Cartmel school's climate change letters wash up in Brazil

The letters - in which the children describe the local environment and their concerns for the planet’s future - were part of a project called Atlantic Rising, which educates young people about ocean currents and the importance of maintaining the world’s climates.

The capsule, which was designed to float like a buoy, was launched mid-way across the Atlantic from a container ship and landed in Fortaleza, a large city in north eastern Brazil last week.

But rather than washing up on a beach, the Atlantic Rising team’s GPS tracking device picked up that its final resting point was confusingly by the pool of a four star hotel.

After ringing the hotel’s concierge it emerged that some curious fisherman had plucked it out of the water and left it next to the pool while they sorted out their catch.

The hotel confirmed that the contents were still dry and agreed to store the buoy until the team can travel to pick it up next month.

Fifteen other schools along the east Atlantic’s coastline also wrote letters for the capsule, including schools in Scotland. Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Pupils can now expect to receive letters back from students in Brazil.

Tim Bromfield from Atlantic Rising said: “Once we arrive in Fortaleza we will work with local schools to respond to the students’ letters and hopefully pick up the buoy so that we can launch it again when we are crossing back from America.”

The Atlantic Rising team will also interview climate change experts, and continue their project to connect, educate and give vulnerable communities a voice on sea level rise due to climate change.

Geography teacher at Cartmel Priory Jenny Weir said: “We are keen to link with other schools around the Atlantic to find out their different experiences next to the Atlantic Ocean.”

Visit www.atlanticrising.org to read more about Atlantic Rising’s work.