubes will be stored in liquid form until there are enough to fill a cargo shipping container that will be shipped from Los Angeles Harbor to the port of Ilulissat, Greenland.
The five gallon water cubes will arrive in Greenland as 5 gallon cubes of ice. The Ice Cycle cubes will be unloaded and brought by dogsled to a site designated in cooperation with the government of Greenland. Ice Cycle technicians will assist volunteers from around the globe in assembling cubes into the form of a symbolic glacier echoing the shape of the shipping container they traveled in. The glacier will be a monument to the possibility of human action in the face of global climate change.
A test cube will be transported to Ilulissat, Greenland in May of 2014, the first shipping container full of cubes will follow in just under a year later. The project will expand at its own pace to include as many participants as possible.
Robert Welkie, Project Designer and Leader
Ice Cycle
Los Angeles, CA
818-438-6229
robertwelkie@gmail.com
http://www.rockethub.com/projects/39846-ice-cycle
http://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/fiscal/profile?id=9213
https://sites.google.com/site/icecycleproject/home
That may, in fact, be the single dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
Yesterday I named all the ice cubes in my cocktail glass and closely inspected them from time to time.
LOL!
Aren’t ice cubes just very cold water with corners?
I bet they melted too. Must have been from back radiation from anthropogenic carbon dioxide.
philincalifornia “I bet they melted too.”
Yeah that was sad but the really sad part was how I embarrassed myself confusing who was who when I was tried having a conversation with them, (you know how those ice cubes all look alike…).
This sounds like something out of http://www.theonion.com.
They transported the ice cubes in liquid form?
I am speechless. I don’t know where to start commenting on this. The height of breathtaking naïveté and inconceivable ignorance.
I just read this again. I am certain that this is a joke. “Donated ice cubes from restaurants”? “Virtual ice cubes”?
You’ll note that on rockethub, the effort ended on 5/14 and had a whopping total of six funders donating a total of $290. Could have been a scam to bilk idiots.
Ken, the virtual ice cubes are to be downloaded to Santa’s computer. Then the Big Jolly Guy can add them to the ftp’d database of ice density. Kind of like getting paid by ftp instead of money. 🙂
I just watched the video on rockethub.com. I am still not convinced that the ice cycle project press release is not a clever hoax to highlight the ignorance of the alarmists. The tip off is that they are going to move the 5-gallon ice cubes from Denmark to Greenland by dog sled.
Maybe it is a clever hoax to milk $$$ from gullible alarmists. This is a good time to do that. In fact, I might start working on such a project.
It was released prematurely, the official release date was supposed to be April 1st
These people have no comprehension how immense Greenland is. For that matter very few people comprehend how much ice remains at the end of the summer ice melt in the Arctic. Take a minimum figure of say 5 million sq Km and see how that compares to the area of the 50 US states or of Australia. And these twerps want to take _ice cubes_ there???
He will be gone when the first -10F night hits him in the face with a 70mph wind.
They couldn’t possibly keep up with all those ice cubes dumped on low information celebs lately. Donate those (and the celebs) to Greenland instead.
Since icebergs tend to melt anyway how does this highlight AGW? He obviously needs the publicity. What else does a non-descript do? Kayak through the North West Passage?
Kayaks are so twentieth century!
Just last year some reality TV buffoons tried to jet ski through the Northwest Passage and had to be rescued. No mention if they ever paid for the rescue or what the “carbon footprint” of the jet ski use and rescue was:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/13/crew-filming-reality-tv-show-forced-to-cancel-trek-through-northwest-passage-on-jet-skis-after-costly-rescue/
Wow – this sounds a bit like a plotline from one of Michael Crichton’s novels!
It is just this sort of stupid stunt that shows the alarmist side has nothing to offer real science. They are engaged in politics and just using the Hansen inspired heifer dust to try to accomplish their ends. And they do feel that the ends justify any means they use.
Nature seems to be in the midst of refuting the whole CO2 alarmist agenda. CO2 is going way up but temperatures are not going up at all. The CO2 hypothesis has been refuted by Mother Nature herself who is a most unbiased observer. (note: I am talking about real temperatures and not the “adjusted” BS by government drones)
This guy could end up dead. Ice-bergs can roll as they melt – the sponsors of this are so irresponsible. If there are any scientists involved in this they should convince him not to do it. All you need is an inversion of the temperature trend with depth which is quite common.
Darwin Award contender.
