The Collegian

Issue date: 4/17/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Alex Branch

There are scientists all over the world saying global warming is a reality. They talk about increasing global temperatures, changing ocean currents, and technical data much of the general public do not understand. Jonathan Waterman, however, is not a scientist. Waterman is an adventurer, a man passionate about the wilderness, and a man determined to share his passion with others. He did just that on April 12 in the Soda Center, where he took about two hours to share the story of his last trek through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and speak against oil exploration there.
Sponsored by National Geographic, Waterman teamed up with biologist George Shawler, a member of the small team instrumental in the founding of ANWR fifty years ago. Together with two zealous graduate students, they walked, kayaked, rafted, and flew through a land where there is no night. They were specifically working to build a case against opening ANWR to oil exploration, and were not only building their case on science, but on human emotion, as well.
The expedition's first stop was Fairbanks, Alaska. Waterman said increasing temperatures there since the 1970s have allowed the proliferation of pine beetles, which are actively destroying boreal forests by killing trees, and passively by leaving behind increased amounts of deadwood fuel for summer forest fires. "Thirty percent of the boreal forest in northeast Alaska has burned in the last two years," Waterman said.
The next stop for the expedition was Prudhoe Bay, above the tree line and one of the first places oil was found in northeast Alaska. Jon showed a picture of the Halliburton sign entering Prudhoe Bay which, in what he referred to as "Halliburton's little joke," read, "Prudhoe Bay National Forest." According to Waterman, a three degree increase in temperature there will change the terrain from ankle high arctic scrub to waist high brush, an occurrence he illustrated with photographs of just such a case. Waterman also noted a recent oil leak near Prudhoe Bay caused by damaged pipelines, and said the environmental damage caused by the leak has still not been determined. One of Waterman's strongest points was about the amount of oil the government expects to find under ANWR, a mere year's supply for the United States. "A drop in the bucket," Waterman said.
The rest of the expedition was spent in ANWR, where Waterman, Shawler, and their team spent an entire summer counting animals, noting where they saw them, counting trees, and enjoying the beautiful landscape of the arctic. It is the beauty and timeless value of ANWR that Jon focused on for the rest of his presentation. "It's enchanting. It's a sense of mystery that makes this place so valuable," said Waterman. With photos of icebergs in the Arctic Ocean, river ice in glacier valleys, grizzly bears and caribou, Jon aimed to give his audience a small piece of the passion he has for "the roof of North America." With photos of places where melting permafrost makes forests lean and rivers change path, he also tried to inspire his audience to help him "carry on this legacy of conservation, this torch."
Waterman's approach to promoting environmentalism seemed to work. At the end of his presentation, he offered postcards for his audience to write to their senators and representatives, and most of the audience indulged. Megan Kalvass, a Saint Mary's graduate student, said, "His viewpoint is very important, getting people to see it from a love perspective." Graduate student Jared Gagnon said, "It was really interesting. It didn't address the issue like I thought it was going to. It showed you what you could be ruining." Waterman also documented the expedition on video, and it will air this year on National Geographic and PBS as a series of short clips titled "Wildlife Chronicles."

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