April 2, 2024
Beginning today, a 2020 film about explorer Will Steger and the 1989 International TransAntarctica Expedition is now available for downloading on streaming services.
After Antarctica follows the life of one of National Geographic’s most legendary polar explorers, Will Steger, and his lifelong journey as an eyewitness to the greatest changes to the polar regions of our planet. In 1989, Steger led an international team of six scientists and explorers on the first coast-to-coast dogsled traverse of Antarctica (the subject of Cathy de Moll’s book Think South). The mission of the expedition was to draw global attention to Antarctica’s changing climate and use the expedition as a tool to reinstate the Antarctic Treaty, which would protect the continent from mineral exploitation. After Antarctica is a film about a legendary expedition unlike any other - not only were Steger and his team of renegade explorers the first to complete this historic feat, but due to the melting of the ice on their original route, they were also the last.
For more information: https://afterantarctica.com
Shelter in Place Blog Marks 100th Entry
June 25, 2020
Cathy de Moll’s daily blog “Shelter in Place” chronicles San Francisco’s pandemic lock-down order through the lens of her garden, where she and her husband are sheltering in place. On June 25, de Moll posted the blog’s 100th entry. The blog is a mixture of daily photographs and commentary on life under quarantine.
International Trans-Antarctica Expedition Celebrates 30 Years with Public events in Japan
November 14, 2019
The members of the 1990 International Trans-Antarctica Expedition and expedition director and Think South author Cathy de Moll were honored at several events in Japan on the occasion of the expedition’s 30th anniversary. Together for the first time in ten years, the team took the opportunity to send an urgent message to the world concerning the importance of international cooperation in addressing climate change.
Message to the World from Tokyo: THINK SOUTH FOR THE NEXT
Delivered November 10, 2019 by the 1990 International Trans-Antarctica Expedition at the Tokyo In-ternational Forum
Members of the 1990 International Polar Expedition met with Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa (center) and the city's environmental minister, Takeshi Shimotsuma (far right). This beautiful and ancient city was host of the very important 1997 Kyoto Agreement - an early commitment to international cooperation to prevent climate change and the foundation of the 2017 Paris Agreement. Since then, Kyoto has held several worldwide climate conferences which created the IPCC Kyoto Guidelines to support the Paris Agreement. Kyoto has also been diligent in working to innovate how entire municipalities can reduce carbon emissions. The expedition team urged the Mayor to continue his leadership role, and he congratulated them on their accomplishments on and off the ice.
"In December, 1989, we, the International Trans-Antarctica Expedition team, made the following statement as we stood at the South Pole half-way through our historic 4,000-mile traverse of the conti-nent: “On the route of the longest traverse of Antarctica, we are today at the South Pole. From this place where the world comes together we say to everyone that beyond nationalities and cultures people can live together, even in the most difficult cercumstances, May the spirit of the Trans Antarctica Expedition be an encouragement for a better world."
"Since that time, each of us has watched and spoken with a growing sense of urgency about the acceler-ation of Antarctica’s environmental degradation, knowing that the same expedition would be impossi-ble today because the first 200 miles of our route have melted. Now, 30 years after we stood together at the South Pole, our international team comes together once again to speak as the unofficial ambassa-dorsof Antarctica. We urge the world to bring immediate attention and action toward saving this pre-cious continent whose ice and oceans affect the health of the entire planet.
"That is why we call the expedition’s anniversary celebration in Japan, “THINK SOUTH FOR THE NEXT.” In the next 30 years, all of us will depend on the next generation to help us minimize our use of existing sources of energy and to create new ways to produce the energy we will need in the future. We share young people's sense of urgency and we offer our encouragement and thanks. It is on their behalf that we confirm today the importance of the Kyoto Protocol signed in 1997, and why we support in the strongest terms the 2017 Paris Agreement. We urge every country and every individual to commit both resources and ingenuity to reducing carbon emissions drastically by any means possible.
"The situation is extremely urgent and the challenge is great, but there is still a path; now we must have the courage to follow it. Each of us has an important role to play - and so we urge every citizen of the world to be responsible and effective within each of our zones of influence... whoever we are, wherever we live, whatever we do... because we know that - together - we can save the world.”
Trans-Antarctica team greets a 500+ live crowd at the Tokyo International Forum on November 10, 2019. Portions of the event are available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0_Vy2uEBARw (scroll past the first 20 minutes to reach the discussion with English translation)
Trans-Antarctica team, spouses, and hosts Tokyo, Japan, November 12, 2019
Think South: How We Got Six Men and Forty Dogs Across Antarctica, published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, is available wherever books are sold (print and ebook).
Think South readers, CLICK HERE for chapter-by-chapter photos and "cool stuff."
Check out the Think South FaceBook page for news about Antarctica and expedition team members.
Want to invite author Cathy de Moll for a formal talk or reading, or for a visit with your book club by phone or by Skype? Contact: cathydemoll@gmail.com for more information.