Rescued explorer says he found a warmer Arctic
By David Ljunggren, Reuters | May 18, 2004
OTTAWA -- Temperatures in the Arctic have risen at an surprising rate over the past three years, and large patches of what should be ice are now open water, a British polar explorer said yesterday.
Ben Saunders, forced by the warm weather to abandon an attempt to ski solo from northern Russia across the North Pole to Canada, said he had been amazed at how much ice had melted.
''It's obvious to me that things are changing a lot and changing very quickly," a sunburned Saunders said less than two days after being rescued from the thinning ice sheet close to the North Pole.
''I do know it's happening, because that was my third time in the Arctic [in the last three years]," said Saunders, who explored the region in 2001 and 2003.
An international study last year said global warming would melt most of the Arctic ice cap in summer by the end of the century. Many scientists blame the rising temperatures on human emissions of greenhouse gases; others point to what they say are longer-term natural warming and cooling cycles.
''I had days when I could ski with no gloves and no hat at all," Saunders said.
Logs from an expedition in 2001 showed the average Arctic temperature at this time of year was plus 5 to minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Saunders said the average temperature this time was 23 to 19 degrees Fahrenheit.
''I saw open water every single day of the expedition, which is not what I was expecting," said Saunders, who had to drag his sled across open patches of water nine times during the 71 days he spent alone. He covered a total of 600 miles before giving up.
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