9781422279205

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ANTARCTICA AND THE ARCTIC: FACTS, FIGURES, AND STORIES

I ntroduction

B undled in his down jacket,plastic boots onhis feet, skis at the ready, explorer and adventurer Johan Ernst Nilsonwas struggling with his equip- ment at theNorth Pole when he had a sickening feeling:He could sense the icewas crackingbeneathhim.Seconds later, Johanwas no longer standing on anything solid. He was in the frigid

waters of the Arctic. He was tired, he was wet,hewas freezing…and he still had 12 months of this journey to go! Johan was just starting out on his yearlong trekfromtheNorthPole to the SouthPole—fromtheArctic to theAnt- arctic. Those polar regions long have captured the imagination of real-life explorers and armchair adventurers

alike. From the ancient Greeks in search of new lands in which to trade… to 19th-century explorers racing to become the first to reach the North and South Poles…to modern scientists and research- ers studying the effects of climate change on our planet, the Arctic and the Antarctichavedrawnmen and women in search of adventure andknowledge. But no one had ever gone all the way fromone pole to the other until Jo- han did it on a trip that began inApril of 2011 and ended in March of 2012. Johan began by skiing 47 days from the North

When ice cracks underfoot of visitors to the Arctic regions, they might find themselves in freezing water.