More than 200 people plan to strip to their skivvies and scamper into the sub-freezing waters of the Chesapeake Bay ? all in the name of tackling global warming.
“To jump into freezing water should be a message to elected officials that this movement is real. It has passionate supporters,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the nonprofit organizing the event.
For the third annual Polar Bear Plunge, these activists will “momentarily inconvenience” themselves, as Tidwell put it, for the cause.
With the slogan “Keep Winter Cold,” they want to protect the same bitter cold they plan to endure today.
“There is a nexus between this event and the whole idea of global warming,” said Beth McGee, senior scientist at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, who is participating in the plunge.
In true plunge spirit, wet suits are discouraged, said Tidwell, a self-proclaimed “cold weather weenie” who insists the bone-chilling cold isn?t as bad as many expect.
“You are with a big crowd of like-minded people, and people are whooping and hollering, and a sense of excitement and visionary hope imbues the atmosphere,” he said.
Since its launch in 2005, the plunge has grown from 20 people to an expected more than 200 plungers.
“We believe that represents a ten-fold increase in concern by average Marylanders about this growing crisis of global warming,” Tidwell said.
The Annapolis event, which is also a fundraiser for the organization with a goal of $100,000, is one of more than 40 plunges nationwide and coincides with International Day of Climate Action.
The plunge caps a week of environmental activity in Maryland, which started with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation?s report declaring the health of the Bay has declined since last year.
The Chesapeake Bay Executive Council met this week and vowed to step up efforts to cleaning up the Bay.
As a coastal state, Maryland is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels, and in recent years, rising water temperature has damaged the blue crab population, said McGee.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Chesapeake Climate Action Network?s Polar Bear Plunge
WHEN: 11 a.m. today
WHERE: Chesapeake Bay Foundation headquarters, 6 Herndon Road, Annapolis
