20170724_WS

Source: BBC World Service

URL: N/A

Date: 24/07/2017

Event: Pen Hadow: "... or are we just here for a laugh?"

Credit: BBC World Service

People:

• Pen Hadow: Explorer
• Nomia Iqbal: BBC reporter

Pen Hadow: I have spent the last 30 years travelling on the surface of the Arctic Ocean on foot, because of course it's covered for the most part by sea ice, which is simply frozen - the frozen surface of the seawater, because it's so cold in the autumns, winters and springs. But in the summertimes, the ice has been melting away and shrinking to a central core, if you like, more and more, so there is less and less sea ice on the surface, by the end of the summers. And now 40% of the international waters around the North Pole - what we call the Central Arctic Ocean - are open water in the summertimes and are therefore open to commercial fishing and also to commercial shipping. And I want to show people just how far the ice has now gone back, if you like.

Nomia Iqbal: So do you think that you'll actually achieve this goal, then? Are you -

Pen Hadow: I think it's quite possible, with the assistance of some - a US agency that have satellites that are going to be helping us, each day, pick the best route through these ever-narrowing cracks. And it's quite possible we will reach the North Geographic Pole.

Nomia Iqbal: And if you do, what happens then? Because, you want to use that as an example to raise awareness across the world.

Pen Hadow: Yes, ultimately - although it's a bittersweet achievement or goal, if you will - if we can produce a visual image of a sailboat at 90 degrees north, I think that could become an iconic image of the challenge that the 21st century faces. Are we serious about running this planet - which is actually what we need to start doing - and its biophysical resources, on a sustainable basis, or are we just here for a laugh?