Date: 13-Feb-09
Country: CANADA
Author: David Ljunggren
OTTAWA - Three British polar adventurers will this month begin a 620-mile trek to the North Pole with an experimental portable radar set to gauge exactly how fast Arctic ice sheets are melting, they said on Thursday.
The 9-pound (4-kilogram) radar has been designed to give much more accurate read-outs of ice thickness than the current method of using submarines or satellites.
Arctic ice cover in 2008 dropped to its second lowest extent during the melt season since satellite measuring began in 1979. Scientists say the thinning ice sheets could trigger more extreme weather around the world.
The U.N. weather agency says ice volume around the Arctic region hit the lowest level ever recorded in 2008.
"There are some very serious consequences (from) the loss of this sea ice," expedition leader Pen Hadow told a news conference, citing estimates that say the entire Arctic summertime ice cover could vanish in four years.
The radar set will compile a detailed profile of the ice every 10 cm. Around 10 times a day the team will also use a large drill to physically measure the ice thickness and ensure the radar readings are accurate.
"Events have simply overtaken some of the more classic ways of measuring the (ice)," Hadow said. The radar has been designed to accurately compile a picture of sea ice, which has a more complex make-up than regular fresh water ice.
There are two spare radar sets that can be airlifted to the explorers if necessary.
The team will also have a small water sensor that can be lowered under the sea ice to a depth of 825 feet to measure temperature and salinity.
Neil Hamilton, director of the World Wildlife Fund International's Arctic program, said he hoped some of the data would be ready by the time nations meet in Denmark at the end of the year to work on a new climate change protocol.
The aim, he said, was to "show the world that really what's happening in the Arctic is having a major impact on the world's climate and we hope that will encourage the world to sign up to a strong binding climate regime for the future".
The British trio -- each dragging 220-pound sleds -- will be dropped off at on the ice some 1,000 km due south of the North Pole at the end of this month and plan to reach their destination by the end of May.
Hadow said the quality of the ice is so poor that the team would be wearing special immersion suits allowing them to swim between floes. Temperatures during the trip are likely to dip to minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit).
The main sponsor for the three million pound ($4.3 million) expedition is British insurer Catlin
($1=0.70 pounds)
(Editing by Peter Galloway)
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