Perhaps that’s why he’ll be staying in a buoyant bubble tent most of the time…
It won’t do much good if the iceberg turns over. They fairly often do that since they tend to melt faster below the waterline. I’ve seen it happen once, to a rather small iceberg, and it’s pretty impressive. You had better not be in the way when it happens, and the waves it causes can be nasty if you are too close.
Won’t be too buoyant with all of his human waste he will need to transport as well!
Bet his porta-potty tips all over his bubble tent when the ‘berg flips.. Let him eat that.. 😉
Let’s hope that the survival capsule that he’ll be spending most of his time in doesn’t freeze to the ice. He’s also proud of his running, but that’s going to end if he spends most of his time in the capsule, and if after a few months he’s not usually in the capsule then he might end up in the water.
After a year, his latrine isn’t going to be very environmentally pristine.
Yes I was thinking that as well. Apparently no one involved in this project knows anything about icebergs or if they do they haven’t warned him about it. The danger from it rolling over with him on it is very real.
“This guy could end up dead. Ice-bergs can roll as they melt ”
Absolutely true.
And your point is ???
JIIIIIIMMMMMBOOOOOO!…………………..
Here are papers / abstracts with links showing higher rates of warming and glacial retreat in the first half of the 20th century.
Here is another. These eco-worriers should stop worrying about our ever changing climate.
Is it something in the water?
Every religion has its fanatics, hermits, inquisitors and, above all, bankers.
Bellini seems to be trying to become a martyr.
The Gore effect has an apprentice.
What will he do when it rolls?
http://youtu.be/LPFkxeA8KP4
Rock?
Nice video. It is also an illustration of how the underwater side of an iceberg looks darker and duller just after it rolls. After it rolls, an iceberg is much harder to see on a dark, moonless night in frigid, refracting horizon conditions.
Think Titanic.
Mann to live on melting iceberg for one year to highlight climate change? Excellent!
How is self-induced frostbite while in a delusional state going to draw attention to climate change?
Cue for Chris Turney to come and rescue him in his Ship of Fools.
97% of scientists agree that he will not make it 1 year and will die before he gets rescued. They hope he’s enjoying the last few months of his life before he dies from the cold.
You know, Jared, I was kinda going along with this story until I saw your note. It had not sunk what it meant that he was proposing to stay on his berg for a full year. I had a well, duh moment. You wrote: “…dies from the cold.” This idiot means to winter over in the Arctic?
Of course, he might be really on a virtual iceberg say, 1500 miles south of Greenland. That still qualifies as “off the coast of Greenland.”
As these bergs have always melted in the past, he will only be able to prove something new if he survives the year on it.
What an effin moron.
OOPS – icebergs capsize at times while melting – he just might get a sudden wet, cold and fatal surprise!!
I hope he doesn’t pick one that turns into a growler.
The poor old medieval witches never had a ducking stool like that.
These CAGW clowns are the gift that just keeps on giving, aren’t they?
Can I suggest a scuba tank or two as part of his kit?
NYUK, NYUK,NYUK.
“I hope he doesn’t pick one that turns into a growler.”
They all do, ultimately. Some time before they turn into water.
And suppose he sleeps in a dry-suit and with scuba tank at the ready he survives a roll. What then?
How do you get back on the iceberg? Do you carry a ice axe and crampons? They’d better float!
How do you retrieve your camp gear? — If it is not firmly staked into the ice, now well under water?
Suicide Bound.
He probably should have done this 3 years ago – at least then there was a minimum. It seems to be accumulating (arctic ice) now. Maybe there will be no sea for him to escape to by the time he comes out of hibernation?
What could possibly go wrong …
Best not stray too far from his shelter as icebergs have been known to roll over as they melt, no matter how “stable” the “suitable” choice may be.
Interesting mind-set … success to be measured (and assured) by the need to be rescued.
If the iceberg rolls over and he drowns, the alarmists will have their very own martyr. Unless he saves himself in his high-tech capsule. A capsule which takes away much of the risk and heroic effect of this venture.
If he is starting in NW Greenland I would have thought that if the ‘berg is big enough to last more than a year he might get frozen in come the autumn.
At least he won’t want for ice for his Jack Daniels.
A number of bergs rolling have been caught on film from passing ships and are on youtube. I wonder if it’s just coincidental, or if the movement of the ship helped trigger the event? If the latter, then this guy better hope he doesn’t get too many sightseers.
It’s natural. As the submerged portion melts away, the tip becomes the heavier portion, causing the iceberg to be top heavy, causing it to roll. 🙂
I saw an experiment on a TV doco which can be replicated at home: put an ice cube in a fish tank. And watch!
