Armed with 192 national flags and a kayak, South African environmentalist Lewis Gordon Pugh ventured into the depths of the icy North Pole to bring the world's attention to the devastating effects climate change is having on our world.
The completion of the two week expedition marks another 'world first' for Pugh, since no one else has previously travelled the 1 200km from the Island of Spitsbergen (in northern Europe) across the Arctic Ocean, into the Arctic ice pack, and as close to the North Pole as possible, in a kayak.
Pugh ended his journey just 1 000km from the northernmost point of the world.
Last year Pugh amazed the world by completing the first long distance swim in the North Pole to draw attention to climate change. The 1km swim, in water measuring minus 1.7°C, took nearly 19 minutes.
The Kayak expedition, known as the Polar Defence Project, was founded by Pugh to create awareness around the fact that climate change affects the whole world and not just particular communities. The planting of the flags was done to heighten the impact of this message and drive it home to the world's leaders.
"Polar bears depend on the sea ice. However, this story is not just about the destruction of another local habitat, and its affect on wildlife.
"Though the Arctic is thousands of miles away from most people, the loss of its sea ice will have profound consequences for everyone. I hope I have conveyed that by planting the flags of 192 nations of the world up here."
Pugh's expedition comes in a year when the Arctic sea ice is at its thinnest and has the least volume on record.
"Last year at this latitude I saw three-meter thick ice. Now I can only see one-meter thick ice. In 2007 I predicted the Arctic would be largely free of summer sea ice within ten years. Everything I have seen on my expedition this year confirms that prediction."
"I am deeply concerned that policy makers are using the wrong information to inform their policy decisions," says Pugh. "Unless world leaders appreciate the speed of change, any measures that they take will be wholly inadequate. We need an overarching, rigorous and enforceable law for protecting the Arctic."
For his expedition, Pugh was accompanied by a support team that included the team's resident blogger Sam Branson, son of Sir Richard Branson.
Writing his final blog Sam says, "Global warming is a reality. How much we allow it to change the planet is up to us. I hope that we have opened up a window for you to peer into this seemingly distant and unworldly place and given you a better view of what is going on….and helped you [to realise] that what you do to help, no matter how small, will make a difference."
In his final online journal entry Pugh said that the end of the expedition marked the beginning of the real work that awaits.
"Although the expedition is over, in many ways the real work is still to come - my job now is to act as an ambassador for the Arctic, to convey to policy makers the changes that are taking place here."
As a first step towards gaining the support of global leaders Pugh will soon embark on a simpler journey to Washington DC. Here he will detail his research findings to the US House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
