Explorers will measure Arctic ice thickness to determine when it will disappear

(Photo of expedition at North Pole from Flickr and photographer kanati/Adam Grimes)

News Update: A team of 3 British explorers will take a 4-month trip to the North Pole on foot, skis and even swimming, in an effort to determine when Arctic summer ice will disappear. The UN-backed group expects to take 10 million readings to gauge ice thickness, something satellites have been unable to determine. Estimates for summer ice to disappear now range from 5-100 years, so a little more specificity is in order. Summer ice in the Arctic has been receding at a rate of 116,000 square miles per decade (about the size of the British Isles), but no one knows how much it has thinned. The 3 expect to work 12 hours/day in temperatures as low at 58 degrees (F) below zero. Leading the group is British explorer Pen Hadow, who made a pioneering solo walk from Canada to the North Pole in 2003. (Source: PlanetArk)