Mankind has survived numerous warm and cool periods throughout our tenure. Even survived a full on ice age. But, a tiny increase in global temperatures will doom us all or something
(HuffPost) Evoking images of calving icebergs, and endless white icescapes, Antarctica has been described as a “silence deep with a breath like sleepâ€. Some say that its profound beauty haunts you for the rest of your days. And, one man who understands this better than most is Robert Swan OBE.
In 1986, he made the longest unassisted walk ever to the South Pole. Three years later he went onto the North Pole and by the age of 33, he became first person in history to walk to both the top and bottom of the world. And, after nearly losing his life on those treks, Swan vowed to never go back.
But, some three decades later, for the sake of our deteriorating climate, he is retracing his footsteps back to the South Pole together with his 23 year old son Barney. Passing on the baton of polar exploration from one generation to the next, the duo are the first father and son team to make the 600 mile trek, and the only people to do so using nothing but renewable energy.
Interestingly, I can’t find any articles on how they got to Antarctica, only ones about how they are not going to use fossil fuels while making the trek on Antarctica. It’s a long way from California (where he now lives) to Antarctica: did they take a sailing ship? I’ve gone through over 20 articles. None say how they’re traveled.
Anyhow
Let’s hope that the Swans inspire with their South Pole energy challenge, for in Robert’s own words: “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.†After all, with a steep temperature rise sitting on our collective horizon: “The last great exploration on Earth is to survive on Earth.â€