He should be nominated for a Darwin Award.
Considering the man’s previous accomplishments, it looks like a single-minded loner’s project. To have run 547 marathons (23000 km divided by 42 km) and rowed solo across all those oceans, he seems to be in great need of proving something to himself, more than to the wporld. But no doubt the subject of climate change is the best backgrond for sponsor applications right now. In another century, he would have been famous for circling his monastary cell two million times a year, or gnawing off all fingers as a penitent gesture (though a rather less eloquent gesture than with fingers).
I don’t see him saying that he ran mostly in marathon format. Running two Km a day would reach that number.
I walk more than two kilometers a day. So do a lot of people. But we don’t issue press releases about it.
[If a sponsor wishes to pay me to do it, then I am open to offers.]
Hmmm… a marathon runner?! Skinny folks don’t tend to do very well in cold weather climes. This event ought to be great sport!
Let us hope for warm water, end of quest!!!
Manmade Climate Change Cognitive Disorder (MCCCD) is a serious mental affliction. Instead of living on an iceberg, he really should be seeing a psychiatrist. More generally, the Belief in CAGW/CC is a form of mass hysteria which causes people to think and act in ways counter to their own well-being, in the totally and sadly mistaken belief that they are helping to “save the planet”. It is just one more way of many that the CAGW memeplex has, and continues to harm humanity.
And on that happy note:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/08/29/Democrats-More-Afraid-of-Global-Warming-Than-ISIS
i first saw this story on the website “treehugger” where you would expect a deluge of support.
It was an onslaught of ridicule. How times change.
actually it was linked to Drudge. So I think that’s why.
Motivational speaker?? Wouldn’t he be better off living in a van… down by the river?
+1
His ultimate goal apparently is to live in a van down in the river.
I would add him as a potential candidate for climate prat of the year but a brief look into his background reveals him to be a professional “motivational” speaker. ie It’s all about parasiting onto the green propaganda machine to raise his future earnings.
[snip. OTT – mod]
Pointman
Pointman: one of the concerned journalist-activists visiting him next summer will probably be your prime candidate for Climate Prat of the Year. Of course he’ll arrive there w/o using any fossil fuels.
Good luck taking a bath in ice-water. Or does he plan to stink for a year?
Presumably he chose a Spring start, so he could report ‘melting’ whilst his stunt is still newsworthy, and before everyone forgets about him.
As long as nobody gets hurt when they have to go rescue him…
Sitting on an iceberg off the coast of Greenland for 12 months….. is this even possible? Won’t the berg float away into the Atlantic, flip over, melt? Then what, live in your survival pod for the next X months just floating on the currents? Boredom will kill him if the cold doesn’t.
I’d like to know who funded, is funding, this guy since he clearly doesn’t actually work for a living. Is he independently wealthy? Book deal? Movie deal? It’s always about the money …… well, maybe a little about notoriety.
Mentally illness is a sad and terrible thing ……….
It is very important to pick an iceberg that will move south and melt. According to PIOMAS, the ice is becoming thicker, more multi-year and locked in place!
“This bold one-man campaign comes at a time when a chorus of scientists, organizations and policymakers continue to warn about the accelerating loss of Arctic ice.”
Note the way the treehugger text links to an out of date post from 2012 and a ref. Wingnut Wadhams claiming ice-free Arctic by 2016.
Since icebergs are broken off bits of glaciers that break off and melt in the perfectly normal cycle of events this has nothing to do with “highlighting” global warming and all to do with not understanding ice cover and glaciers.
If we look at Artic sea ice area from the generally alarmist Cryo Today team, we see that it is settling down at around 2006 levels.
http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/seaice.anomaly.arctic.png
Perhaps someone ought to tell this fool to refresh his browser page before wasting a year of his life freezing his nuts off. Instead he could do something really useful like be the first man to walk single handed to the south pole.
Or perhaps they’ve already faked the film of his year in the wilderness using CGI and he’s going to spend the year under a false name in one of Al Gore’s tropical island hide-outs
Watch out for grandpa bear!
“Stupidity cannot be cured. Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death. There is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.” – Robert A. Heinlein.
Sooner or later one of these stunts is going to demonstrate the truth of this quote.
A snip from the treehugger intro: “My objective is reporting and investigating, by means of scientific methods, the entire lifetime of an iceberg. ”
Fails as step one with the science since he will not be reporting the “entire lifetime” unless he is there at the birth: the calving event when it breaks of the glacier.
