Iowa Public Television

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  Program: An Arctic Journey in a Changing World #101
  Broadcast Date: Dec. 4, 2008
  

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Join Okoboji, Iowa native David Thoreson on an historic voyage through the famed Northwest Passage. An Arctic Journey in a Changing World premieres December 4 at 7 p.m. on Iowa Public Television.

For centuries, explorers have sailed treacherous Arctic seas in search of the famed Northwest Passage -- a trade route along the coast of North America connecting the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Many of the ill-fated expeditions ended in disaster as brave sailors succumbed to ubiquitous Arctic pack ice. The Northwest Passage was thought to be all but impossible to cross by boat until Roald Amundsen first navigated the perilous waters between 1903 and 1906.

More than one hundred years later, photographer/videographer David Thoreson was onboard the first American sailboat to successfully navigate the frigid waters connecting the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Thoreson, an accomplished sailor whose maritime credits include a successful voyage below the Antarctic Circle, attempted to cross the Northwest Passage in 1994. But after icy conditions threatened to crush his ship’s hull, the Okoboji, Iowa native was forced to turn back. Thoreson made another attempt on the Northwest Passage in 2007 and he claims climate change reduced the pack ice dramatically, and is the major reason the perilous waters were more navigable.

In this half-hour documentary, Iowa Public Television chronicles Thoreson’s historic voyage as he examines the implications of climate change.

Watch An Arctic Journey in a Changing World premiering December 4 at 7 p.m. only on Iowa Public Television.

• Arctic
• climate change
• global warming
• HEAT
• sailing

Post Date: November 26, 2008