And you thought your kid’s plan to earn enough money babysitting to buy a car by the time they turn sixteen was ambitious. Meet Parker Liautaud, a sixteen year old who is preparing for an expedition to the North Pole. And it’s not even his first try.
Liautaud is taking a second stab at becoming the youngest person to travel to the Pole on foot this year after bad weather conditions last year put a stop to his first attempt. The teen and his guide, polar expert Doug Stoup, plan to make their “Last Degree” journy from 89 degrees North to the top of the world on skis, the same trip the attempted last year but had to give up due to extremely bad weather, negative drift of the ice and large areas of open water. They came fifteen miles short and had to be airlifted to the Pole to via helicopter to catch their plane ride home. This year, they hope to finish what they started.
Its some of the same conditions that stopped his journey last year that are motivating Liautaud to take this trip. He hopes his record breaking attempt will bring awareness to the growing impact of global climate change on the environment. It’s affects are particularly obvious near the poles, where ice is thiner and open water is beginning to spread, endangering the habitats of animals like polar bears that live on the ice sheets and potentially doing damage to ocean habitats all over the world as new currents begin to flow and ice melts.
On their trip, Liautaud and Stoup will be taking measurements of the snow on the arctic ice. Their data will go back to the University of Alberta when they return and hopefully help scientists understand the impact of climate change on the region.
When he starts his journey in two weeks you’ll be able to follow Parker via his website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed.
