Scots singer set to expose cost of global warming

Sep 28 2008 By Fiona Young

Exclusive Star Kt's Arctic Mission To Expose Global Warming

SINGER KT Tunstall has set sail in the Arctic Circle on a starstudded mission to expose global warming.

The 33-year-old rocker and new husband Luke Bullen yesterday joined scientific research ship Grigory Mikheev for a 12-day expedition to one of the world's biggest ice fields.

The Suddenly I See singer was determined to join the fact-finding trip despite only getting married three weeks ago.

She tied the knot with drummer Bullen, 34, on Skye and the pair enjoyed a romantic break in a secluded cottage on the island before joining the trip to the Arctic.

KT said: "To get the facts it is not the same as just taking yourself and your soul to that landscape and to that area and to see it.

"Where the integrity comes from is actually having the experience of seeing something first-hand.

"Those who don't believe climate change is happening always sound like incredibly jaded, very negative people.

"I don't have, even on a personal level in my life, time for people like that.

"There's definitely this worry that climate change is turning into some sort of new religion where everybody wants something to kick against.

"They can all get together and you don't have to have any dogma or bible involved and that's easy for us atheists to get involved in."

KT is one of 40 writers and artists taking part in the expedition.

Others include Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and singers Martha Wainwright and Laurie Anderson.

The Scot already seems to have found a kindred spirit in Cocker - the pair were seen deep in conversation about the trip at Heathrow airport before flying out to meet their ship.

KT, of St Andrews, Fife, has slammed claims the celebs are just courting publicity rather than genuinely caring for the cause.

She said: "Like anything to do with climate change it's going to be mixed. You'll have the dissenters saying, 'It's just a huge PR stunt, all the artists are doing it just because they just want to get coverage'.

"They can f*** off because you just can't care. There is no time to pander to that negativity."

The voyage will take the stars to collapsing glaciers in Disko Bay, Greenland.

The trip - which left the Greenland port of Kangerlussuaq - has been organised by the climate awareness charity Cape Farewell.

Director David Buckland claims the aim of the voyage is to spread information about global warming as widely as possible.

He said: "Scientists have done such a brilliant job in saying, 'Wait a minute, there is a serious problem here.' "But it is our lives, the way we live our lives, that is actually causing climate change. It is a cultural challenge, not a scientific challenge, that will change that."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has praised the trip.

He said: "There can be no doubt that climate change is already having significant impacts on the Arctic, the region that many scientists consider to be the 'canary in the coal mine' for global warming.

"Temperatures in the Arctic have risen almost twice as quickly as in the rest of the world and there has been a long-term decline in summer Arctic sea ice which has accelerated over the last decade, with some experts suggesting that summer sea ice may disappear completely by the mid 2010s.

"Climate change is not just a scientific or technical issue but a cultural one.

"It is about how people and governments all over the world live with the reality of global warming and the issues it raises about fairness, poverty and changing lifestyles.

"Artists and writers have an important role to play and it is vital that they are fully engaged in the debates about these issues.

"I am delighted to be able to extend my support to the Cape Farewell expedition to Greenland."

The stars' ship will sail across the front of the Jakobshavn Glacier, which is one of the largest in Greenland.

It is now moving at an increasingly fast rate, losing 20 million tons of ice every day.

Scientists from the National Oceanography Centre and the British Geological Survey on board will concentrate on the west coast of Greenland, studying the continuing northern ice melt.

Oceanographer Dr Simon Boxall will measure the ocean tract across the Labrador Current and compare it with last year.

Dr Carol Cotterill is due to carry out extensive analysis below the seabed to gain further insight into past climates, changes in sea level and the speed at which these changes can occur.

The expedition will then continue west towards Canada, where oceanographers will measure an ocean tract across the Labrador Current before returning to Kangerlussuaq on October 6.

After their Greenland trip, KT and Luke are expected to backpack across South America, India and New Zealand.

The singer - whose current album Drastic Fantastic reached No.1 in the Scottish album charts - has been a tireless campaigner on green issues and has performed charity concerts for organisations such as the Forestry Commission.

She has also transformed her London flat into an eco-home.

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