Essay on the greatest threat to our planet
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One man who understands this better than most is polar explorer turned environmentalist 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 North and South Pole.
What started out as an adventure to "go boldly where no man has gone before .. and a personal test to make history" has evolved into a lifelong commitment for a continent whose future now hangs in the balance.
During this treacherous walk across the Antarctic, Swan's once ice blue eyes changed color to become light grey. He later discovered that this was owing to the hole in the ozone layer that lies above the continent.
Throughout the 70-day walk that claimed nearly all of their lives, he made a promise to the frozen world that surrounded him. A promise that if she protected them and let them live, then he would repay her somehow. Begging for his life at the time, the promise was a mere offering to the polar gods to grant him and his team a safe passage home. Only later did he realize that the weight of that promise would sit on his shoulders for the rest of his life.
Today that oath is embodied in the name of the company that he has founded -- 2041. In that year, 29 years from now, the international peace treaty that protects Antarctica from all mining and drilling rights will come up for review. Signed by 46 countries in 1959, the Madrid protocol rules that Antarctica is too large and too important to belong to just one country. It dedicates the region to peace, international cooperation and scientific research.
What started out as an adventure to "go boldly where no man has gone before .. and a personal test to make history" has evolved into a lifelong commitment for a continent whose future now hangs in the balance.
During this treacherous walk across the Antarctic, Swan's once ice blue eyes changed color to become light grey. He later discovered that this was owing to the hole in the ozone layer that lies above the continent.
Throughout the 70-day walk that claimed nearly all of their lives, he made a promise to the frozen world that surrounded him. A promise that if she protected them and let them live, then he would repay her somehow. Begging for his life at the time, the promise was a mere offering to the polar gods to grant him and his team a safe passage home. Only later did he realize that the weight of that promise would sit on his shoulders for the rest of his life.
Today that oath is embodied in the name of the company that he has founded -- 2041. In that year, 29 years from now, the international peace treaty that protects Antarctica from all mining and drilling rights will come up for review. Signed by 46 countries in 1959, the Madrid protocol rules that Antarctica is too large and too important to belong to just one country. It dedicates the region to peace, international cooperation and scientific research.
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