He does not appear to know the difference between and ice floe and an iceberg. So much for the science content of the project.
“We’ll also play the symbolic card: the adventure of a man floating adrift on an iceberg will come to represent the condition of the whole humankind going adrift on an endangered planet. ”
More symbolic of the whole world floating in an ocean of scientific ignorance and disinformation with the last remands of logic and reason fast melting away.
I have to think the accumulation, compaction, and flow of the glacier have a lot to do with the outlook for the iceberg that evenually calves off of it.
So… I’d say he failed even worse.
And what happens if the d*** iceberg he chooses doesn’t bother to “melt.” What a maroon.
I find it very difficult to accept that there are actually people so brainwashed by this nonsense that they are unable to make the logical conclusion of how bad earth would be for all life if it was cold enough so that icebergs did not melt.
However, excessive melting can cause sea level rise. This could turn out to be a serious problem in the future.
You know, I don’t want to get too political, but it seems to me the USA government is wasting a lot of money trying to build dikes around New Orleans. That city was already destroyed because they built way below sea level. So if the government is convinced sea level will rise then why insist on putting up walls around a destroyed portion of the city? It makes a lot more sense to let it flood and build a high speed train service to Mandeville. Just a thought.
Fernando – DEFINE the word “excessive”? First of all, no matter how fast an iceberg melts, it does not affect sea level rise at all. If glacial ice melts faster – OR- flows faster it will increase sea level. So it can be from warmer conditions – OR – from more snow or other conditions to cause a faster/bigger glacier.
Either way sea level rises the instant the melted water OR the ice (new icebergs) enters the ocean. It doesn’t matter if it was melted water or if it is an iceberg that melts later. If it is an iceberg it does not matter how fast or slow it melts.
As for New Orleans, some federal funds that were supposed to be used to bolster the dikes prior to Katrina were squandered for things like parks and beautification projects. Who knows, maybe some of the money circuitously also ended up in Senator William Jefferson’s freezer? (He is serving 13 years in Beaumont TX.)
Why federal money was wasted on rebuilding the flooded sunken part of the city is beyond me; IMO it ought to be filled with silt and turned into a big marsh again as nature intended.
For New Orleans they should have dug out every other street in the 9th ward and used the earth to raise the new builds above hurricane surge sea level. The network of canals would slow and dissipate a hurricane surge and the houses would be safely above normal sea levels. Then sell the houses as with direct canal and road access. Hugely, increases the value of the houses, produces slower moving water at the mouth of the Mississippi helping the barrier islands regrow with silt. But no – rebuild at below sea level again. No imagination.
Ian W
Now that would have been a world class solution! (better than my idea for a building code to require pontoons under all new foundations.)
Yeah, polar bears also live on ice bergs. What could possibly go wrong? lol
Actually they don’t. They are smart enough to stay on the sea ice where there are seals to eat.
Seals and the occasional loony with 600lbs of food. Lol.
Even Polar Bears need to eat their greens.
I hope this catches on with the main stream news media and they all try the same thing.
So this guy’s a “motivational speaker”, is he? How about that. I’m guessing he’d be about as motivational as a gypsy camped on the front drive explaining why he should be there for the next 6 months, with his mates.
I rather suspect he’s a bone lazy sod and finds this method of avoiding work to his liking while expecting other rattle-brains to feed and support him. What a bore. What an incurious time-waster.
Let’s hope he settles on a night roller with every chance of putting him in low earth orbit at 2am.
Italian motivational speaker?
Duce, Duce, Duce…
Here in the UK we used to have a gifted comedian called Kenny Everett (sadly no longer with us) who, in one of his many sketches on tv, created himself as a character called Cupid Stunt…
Seems to fit, somehow…
Ah Kenny, sadly missed. “Round ’em up, put ’em in a field, and…”.
Oh they are coming way too fast!
“Do you play golf?”
“I’m a country member”
“Yea. I’ll remember.”
“Carla: Why do you have bandages around your ankles?”
“It said to open can and stand in boiling water for 5 minutes.”
Sorely missed.
Well, he’ll get the Darwin Award if he dies (assuming he has no children – a good bet). And as someone who wishes the human race were a lot cleverer, then I can’t seeing it being a bad thing if he does.
Seems he has daughters. But it’s a case of: “Not now, dear, daddy is saving the planet.”
A motivational speaker…Is that like a community organiser?
