GWA
member to discover Four Poles
31st May 2006
GWA comment
An
accomplished British polar explorer Jim McNeill is leading a series
of expeditions to collect valuable information on the critical
situation of global warming. As part of his Four Poles Expedition,
the polar explorer dubbed the Ice Warrior, an honorary member
of the GWA, is working in partnership with NSIDC/NASA, gathering
crucial snow and ice depth measurements to validate the data from
the orbiting NASA Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite or
ICESat.
For
the fourth consecutive year, NSIDC and NASA satellite data tracked
a stunning reduction in Arctic sea ice at the end of the northern
summer. The persistence of near-record low extents leads the group
to conclude that Arctic sea ice is likely on an accelerating,
long-term decline.
Dr.
Ted Scambos, the scientist leading this collaboration for NSIDC/NASA
explained, ‘Measuring sea ice thickness over the entire
Arctic, using satellites, has long been a 'holy grail' for polar
research. The annual growth and decay of this system—the
sea, ice and underlying ocean—represents a huge cycle of
heat, fresh water, and salt in Earth's climate, yet we've never
had a good way to measure its total volume. The measurements that
the Ice Warrior team will take, plus simultaneous observations
from space using the NASA satellite, ICESat, promise to give us
the best possible chance of resolving this system to a new degree
of accuracy. Furthermore, we will be able to use the team's on-the-ground
ice and snow measurements to compare against past measurements
by sub-marine and buoy-sonar. This comparison will help us evaluate
how quickly Earth's northern ice cap is thinning.’
One
of Jim’s targets is the Arctic Pole ‘the Northern
Pole of Inaccessibility’ This is defined as the furthest
point from land or the very centre of the Arctic Ocean and lies
685 miles from the nearest coastline. This challenge has been
dubbed ‘one of the greatest Arctic adventures of our time’.
However his second attempt in March failed when the intrepid explorer
fell through very broken sea-ice about 130 miles north of the
Canadian coastline.
For
more information or to lend your support to the Ice-Warrior
expeditions
What
are the Four North Poles?
