Alejandro Sanz has embarked on an expedition to the Arctic with members of the environmental organization Greenpeace. The adventure, of one week of duration, wanted to attract attention to the need to protect this unique ecosystem whose survival is seriously threatened by oil companies.
According to a Greenpeace report, in the last 30 years, up to 75 percent of the Arctic packed ice has melted. If nothing changes, in 10 or 20 years, the area will have no ice and will become a sea. This would dramatically accelerate the process of global warming. The seasons, crops, food we can grow, forests, beaches, sea level and animal species would irreversibly change.
That’s why Greenpeace and Sanz want the world to know that, although the Arctic may sound like something far away from our daily lives, the melting of this area will affect us all, as the Arctic is vital to the overall functioning of the Earth’s climate. “I want my children to be able to wander the beaches of Cadiz in the future. Save the Arctic means saving much more,” claims Alejandro Sanz on his website.
Oil companies threaten the Arctic
But why is the Arctic in danger? According to the Greenpeace report, the area is threatened by industrial fishing and, most of all, oil prospecting. Several companies such as Shell, BP, Repsol, Exxon and Gazprom intend to obtain permission to search for oil in the Arctic waters.
The procedure would consist of moving aside the icebergs their excavation platforms may find in their way. In addition, they plan on melting the floating ice using giant hot water hoses. An aggressive, risky and allegedly useless method that would only serve to extract the oil needed to meet global demand for three years while increasing the risk of another catastrophic spill.
Alejandro Sanz, a successful and committed artist
The expedition to the Arctic included 15 people who have the privilege of knowing a landscape of magnificent beauty (thus far, virtually unexplored) and the way of life of the Inuit, the people who inhabit those lands. Unfortunately, they have also witnessed the decline of the ice sheet and how the rocks that once were covered with snow, today appear naked.
The group also wants to show the world the danger that an oil spill would cause in this unspoiled state of nature. As explained by Pilar Marcos, head of the Arctic campaign, on the blog describing the expedition: “While we confirm this climate disaster, in these same waters a total of 19,305 square miles of new oil exploration have been awarded.”
Alejandro Sanz, enthusiastic about the project, has tweeted away all about his Arctic adventure. “Thank you all for supporting #Salvaelartico, we need to make much noise. For all our sakes,” he wrote in Iceland, just before entering the frigid northern lands of the planet.
The singer has proven his sensitivity by interrupting his successful summer tour in Spain for a few days to support this cause. “We must be aware that if we save the Arctic, we will save much more. This is the biggest environmental battle of the moment, because at stake is one of the few places on earth where there is still an environmental balance, and because what happens there affects us all,” he stated in a statement released by Greenpeace.
Latino artists in support of Greenpeace and the planet
Alejandro Sanz has invited his fans around the world to join Greenpeace’s cause through the Save The Arctic website. So far, more than three million people have already joined the campaign to demand that oil companies leave the Arctic so that the area can be declared a sanctuary.
The goal is to repeat the success of 1991 when, after years of pressure, Greenpeace and their supporters got Antarctica to gain protection. Presently, the Antarctica territory can only be used to develop peaceful projects and scientific research. To ensure that the Arctic follows the same path, the last word will be from the UN General Assembly.
Alejandro Sanz is not the only celebrity to support this quest. On the occasion of the Rio Summit in 2012, many personalities from showbiz, sports, science and the business world joined the Arctic cause. Among them, the Spaniards Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Pedro Almodovar and Miguel Barcelo.
Now, will you join them to preserve this land which supports our planet?
Originally published on VOXXI as Alejandro Sanz’s fight to save the Arctic
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