No, it’s worse. He the sort that persuades people to become community organisers
I wonder if this stunt will suffer the Al Gore effect? Having to be rescued as the Iceberg increases in mass until it re-joins the Greenland ice……
It’s worse than we thought. Man replaces polar bear on iceberg escalating polar bear extinction.
Little polar bear to its mother:
‘Ooh, look, Mummy – LUNCH….’
Nah, he’ll just start lecturing the PB on CAGW and send it to sleep.
Wouldn’t it be poetic justice if this guy were to be eaten by a polar bear?
On the subject of what constitutes “suitable” when scoping out the iceberg:
– will he (and/or his team) attempt to find one which might suffer a spectacular end (by the end of the summer melt season), thus enhancing the suspense?
– or will he attempt to find one which will be large and stable enough to possible enable him to make it for an entire year?
That decision will greatly affect what he packs for the trip.
In any case: extra warm & dry clothing, a great radio and transmitter, plenty of food, plenty of fuel and a rescue team standing by.
Transportation provided by wind & solar power, of course.
Hmmm. Does he have to register the iceberg as an inhabited vessel under international maritime law?
If he did, I’m guessing that any reasonable body would declare the iceberg to not be seaworthy and forcibly remove him to safety.
Bob Tisdale:
Probably a good idea to register his iceberg. It will help collect insurance for him and his Mastodon crew when attacked by a marauding pirate ship captained by a Baboon.
If he can make it past this…
The iceberg doesn’t have to be registered.
Apparently he wants to use an escape capsule. He would have to be in compliance with Danish requirements. This expedition of his will require proper disposal of his human waste and black water into suitable containers which can be tied with one inch ropes to the escape capsule. 4 each 200 liter drums should do it for a six month stay. The drums should be fillable from inside the capsule and have a way to capture methane emissions, which can be used to cook in a special stove. The smell can be handled with a Xmas tree shaped air freshener.
Power will have to be delivered by two small wind turbines and two solar panels attached to the roof. An Exercycle with a small generator built inside the capsule would come in handy.
To keep entertained he will need reading and knitting material. Somebody from the opposite sex would be a huge plus.
Once the iceberg starts melting it may turn over. This could lead to capsule launch and subsequent catastrophic deformation as the ice berg falls on top. The solution is to attach a three ton anchor with a very heavy chain to the capsule. This will ensure fast submergence once the capsule hits the ocean. The capsule will require a set of high pressure air bottles to equalize pressure as it sinks underneath the iceberg. Once it reaches 200 meters a special release mechanism can detach the anchor and the capsule will rise towards the surface.
With a bit of luck it will avoid hitting the iceberg and pop up safely. At that point the crew can proceed to call for help. When help arrives a ship’s crane can pick up the capsule and the fecal drums and the surviving gear.
I hope the flippin Iceberg doesn’t reach a tipping point, for the rich kid’s sake.
Who was it that suggested we should all have our 2 minutes of fame?
Seeing how skinny that guy is, I doubt that his dried food will keep him warm for more than a week during winter.
But maybe he thinks that because he is starting in spring, the iceberg will be gone during summer so he doesn’t have to stay the entire year?
If that is the case he will actually prove nothing. Ice melts during spring and summer …
The BBC will be , like, so all over this that they will probably have daily webcam visits . In fact why should this chap have all the fame for himself , why not send one of the BBC AGW faithfuls , such as David Attenborough , or for maximum effect , Prince Charles ( solving the problem of what to do with him since his mother – God Bless Her – seems immortal).
But this explorer may prefer female companionship so perhaps one of the near – suicidal Australian scientists could join him – boosting audience levels .
Actually this could become the next big thing after the ice bucket craze: Celebrity Ice- Flow Sitting to Save the Planet. Cue David Cameron.
Uh-Oh. I just figured out where the Discovery Channel will shoot their next episode of “Naked and Afraid”.
http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/naked-and-afraid/about-the-show/about-the-show.htm
Emotionally immature exhibitionists are ten a penny these days — this one has managed to get his 15 minutes of fame, and, yes, the BBC will be all over this, as they will be for anything useless, failed, vulgar and/or moronic.
This is what happens when one watches too many cartoons, as a kid…
From the evidence shown, Chilly Willy must have been a favorite of his.
An idiot’s delight. Icebergs are evidence of excess ice, with the excess breaking off into the sea. Another ZBW (zero brain waves).
And, icebergs melt largely from below and like to flip over, almost at random, unless you are paying attention from below.
I think giving him six months before he gets tossed off by the flippin’ iceberg might be generous. Of course, he might have enough brains—his plans demonstrate that he might not—he will choose a low profile, large horizontal area berg that might mot flip over easily. That is a toss up, IMHO.
