Antarctica lost an average of 219 billion tons of ice annually from 2012 through 2017 – A huge increase from the 49 billion tons of ice it lost annually from 1992 through 1997.

So, in December and Janurary, we’re asking cyclists to hit the road, to ride 219km – 1km for every billion tons of that annual melt.


THE DISTANCE 2020


We’re racing to stop climate change and you can help

By ditching the car and getting on your bike, you can reduce your emissions, while raising awareness and funds for WWF Australia.

These funds will help to continue important work with government, business, entrepreneurs and investors, to help tackle key challenges of climate change.


GET STARTED

6th Feb 2020,
Antarctica's hottest day ever



How to participate

During the months of December and January, from World Antarctica Day into the new year, we’re asking people to ride 219km – 1km for every billion tons of ice that currently melts annually in Antarctica.

1/ Head over to WWF Australia’s GoFundraise page and ensure you’ve selected the Ride the Melt event.

2/ You’ll be asked to register as an individual or team.

3/ Follow the instructions to set up your profile, then get started!


GET STARTED

Ride it your way



You don’t have to ride the melt in one go. 219km is a long way – in fact it’s further than most Tour de France stages. More advanced riders will likely relish that challenge. But if you want to split the distance up into smaller chunks, feel free. Ride it over your holidays, your commute, or even as a team. Just remember to share your experience as you go.


About Ride the Melt



Ride the Melt was created by a couple of Aussie dads that wanted to better understand the numbers we read about climate change. Why? Because billions of tons of ice can be hard to wrap your head around.

Our hope is that by translating the numbers we read into something you can experience each day on the road, it might become a little easier to understand the size of the change.

We’d like to say a special thanks to WWF Australia and BikeExchange for their support in making this real.

References*



We’re not scientists, so we referenced these publications, written by people who are:

1. IMBIE is an international collaboration of polar scientists, providing improved estimates of the ice sheet contribution to sea level rise: http://imbie.org/
2. SROCC (Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate): https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/
3. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society called State of the Climate
https://www.ametsoc.org/
4. . Hottest day ever: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/