Scool Project Sails through the Northwest Passage
08.09.2009 - Water & Oceans, Ice & Snow, Flora & Fauna, Human Dimension, Other, Arctic
The Northwest Passage, which links the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans along the northern coast of North America, was successfully crossed for the first time in 1906 by Roald Amundsen will be crossed again by Students' Cloud Observations On-Line (S'COOL).
The educational program, which has existed for twelve years and has evolved into a global network including schools in 78 countries, is currently aboard the ship Ocean Watch to conduct cloud observations in open water. S'COOL is one of eight scientific experiments aboard the Ocean Watch as it travels around the Americas promoting public education and awareness about ocean science and marine conservation. The Around the Americas (ATA) project, a 13-month adventure that includes visits to 31 ports in 12 countries, invited the group to be part of the expedition.
While a warming Arctic has made it possible to traverse the Northwest Passage during the expedition, it also raises concerns about the ocean's health. With some parts of the oceans becoming more acidic and summer thawing increasing, wildlife is being affected along with humans in the region who depend on it.
By teaching them how to write S'COOL reports and sharing information with the communities they visit, Zeta Strickland, the Ocean Watch's on-board educator, hopes to gather crucial data for NASA Langley Researchers, who intend to use it to verify data from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites.