The fellow has a common ignorance about how mobile the sea-ice is. The ordinary misconception is that it is static stuff. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The weather buoy deployed with the North Pole Camera up near 90 degrees north in April, 2013 grounded on the north shore of Iceland the following January.
On the other side of Greenland, the mass-balance bouy 2013C, deployed on the Canadian arctic-coast side of Nares Strait in May, 2013, onto fast ice, was atop a berg that broke free in early September, and headed down Nares Strait and then, after dillydallying in the entrance of the Northwest passage for over a month, was off the coast of Labrador when the berg broke up in early January. Click the map at: http://imb.crrel.usace.army.mil/2013C.htm
Also, as many have mentioned, the bergs roll from time to time.
Then there is the subject of 1600 pound bears.
I think this fellow’s idea is one of those late-night inspirations that can’t stand the light of day.
Does he have a web site with a donations button? I’ll happily slide him a few just for the entertainment value alone.
/snark
Time marches on and madness takes its toll. But recently it seems to be taking a lot of alarmists.
See what you’ve done. All the icebergs are melting because of your SUV.
I didn’t know you could apply for a Darwin Award.
If he were really serious about the supposed message he’s trying to send, he would do this with NO modern materials, no synthetics. Only with stuff he can make with his bare hands and stone tools, with materials only found in the Arctic. Since he won’t, he’s a pansy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Severin The Brendan Voyage
Tim found on the last legs of this voyage, that the natural materials that would have been available in the times in the Navigato De Sanctos Brendan lasted better than the modern equivalents
Why don’t they tow the iceberg to the Bahamas? It would melt there more spectacularly and once rescued, he could have a splendid vacation there. Sounds as a more reasonable PR stunt than freezing to death, stuffed into a Kevlar-reinforced survival capsule during the Arctic winter.
While I agree with most of the comments, and I’m glad so many pointed out that icebergs roll, there seems to be a surprising misconception about The Darwin Award. First, there is no nomination process – an individual is self-nominating. Second, the purpose of the award is to recognize those that have removed themselves from the gene pool. Therefore, someone that has already procreated does not qualify. Also, it is not necessary for the nominating act to be fatal – for example, an accident that resulted in “testicular removal” would qualify. Third, that the nominating act demonstrates such poor judgment that removal of any chance of this individual contributing to the gene pool would prove a net positive for the species.
I could have gone all day without see that testicular, er, particular phrase. Thanks a bunch.
There are many wannabe gangsta thugs, the kind who hold handguns sideways because it looks cool, who stuff their gun into their waistbands at the front, with their finger on the trigger which hits the waistband, and they ain’t know nothin’ ’bout no “safeties”.
It was being called “explosive castration” before 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, and IED’s, don’t know if it has another name now.
Darwin Award candidate for certain.
http://darwinawards.com/darwin/
He should go to Antarctica if he wants a real nice voyage. Take for example Iceberg B-9 that broke away from the Ross shelf in October 1987 and still hasn’t melted completely. As a matter of fact it was most recently used as an excuse for the “ship of fools” fiasco, though you would have thought that “polar experts” would have aware of something that has been around for 25 years.
I guess Treehugger didn’t get it quite right because Mr. Bellini did not quite complete his Pacific Ocean Rowing Adventure. From the Telegraph:
It was a rather ignominious end to a grand adventure. After 10 months of rowing alone across the vast Pacific Ocean, eating only dried food and with nothing but emails from fans for company, Alex Bellini was rescued by a tugboat, just 65 nautical miles from his destination.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/3741464/Italian-rescued-65-miles-short-of-rowing-Pacific-Ocean-solo.html
Of course, how could anyone be expected to survive rowing across the Pacific without email! The very thought of it….
Alas,I haven’t yet found the definitive account of his Atlantic Ocean Rowing Adventure, but it looks like his first attempt ended up on the rocks:
Alex Bellini departed Genova, Italy on September 18th, 2005 for his second attempt to row the Atlantic Ocean (E-W). The 27-year old Italian had attempted a similar route in 2004, ending when technical problems and bad weather forced his boat onto the rocks of Formentera Island, off the coast of Spain.
http://www.explorersweb.com/oceans/news.php?id=738
I did find an entry on Alex Bellini at the Ocean Explorers Web:
http://www.explorersweb.com/oceans/news.php?id=738
But his Mediterranean Row is marked ‘incomplete’ after 22 days.
