World-renowned climate scientist, explorer Mayewski to talk about Everest expedition March 6
World-renowned climate scientist and explorer Paul Mayewski and glaciochemist Mariusz Potocki will give a free, public talk titled “The National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Extreme Mt. Everest Expedition,” 5:30–6:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, in the auditorium at the Hutchinson Center in Belfast.
The goal of the two-month multinational, multidisciplinary National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Extreme Mt. Everest Expedition was to document people’s impacts on one of the planet’s most severe environments.
Mayewski, director of the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, was the expedition leader and lead scientist for the international project that involved 55 science partners, National Geographic staff, journalists, Sherpas and porters.
From Base Camp at an altitude of 17,514 feet, he directed the biological, geological, glaciological, meteorological, mapping and multimedia enterprise which took place all over the mountain, both at lower elevations and nearly to the 29,029-foot summit.
Water flowing from Himalayan glaciers is a resource for energy, food and consumption for about 20% of the world’s population. One billion people living in the watershed will be stressed due to the shrinking of the glaciers, Mayewski says. Initially from flooding and landslides, and later due to drought.
This marked Mayewski’s fourth scientific expedition on Everest, which Tibetans call Chomolungma and Nepalis call Sagarmatha for “mother of the sky.” Mayewski has led nearly 60 research expeditions around the globe, many in Antarctica, where he was the first person to explore large tracts of the continent. “Mayewski Peak,” a summit in Antarctica’s Saint Johns Range, is named in his honor.
A video, a summit suit, a drill used to secure the highest ice core in the world, and other items from the expedition will be displayed. For additional information, read the National Geographic and UMaine Today stories.
About Paul Mayweski:
Paul Andrew Mayewski is director and professor of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine and Distinguished Professor in the Schools of Earth and Climate Sciences, Marine Sciences, Policy and International Affairs, Business School and Law School. He is an internationally acclaimed scientist and explorer, leader of >60 expeditions to some of the remotest reaches of the planet including many field seasons traveling across Antarctica, more than 100 first ascents of mountains in Antarctica, traverses over Greenland and many field seasons at high altitude throughout the Himalayas, Tibetan Plateau and the Andes. He has more than 450 scientific publications and two popular books The Ice Chronicles and Journey Into Climate. His contributions to science include the discovery of human impacts on the chemistry of the atmosphere; modern Antarctic and Himalayan ice loss; abrupt climate change and the impact of climate change on past civilizations. He has received numerous national and international honors such as the first-ever internationally awarded Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research from a field of 45 countries and all disciplines and the Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Medal and developed several highly prominent international research programs (notably the International Trans Antarctic Scientific Expedition) in addition to public outreach efforts with organizations such as the American Museum of Natural History and the Boston Museum of Science; and appeared hundreds of times in media such as New York and LA Times, NOVA, NPR, BBC, CBS 60 Minutes and most recently in the Emmy Award-Winning Showtime series “Years of Living Dangerously”.