Norwegian marine explorer and adventurer Thorleif Thorleifsson will present a public lecture titled “A Voyage Around the North Pole: Modern Exploration and Climate Change” on Monday October 8th at Augustana College.
Thorleifsson, a former mariner in the Royal Norwegian Navy, has spent years exploring the oceans of the Far North. In 2010, Thorleifsson and the famous explorer Børge Ousland became the first to sail around the North Pole in one short season. The voyage led them from Norway, through the Northern Sea route in Russia, through the Northwest Passage in Canada, and across the North Atlantic. It was a race against time in waters with dangerous ice, increasing darkness and autumn gales.
In his lecture, Thorleifsson will make the physical environment of the Arctic come alive for his audience. He will discuss his recordbreaking voyage, the tremendous challenges encountered along the way, and the Norwegian history of Arctic exploration and the explorers of the past.
Mr. Thorleifsson will be introduced by Mari Sæther, Environmental Counselor at the Norwegian Embassy in Washington, D.C. She has worked in the environmental field for more than 20 years, and will speak briefly on climate change and the Arctic – and how global warming is affecting every corner of the globe.