Pen Hadow on melting ice

The legendary polar explorer on why we’ll all be kayaking to the pole by 2030

Pen Hadow is the explorer’s explorer. Celebrated for his polar missions, he’s also respected for the hard science he works on in unimaginably difficult conditions. His 2009 Catlin Arctic Survey returned data on the thinning ice that  contributed directly to the negotiations at the Copenhagen summit later that year. His belief that exploration can do more than open up the maps, that it has a role beyond ego and avarice, is inspirational to the new generation of expeditions and ‘adventure ecologists’ that grab so many headlines.

WideWorld caught up with Pen this summer to discuss his thoughts on the future of exploration.

How is exploration still relevant when we’ve already mapped the world?

Exploration and field work have never been more important or relevant. Traditionally, explorers have mapped – rivers, mountains, coastlines. Now the role of modern exploration is to find information about special habitats, ecosystems that are otherwise inaccessible. Explorers don’t need to be scientists, but they do need full-scale collaborative partnership with scientists and research groups who direct them where to go.  When they return they send data, and scientists can analyse the data in their own time. It’s a partnership.

Exploration in my view is a composite of two separate concepts – exploration and communication. If you’re not reporting the things you find out, you’re not an explorer, you’re a tourist. I’ve been an adventurer myself. It’s like being an extreme tourist. Good explorers are measured not in whether they get there and back alive, but whether they achieve something of solid value.

Is this a modern take on the traditional explorer?

Well, the first exploration was really just geographical – planting the flag, making a claim for resources. Now satellites can tell us a lot of that stuff. An explorer like Scott was multi-disciplinary. Although his South Pole trip was not an exploration in the true sense – more of an adventure - he was working on a scientific programme and made the journey as a beacon achievement to flag up his work.

What kind of programme should explorers be following?

Most of us accept that the natural world is showing signs of stress or strain – whether that’s our local streams or the ocean. If we are serious about managing our relationship with the natural world upon which we are entirely dependent, we must endeavour to understand it better.

It’s imperative that we understand the ecosystem dependent on sea ice. There is a focus of research on the Arctic Ocean – explorers have a major role to play. We need people. You can’t use helicopters – not gathering information at the same level of intensity. You can also use submarines, but some information can only be gathered by people on the ground.

What about your own findings on the sea ice?

Over the last four decades there has been an average 11.5% reduction per decade in the summer ice minimum extent in the Arctic Ocean. There’s variability, but a clear trend towards thinning, with no immediate signs this is likely to stop.

Since the late 1970s the ice has lost just under 40% of its summer time area (the minimum at end of summer), lost over 42% of thickness at the end of summer time, and 70% of volume. That means that the traditional March, April, May season for exploration is ending earlier as there is an increasing amount of open water. Open water means more fog and low cloud, which makes pick-up by aeroplane more difficult.  Probably there is more open water as you traverse across the sea ice.

And how is this change coming about?

The weather is changing the amount of sea ice. The sea is warming, and so is the air. It’s happening from above and below. Old ice is blown out into the Atlantic. Wind patterns have changed.  “The term “global warming” is misleading - all aspects of weather will be affected.

The Catlin Arctic Survey spent 3 years gathering data about sea ice, and is now looking at ocean acidification. Sea ice is very poorly understood.  We don’t know the role of ice cover with respect to sea acidification and we just don’t know what effect that’s going to have.

What’s the role of carbon in all this?

The melting ice is a direct result of more CO? in the atmosphere. CO? in the atmosphere gets absorbed into the ocean. The ocean is like a sponge for CO?. CO? dissolves into water and makes carbonic acid. This reduces the availability of carbonates for animal species who need it for their skeletal structure. Cold water can absorb CO? better than warm water can.

People say that the poles are more heavily affected than other regions. What's the outlook there?

Antarctica will retain its general state for perhaps hundreds of thousands of years. But the Arctic Ocean is going through a major state change. The ice cap will cease to be a year round surface feature of the planet as seen from space. It’s all going to be over in 20-30 years – there will only be ice there for three quarters of the year.

In practical terms, what does the melting ice mean for getting around in the Arctic?

Explorers have to take the “amphibious option”. Traditionally you would wait for the water to refreeze, by waiting overnight, for example. ‘Nilas’ forms – ice around 3-5cm thick that you can walk on. Or you can try to walk around it, but this takes time and distance. You can also wear a dry suit over clothes – an all in one suit including boots, mitts and hood – and swim or smash through the thin ice.

You also pioneered a method of floating your sledge – how does it work?

I introduced a floating tube – a hull. You slide the sledge over the top, blow up the flotation tube around the top of the sledge, then put the sledge, which is sort of a boat, inside a boat. It allows you to make crossings quickly. You can also lie on the sledge when fully loaded. Otherwise it would sit so low in the water you wouldn’t be able to do it.

At the moment we’ve gone from the traditional dog sledge to sledges that float. I think what will happen is rather than go straight to boats. The next thing in years ahead will be the crossover from sledge-boat to boat–sledge. People will start using a kayak or canoe that also works as a sledge.

How far can you really sustain a swim in these conditions, though?

2km is the longest I’ve swam, in 2003. I spent 850 hours trekking to North Pole and 30 of them were spent swimming. It’s a very slow way of travelling, but it has some advantages. You can go straight north!