Q&A: Explorer prepares for Arctic expedition

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Do you believe climate change is being caused by human activity? How worried should we be?
I don't think there's a debate to be had. If you can find someone--some meaningful body of people--who are saying it is not humans who are generating it I'd be amazed. I think the argument has, to all intents and purposes, collapsed. I believe even President Bush's chief scientific adviser is 90 percent convinced that it's humans.

I'm not a scientist, but I've read more than most people about how climate and global warming has come about and, yes, I think that it is caused predominately by human activity.

I think 'worried' is probably not quite the right word. But it is happening. If we don't do something about it then it is fairly clear that in a generation--in my children's lifetime--life is going to get that much more stressful than it is now, because I believe there's going to be large movements of people across national borders in response to relatively quickly changing rainfall patterns and therefore water supply.

So I'm not standing here in a panic because it's not going to achieve anything. I'm just doing my bit.

What tech will the survey team be taking with them onto the ice?
This falls into several categories. At the epicenter of the survey is of course what is generally known as a ground-penetrating radar. But in this case it's an ice-penetrating radar, which are normally about 130 kilos (286 pounds) and have a 200-watt powerplant driving it and they're operated from aircraft.

We've reduced it down to 4 kilos (8.8 pounds) with a 16-watt powerplant. And it's the size of a briefcase--and it can be towed behind the sledge taking measurements about every 4 inches. We are covering the ground, and it is quietly getting on with its work. You don't have to stop for every sample. That was part of the thinking behind it--how could we cover the ground without having to be endlessly stopping to do the measurements.

That's the most important bit of technology from the survey's point of view. From the public engagement side, we've developed--with Vanco's help--a data transmission system via the Iridium satellite array that surpasses all previous capacities in terms of technology. So what we are doing is we're able to get relatively high volumes of data out down a fuse-wire thin data tube--2.6kbps. And what that means really is we can not only get the survey data out, we can also send Webcam footage back--which has never been done from the polar regions, Antarctica, or the Arctic ocean north of 80 degrees north--and we can also do live interviews with television, and we can do videoconferencing.

What excites you most about the survey?
This is real exploration and that's something I don't feel I've had an opportunity to do before. It's amazing that in the 21st century we still don't know how thick one of the biggest planet-defining surface features is. And that three regular folk with some sort of specialist technical experience are actually in the best position to do that is really exciting for us. We are the only people who can do it--or are prepared to do it. You couldn't pay a NASA scientist enough money to walk across the sea ice for three or four months and to swim at night in an immersion suit to some unknown point that may or may not offer thin ice or better ice or whatever.

People often say, "What's left to explore?" Well, we know the ice cap exists and we know roughly how big it is and how fast it's shrinking, but without knowing its thickness, we can't know how long it will last. So that's our contribution to the exploration scene.

How has technology changed the experience of traveling and working in the world's most isolated regions?
In part, we can travel much more safely. We can do more because we have these greater safety margins. The experience is different (from past explorers' experiences), but we are not here to have an extreme experience; we're doing this to get a survey done, it's a job of work. And therefore, within reason, we are much happier having a high level of communication.

The downsides are that you are in an extreme situation. People at home can never fully appreciate the extreme stresses that have to be dealt with on a minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour basis. And your mind being split between where you really are and the people back home actually produces all sorts of tension--additional tensions--when you're trying to focus on what you're doing. So it's not just nice to be able to talk to your mum all the time.

The idea that because we've got access to satellites and can send all these things back that life's a laugh all of a sudden just isn't the case. It's very, very time pressured every single day. So it's constantly trying to have to prioritize as to what's the most important or useful use of time.

The breakthrough for us (on the Vanco expedition) is going to be that we have three-way (communications) between the team as we're going along. We've got throat microphones linked to ear pieces and we can talk when we need to, which will make life different. That's a different experience for polar surface travelers because normally you are in your own world while you're pulling your sledge. You're left to your own thoughts until the next tea break in 75 minutes' time.