12:00pm Monday 18th May 2009
The Catlin Arctic Survey team's snow boots were a distant memory as they took their first steps on home soil today.
Pen Hadow, Ann Daniels and Martin Hartley were collected from the ice at 6pm on Wednesday, May 13, and initially transported to Resolute Bay, an Inuit hamlet in Canada.
The three explorers were due to end the expedition at the end of May but Kenn Borek Air pilots were concerned breaking ice would make landing dangerous if they left it much longer to retrieve them.
They caught their flight to Heathrow after spending the weekend in Ottawa and were all looking forward to being reunited with friends and family.
The purpose of the 73-day expedition was to measure the thickness of floating sea ice to help scientists study the impacts of global warming in the region.
The team endured temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees celsius which often felt like minus 90 degrees with the wind chill.
"It's truly brutal at times on the Arctic Ocean and a constant reminder that mother nature always has the final say." said expedition leader Mr Hadow.
Predictably, the extreme conditions resulted in equally extreme emotions.
At one point photographer Mr Hartley wrote: "I'm getting extremely frustrated with the stupidly cold temperatures that are making my life a misery, day after day."
Speaking live from the ice he also said: "It was very hard at the start.
"The cold was too much on some occasions but we persevered as best we could. Those were the dark bits."
But with the lows came the highs, including the team's first sighting of polar bear prints and the cheeky messages they left each other in the snow.
Their valuable data, which shows a thinner than expected average ice thickness of 1.774m, is now in the hands of scientists.
It is hoped the results will be back by December, when world leaders are due to meet and discuss a new treaty to cut global warming emissions.
"Our science advisors had told us to expect thicker, older ice on at least part of the route so it is something of a mystery where that older ice has gone. It'll be interesting to see what scientists think about this," said Mr Hadow.
Peter Wadhams, head of the polar ocean physics group at the University of Cambridge said the ice is now so thin, almost of all of it will disappear in about a decade.
According to his predictions, ice will only form during the winter, a forecast that the survey team's data reinforces.
Mr Hartley said: "Once they have a figure for how long the Arctic sea ice will be there for, they will have to act."
If you have something you want the team to answer, email lwaters@london.newsquest.co.uk before May 25.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/trade_directory/