The Frozen North -- Frozen Again

'Tis the winter after the summer the ice melted in the polar regions, and:

A Plymouth-born explorer has been forced to abandon his bid to become the fastest man to walk solo and unsupported to the North Pole. Ben Saunders, 30, is to be rescued after his equipment failed in ‘appalling’ ice conditions. ...

“The ice conditions I have encountered have been the worst I have ever seen, and worse than I could have imagined.” Mr Saunders, now based in London, dragged his 65kg sledge over ridges of ice and snow the same height as a two-storey building. (source)

The story comes to us from the site ICECAP (International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project) which I became aware of thanks to Soccer Dad. Here's their spiel:

[ICECAP] provides access to a new and growing global society of respected scientists and journalists that are not deniers that our climate is dynamic (the only constant in nature is change) and that man plays a role in climate change through urbanization, land use changes and the introduction of greenhouse gases and aerosols, but who also believe that natural cycles such as those in the sun and oceans are also important contributors to the global changes in our climate and weather. We worry the sole focus on greenhouse gases and the unwise reliance on imperfect climate models while ignoring real data may leave civilization unprepared for a sudden climate shift that history tells us will occur again, very possibly soon.

Couldn't agree more -- which is why I've bookmarked it.