I don’t have much sympathy for glory-seekers who willingly put themselves in harm’s way, knowing that media attention guarantees rescue attempts should things go amiss. I give him 60 days before he calls for help.
Or flips out.
erratum
2nd link s/b:
http://www.oceanrowing.com/statistics/longest_time_at_sea.htm
Someone should talk him to adding the ice bucket challenge to his daily routine. It would help raise awareness for both ALS and stupidity.
What’s the over/under for this guy lasting 365 days???
I’m picking 63
Some people do anything and everything to get there 5 minuites …..
Nucking futs.
New one on the ice cap bucket challenge.
Another sad stupid stunt for smug self exhibitionists
If he doesn’t survive this stunt, it further demonstrates how Mother Nature has ways of filtering stupidity out of the human gene pool.
Like overdosing on illegal drugs.
Risk taking is not stupidity. The people who first settled North America (both the initial settlement from Asia and the later settlement from Europe) were risk takers. they embarked into the unknown for an adventure with a very good chance that they would never come back.
Indeed a major problem with the current era is the aversion to risk. Everything must be risk free and for everything the precautionary principle applies. Children can’t play outside. playground equipment is so safe that there is no interest in playing on it.
It shouldn’t need explaining but the risk taking by the English who settled North America was for a highly useful enterprise, whereas Bellini’s holiday (hardly a big risk, either) is based on quack science underpinned by sleazy carpetbagging. Quite a difference.
http://ec.gc.ca/glaces-ice/default.asp?lang=En&n=AEC39A7A-1
The above URL points to a webpage from Environment Canada (the Canadian weather service) which shows the path of ice bergs that calve from the western part of Greenland. the current takes them north into Baffin bay and finally south towards the Grand banks. The page indicates that this takes 2 to 3 years.
So someone spending a year on a berg calved from Greenland should not expect to make it to the open Atlantic Ocean. They will spend that time in the far north according to the information from Environment Canada.
When I first read the description of the mission, I too thought of the danger of the berg rolling. Perhaps this is not of as much concern as one would expect given that the berg should spend its time in the far north.
There is a difference between an ice berg and an ice island.
“Ice islands are large, flat masses of ice that break away from ice shelves. In the Arctic, the major source of these islands is the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf on northern Ellesmere Island. Ice islands are different from the pack ice that forms from seawater. Like icebergs, ice islands are largely composed of glacial freshwater. There are an estimated 30 or 40 ice islands afloat on the Arctic Ocean at any one time. They vary in size from a few metres in width to tens, or even hundreds, of square kilometres in area.
Scientists have used some of the larger ice islands as mobile research stations. Hobson’s Choice Ice Island, which formed in 1984, carried a research station until 1992 when it suddenly broke into three pieces and drifted away into the channels of the Queen Elizabeth Islands!”
He could be using an ice island.
People, I had to shut my office door cuz I cannot control my laughter.
You won’t see me living on an iceberg for a year.
However, you will see me in my kayak at the North Pole next month – yes, the real North Pole, not the one 5 KM off of Peggy’s Cove.
I gotta get the kayak out of layaway at Dick’s and stat training.
Al Jazeera has committed to media coverage for me.
I made a comment on Alex’s facebook page:
“Alex, the Arctic warms as a negative feedback to declines in solar forcing, and it cools with increased forcing of the climate. Your concerns about Arctic ice loss are completely misplaced.”
He replied:
“Hi Ulric. thanks for your contribution to the discussion. I agree with you, however Adrift doesn’t have only scientific purposes.”
He’s gonna want some shoes. Because dying alone with no shoes is sad.
Moreover, those shoes should be non-toxic to Polar Bears.
You know, just in case.
Ive got an idea. How about people who think humanity is killing the planet itself actually acted on their beliefs “to highlight climate change”. There is no need to convince us lowly plebs who “deny science”. I doubt all of them would even need to follow suit to have a greater impact countrywide, all without any new laws or taxes. No need to convince anyone except those who claim to already be convinced.
Im told by some I know that I am the problem as a skeptic. I find this a bit silly honestly. Think of it, we have a large portion of our population who think the entire earths systems might fail yet even they persist in their “evil” ways. If the devout in large part wont change their lifestyle that seems like much more of an issue then the people who dont see that there is an issue. It would be like a religion having the view the problem in the world is that not everyone agrees with the religion the believers themselves do not practice, DOH. you cant make this nonsense up.
Bellini plans to find a suitable iceberg in the northwest region of Greenland, where he will remain for up to a year as it slowly melts.
