GPN Iceland – Selling the Northern Lights

For some years Reykjavik Excursions has offered guided tours for tourists who want to have a glimpse of the Northern Lights, also called the Aurora Borealis. The mysterious Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon which occurs when highly charged electrons from the sun interact with elements in the earth’s atmosphere, especially near the magnetic poles.  The Northern Lights are seen as lambent lights on a dark winter’s sky, changing colors from brilliant green to a reddish-violet flame. The lights dance vertically around the dark sky, leaving viewers stunned and even mesmerized, having experienced something spectacular and wonder shroud. Scientists discovered early that when the electrons crash into the magnetized poles, they produce millions of megawatts of electrical power.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, a well known and respected Icelandic poet was a strong advocate of inward foreign investment to utilize Iceland´s natural resources. He founded a company with the purpose of harnessing the power of glacial rivers to produce electricity. He was mocked for trying to “sell the Northern Lights” to simple minded foreigners. Nowadays well informed tourists flock to see the Northern Lights, fascinated by their beauty and brilliance. They are visible whenever the sky is clear and unclouded in the months of September to March each year. For further information visit www.re.is