hookset
07-22-2008, 07:05 PM
Explorer to kayak to North PoleAFPPublished:Jul 16, 2008LONDON - A British explorer unveiled plans yesterday to kayak all the way to the North Pole to expose just how quickly the ice cap is melting.
But renowned extreme swimmer Lewis Gordon Pugh, dubbed the human polar bear, is hoping his bid will fail — and not because of the lethal conditions or a walrus attack.
The climate change campaigner said the mission ought to be impossible — but some scientists predict that due to global warming, this year might be the first when someone could do so.
Pugh is due to paddle out from Norway’s Svalbard islands on August 29, heading 1,200 kilometres north across the Arctic Ocean to the North Pole, kayaking up cracks in the ice.
The journey should take a minimum of two weeks.
“I’m going to try and get all the way to the North Pole to show the world what is happening,” the 38-year-old told AFP after launching his Polar Defense Project expedition on the River Thames in London.
“It shouldn’t be possible. But this might be the year that it could be. I hope I can’t go all the way.
“Failure would equal success in this expedition,” he said.
Pugh said he had spent the last six years in the Arctic, during which time he had “seen it change dramatically.
“What upsets me is that we could see this coming. Our leaders have known about this for a long time and they have dithered and failed to take action.
“We now must insist they take action because when the Arctic melts it will affect each and every one of us.”
Environmental campaigners warn a melting polar ice cap could cause rising sea levels that would threaten some low-lying island nations and endanger low-lying coastal areas.
Should he reach the North Pole, Pugh will raise 192 national flags to highlight how melting ice caps affects all countries.
He will be backed up by a support boat but the risks are nonetheless high.
“I’m on my own in a single kayak. If I fall in the water — and I will on many occasions — it’s serious,” he said.
“It’s the wind chill which hammers you. That cocktail of the air temperature, the wind and the waves is lethal.”
Going in without full protection “would be suicide”, he said.
Cape Town and Cambridge-educated Pugh has given up the life of a maritime lawyer to campaign for protection of the marine environment.
He became the first person to swim the length of Britain’s River Thames, the waters between the Maldive Islands and at the North Pole to highlight climate change.
He was also the first person to complete long distance swims in every ocean.
Although polar bears would want to eat him, said Pugh, he can outpace them in his kayak. However, he will go out of his way not to mix it with walruses.
“They can be very dangerous. They wouldn’t respond much to a good knock with a paddle. They’ll hurt you,” he said.
Pugh wants legislation such as the Antarctic Treaty, which froze territorial claims and prevented the exploitation of resources, to be duplicated in a similar treaty for the Arctic.
“I love the Arctic so much. I worry about it. It is the last beautiful, pristine place on Earth.
“We need to protect it, not because of polar bears but because our very survival depends on it. Not for our grandchildren; it’s happening so quickly we need to protect it to save ourselves.”
But renowned extreme swimmer Lewis Gordon Pugh, dubbed the human polar bear, is hoping his bid will fail — and not because of the lethal conditions or a walrus attack.
The climate change campaigner said the mission ought to be impossible — but some scientists predict that due to global warming, this year might be the first when someone could do so.
Pugh is due to paddle out from Norway’s Svalbard islands on August 29, heading 1,200 kilometres north across the Arctic Ocean to the North Pole, kayaking up cracks in the ice.
The journey should take a minimum of two weeks.
“I’m going to try and get all the way to the North Pole to show the world what is happening,” the 38-year-old told AFP after launching his Polar Defense Project expedition on the River Thames in London.
“It shouldn’t be possible. But this might be the year that it could be. I hope I can’t go all the way.
“Failure would equal success in this expedition,” he said.
Pugh said he had spent the last six years in the Arctic, during which time he had “seen it change dramatically.
“What upsets me is that we could see this coming. Our leaders have known about this for a long time and they have dithered and failed to take action.
“We now must insist they take action because when the Arctic melts it will affect each and every one of us.”
Environmental campaigners warn a melting polar ice cap could cause rising sea levels that would threaten some low-lying island nations and endanger low-lying coastal areas.
Should he reach the North Pole, Pugh will raise 192 national flags to highlight how melting ice caps affects all countries.
He will be backed up by a support boat but the risks are nonetheless high.
“I’m on my own in a single kayak. If I fall in the water — and I will on many occasions — it’s serious,” he said.
“It’s the wind chill which hammers you. That cocktail of the air temperature, the wind and the waves is lethal.”
Going in without full protection “would be suicide”, he said.
Cape Town and Cambridge-educated Pugh has given up the life of a maritime lawyer to campaign for protection of the marine environment.
He became the first person to swim the length of Britain’s River Thames, the waters between the Maldive Islands and at the North Pole to highlight climate change.
He was also the first person to complete long distance swims in every ocean.
Although polar bears would want to eat him, said Pugh, he can outpace them in his kayak. However, he will go out of his way not to mix it with walruses.
“They can be very dangerous. They wouldn’t respond much to a good knock with a paddle. They’ll hurt you,” he said.
Pugh wants legislation such as the Antarctic Treaty, which froze territorial claims and prevented the exploitation of resources, to be duplicated in a similar treaty for the Arctic.
“I love the Arctic so much. I worry about it. It is the last beautiful, pristine place on Earth.
“We need to protect it, not because of polar bears but because our very survival depends on it. Not for our grandchildren; it’s happening so quickly we need to protect it to save ourselves.”