Wouldn’t a suitable iceberg for his purposes be one that is expected to melt away in six weeks? He WANTS the thing to melt under his feet, the faster the better.
4 months ’til he becomes Polar Bear poop. Or does he intend to scare them away with pepper and a bell (well known joke!)
If it is melting then how do you live on it. In one year it would be a goner, that is according to the chorus of AGW supporters!
How about we sneak a couple of animatronic polar bears onto the iceberg in the middle of the night then stand back and film the reaction. Green with shades of brown, the new Enviro-colour.
This man is clueless. As many has pointed out, icebergs are unstable and roll as they melt. Depending on its shape this guy might be thrown into the sea long before it has melted significantly, and you don’t want to be near a tumbling iceberg.
Thanks all!
Have had a grim-mish week, but have now smiled, laughed, chuckled and howled with weeping eyes at your comments.
Hugely, hugely appreciated.
Auto.
Hmmmm…..if icebergs didn’t always melt anyway he might have something to show.
But, at most, all he’ll show is, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
On a positive note, If they can’t mount a rescue mission this winter his body will be well preserved until spring ;0)
Only if he gets trapped in the rescue capsule and frozen in solid. Polar bears love carrion.
I wonder, if the cuddly poley bears had a choice among eco-activists, would they “go vegan”?
A Far Side cartoon:
Two Polar Bears at an igloo…..
Maybe he can catch a ride on the peterman iceberg, That thing looks tall enough to discourage the occasional polar bear ;0)
Easier to fake than a Moon landing.;)
was there a full moon just before this announcement; what else could explain this idiocy?
if he can melt the iceberg, he will be allowed to sleep with my wife to see if he can go two for two. I think he will have better luck with the ice berg.
The polar bear beat him:
[IMG]http://blogs.news.com.au/images/uploads/floatypoley.gif[/IMG]
(here’s your stranded poley bear image)
http://blogs.news.com.au/images/uploads/floatypoley.gif
just use naked URL to post image – no tags required
Watching this guy die from self-inflicted stupidity is not how I like to win a debate. I hope he reconsiders and gets the help he needs to ensure he enjoys a long happy life.
Along with the other ……. oh, how to describe them
http://www.explorersweb.com/polar/news.php?url=susan-eaton-nwp-snorkel_1381437537
Lets go snorkel the north west passage in summer
I’ve been to Barrow, you do not go swimming in summer, despite the tourist dept brochures
It is ************** cold
This is like the guys who were going to row to the North Pole.
Its the media sendoff that matters. Big headlines. When those rowers quickly quit nary a peep from the media. So also with this guy. Big media sendoff. Nary a peep when he packs it in a few weeks later.
Let’s be honest here. Alex Bellini is an adventurer and motivational speaker, so he’s in the business of taking risks and challenging himself. Mountain-climbing, particularly those known to present extreme, life-threatening conditions falls in the same general category. Where he goes wrong, and where the whacko factor comes in is his connection of this enterprise with the CAGW meme. However, even that may be calculated to bringing in publicity and funding. In which case, he’s just a liar and one more of many climate prostitutes and carpetbaggers.
Yes, but the entire daredevil concept is suspect. No doubt crowds rush to watch fools risk their lives, and more than a few bucks have been made on that aspect of human nature.
Guys like this gain credibility especially among the no fear generations who share the idea apparently, that one can be a hero by risking one’s neck performing some unnecessary feat of endurance, skill or acrobatics, cameras rolling of course, and then posting the video on youtube where all can admire the daredevil stud’s.total awesomeness.
A showoff taking unnecessary risks is about the last person I’d listen to for advice about anything.
.
Are you sure that’s not Bill Nye the Science Lie with a beard? Just wondering…
Based on Yves Frenot views on Chris Turney’s Antarctic expedition, maritime rescue operations may have been re-prioritized since. But Alex Bellini may get some cool whale close-ups while waiting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPge_0lea3o.
Imagine all the environment unfriendly work required to generate the funds required – starting with those commuting in their cars to earn it.
I would like this story so much better if it was MANN TO LIVE ON MELTING ICEBERG.
Since all of the Arctic ice is supposed to melt next year, he could just camp out close to the North Pole. Since the ice sheet moves around over time, he may have to relocate every couple of weeks. But once all the ice is melted at the North Pole, a small boat can just motor in and pick him up. That would be much simpler for everyone, as we would know exactly where he is.
This bold one-man campaign …..
Dumber than a fence post.
Dumber than a post hole……