Historical expeditions: Cook and Vancouver In 1776 Captain James Cook was dispatched by the Admiralty in Great Britain under orders driven by a 1745 act which, when extended in 1775, promised a £20,000 prize for whoever discovered the passage. Initially the Admiralty had wanted Charles Clerke to lead the expedition, with Cook (in retirement following his exploits in the Pacific) acting as a consultant. However Cook had researched Bering's expeditions, and the Admiralty ultimately placed their faith in the veteran explorer to lead with Clerke accompanying him. After journeying through the Pacific, in another west–east attempt, Cook began at Nootka Sound in April 1778, and headed north along the coastline, charting the lands and searching for the regions sailed by the Russians 40 years previously. The Admiralty's orders had commanded the expedition to ignore all inlets and rivers until they reached a latitude of 65°N. Cook, however, failed to make any progress in sighting a Northwestern Passage. Various officers on the expedition, including William Bligh, George Vancouver, and John Gore, thought the existence of a route was 'improbable'. Before reaching 65°N they found the coastline pushing them further south, but Gore convinced Cook to sail on into the Cook Inlet in the hope of finding the route. They continued to the limits of the Alaskan peninsula and the start of the 1,200 mi (1,900 km) chain of Aleutian Islands. Despite reaching 70°N they encountered nothing but icebergs.[12] From 1792 to 1794, the Vancouver Expedition (led by George Vancouver who had accompanied Cook previously) surveyed in detail all the passages from the Northwest Coast and confirmed that there was no such passage south of the Bering Strait.[29] This conclusion was supported by the evidence of Alexander MacKenzie who explored the Arctic and Pacific oceans in 1793. pstp hist explor geo , 4 -28 http://www.filmaust.com.au/captain... CAPTAIN COOK: OBSESSION AND DISCOVERY Episode #101 – "A Likely Lad" James Cook journeys from life as a barefoot farm boy to commanding his own ship on one of the British Empire's first great scientific expeditions. Influential patrons help the bright boy to an apprenticeship in the merchant navy that would make him a ships' master. But with an eye for the main chance Cook switches to the Royal Navy. War with France propels him to Canada, where he discovers his life's work. He revolutionizes the accuracy of naval mapping and the way the world is recorded. In further adventures, his genius for precision navigation helps Britain win the war and control of North America. Cook's reward is command of the great scientific expedition to the Pacific Ocean and the newly discovered exotic and sexually liberated Tahiti to record the 1769 Transit of Venus. When the observation is complete, Cook opens secret orders and learns he is to solve one of the world's great mysteries. He must find the Great Southern Continent. The real challenge has just begun. Episode #102 – "Taking Command" Cook sets sail on the history-making adventure in search of a great southern continent. If Britain can find and map it, they can claim it for the Empire. Cook takes on board an additional passenger, Polynesian priest and fellow navigator Tupaia. Cook's first encounter with New Zealand's Maori is a disaster, so he turns to Tupaia who acts as go between for later landings. In circumnavigating New Zealand, he proves it is not the Great South Continent. Continuing east into the unknown and landing in Botany Bay, Cook is challenged by what he encounters—Australia's flora, fauna and Indigenous people. Cook's landing will make him an iconic figure in modern history, but not unless he can navigate his way out of the maze of the Great Barrier Reef—the potential disaster that could kill them all. Episode #103 – "Beyond Speculation" Cook continues his relentless pursuit of a great southern continent, putting fable and mystery to rest. Despite his great skills sailing and navigating across the world, Endeavour runs aground and is nearly lost. Cook commits the most controversial act of the voyage: he claims the entire east coast of New Holland (Australia) for Britain, without permission from the local inhabitants. Stopping for emergency repairs in Batavia, infected water turns Endeavour into a death ship. Back in London, Cook's maps confirm his brilliance. He is promoted and eventually given command of a new voyage that will add an incredible third of the world to the map. It makes him a great British hero but the massive responsibility is taking its toll. He is losing control — only his obsession with discovery drives him on. Episode #104 – "North West Passage" Cook's obsession with discovery continues as he searches for the mythic North West Passage, but it is a journey too far. Now retired and promoted to Post Captain, James Cook is bored. He jumps at the chance to take on a third great voyage: to find a fast route to China to secure Britain's place in the lucrative tea trade. To do it, he must sail across the world and then over the top of the North American continent, pushing against a wall of Arctic ice. But it's too much for the ships of the day. Cook is forced to return to the Pacific. When his ship snaps a mast and he returns to Hawaii, the island group he discovered on his way north, the inhabitants who once greeted him with open arms turn hostile—they have already given Cook all they have. As relations deteriorate, Cook takes a Hawaiian chief hostage in retribution for a stolen boat. In the confusion that follows, he is needlessly killed on the beach. The man who has become an icon of the British Empire is about to be swept up by history. - Thomas Page

Effects of global warming http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... , 1 -27-13 Volume of ice reduction even more drastic than area reduction ? , 1 -28 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... 1 -28 -14 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... Spruce gum is primarily used to heal deep cuts and sores in the Dene culture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... - Thomas Page

548 - Wishful Mapping: a Half-baked Alaska, and the Passage That Wasn't There http://bigthink.com/ideas... - Thomas Page

Yachting Eastward Into Arctic History http://www.nytimes.com/1989... http://www.amazon.com/Arctic-... http://www.enotes.com/arctic-... Arctic historian and archaeologist, John R. Bockstoce has been traveling and working in the North since 1962. He has carried out a series of excavations at Bering Strait and served for ten seasons as a member of an Eskimo whaling crew at Point Hope, Alaska. In the 1970s he descended the Tanana and Yukon rivers by canoe from Fairbanks to Nome and traveled along the coast from there to Barrow Strait in arctic Canada. Later he twice traversed the Northwest Passage by boat. He is the author of many books, monographs, and articles, including Arctic Passages: A Unique Small Boat Voyage through the Great Northern Waterway (1991, 1992), Arctic Discoveries: Images from Voyages of Four Decades in the North (2000), High Latitude, North Atlantic: 30,000 Miles through Cold Seas and History (2003), and the award-winning Whales, Ice and Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic (1986, 1995). The University of Alaska recently conferred on him an honorary Doctor of Science in recognition of his contributions to Arctic studies. http://www.johnbockstoce.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... http://friendfeed.com/citizen... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... http://laststandonzombieisland.com/2012... , 3 -5 sort http://apihtawikosisan.com/2013... , 3 -9 http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-cur... , [[[ 10 -4 http://www.salon.com/2013... 8 -1 http://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2014... - Thomas Page

Unmapped Routes May Pose Dangers for Shipping Boom in Arctic Waters http://www.pbs.org/newshou... http://www.pbs.org/newshou... http://www.pbs.org/newshou... - Thomas Page

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5 -29 sort http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... - Thomas Page

West_Antarctic_Ice_Sheet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... 5 -27 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... 5 -29 Greenland ... - Thomas Page

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11 -8 USS_Jeannette http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... - Thomas Page

Franklin's lost expedition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... http://www.cbc.ca/news... At this point, the searchers aren't sure if they've found HMS Erebus or HMS Terror. But sonar images from the waters of Victoria Strait, just off King William Island, clearly show wreckage of a ship on the ocean floor. A sea floor scan reveals one of the missing ships from the Franklin Expedition in an image released in Ottawa on Tuesday. (Parks Canada/Canadian Press) The wreckage was found on Sept. 7 using a remotely operated underwater vehicle recently acquired by Parks Canada. When Harper revealed the team's success at Parks Canada's laboratories in Ottawa Tuesday, the room burst into applause and hollering. - Thomas Page