Polar explorer Eric Larsen announced today that he has reached the South Pole, the first completion in his three-part “Save the Poles” expedition. Upon completion, he will be the first-ever to make it to the North Pole, South Pole and summit of Mt. Everest in a continuous 365-day period. His purpose? To travel to the “front lines” of global warming to document the changes occurring in these last great frozen places. Larsen will also use the expedition as a platform to advocate strategies for reducing carbon emissions and collect relevant scientific data.

“This expedition will tell the story of these remote places so we can better understand how our actions affect the poles and ultimately the planet,” Larsen says. “We all need to be reminded that we must act now to stop global warming.”

Larsen will be leaving March 1, 2010 to start his second leg of the expedition heading to the North Pole. To help tell the story, Larsen is partnering with the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center and the Protect Our Winters Foundation to produce 12 hours of climate change curriculum to provide teachers with the tools needed to prepare the next generation of students for what will be the defining issues of their time. Larsen will also team up with the Center for Biological Diversity to petition the Senate and President on the need for stronger climate legislation.

A member of The Explorer’s Club, Larsen isn’t new to the world of polar exploration. Larsen completed the first-ever summer expedition to the North Pole in 2006 where he pulled and paddled modified canoes over 600 miles of shifting sea ice and open ocean. In January 2009, Larsen successfully led an international team to the geographic South Pole becoming one of only a few Americans to ski to both poles.

The Save the Poles Expedition’s objectives are:

·  Complete the first-ever expedition to the summit of Mount Everest, the North and South Poles in a continuous 365-day period

·  Create awareness of global warming, advocate strategies for reducing carbon emissions and collect relevant scientific data

·  Produce a documentary film, book and educational curriculum that focuses on the science of climate change, teamwork and the spirit of adventure

·  Develop a post expedition multi-media lecture series for education in schools and organizations

Mount Everest and the North and South Poles represent the harshest and most extreme environments on the planet. Yet as inhospitable as these places are to humans, they are also the areas most affected by people. Scientists estimate by summer 2030, the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free. Recently, the 1,250 square mile Larsen B Ice Shelf collapsed off of Antarctica and disintegrated into the Southern Ocean. A report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecasts that if current trends continue, 80 percent of Himalayan glaciers will be gone in 30 years. While we are seeing the most dramatic changes in the polar and higher altitude regions, global warming is an issue that affects us all.