Green Guardian is to help sponsor a pioneering scientific expedition which, for the first time, will measure the thickness of the ice around the North Pole.

The Catlin Arctic Survey, led by veteran polar explorer Pen Hadow, departs for the Arctic next month at the start of a gruelling three-month, 750-mile trek to the Pole, dragging a high-tech sled carrying ice-penetrating radar.

The sea ice is melting rapidly, threatening not just polar bears but the whole the Arctic eco system and the ocean beneath which, until now, has largely been shielded from solar radiation by the reflective surface of the ice. No-one currently knows the thickness of the remaining ice. Data from this expedition will help shape decisions at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties in Copenhagen in November.

Pen said: "This year will be crucial for the Arctic Ocean but I fear global warming is devastating the place I love so much.

"The information we will be providing to scientists will help them to understand exactly what is going on in this precariously-balanced environment."

The decision to sponsor the expedition was made after Pen was the inspirational keynote speaker at the South West London Green Guardian Awards final dinner at Epsom Downs Racecourse in November.

His warning that within as little as five years the ice could melt completely in the summer sounded a stark warning about the need for accurate data.

Howard Scott, managing director, of Newsquest South London, which runs the Green Guardian project and publishes this website, said: "After hearing Pen Hadow talk about the aims and importance of the Catlin Arctic Survey, we felt compelled to support his team's efforts in this hugely significant and groundbreaking undertaking. Through the work of the Green Guardian campaign over the last three years we have come to know that doing something positive and taking a lead is critical in encouraging others to take action. We know that our Green Guardian partners will be proud to be associated with the Catlin Arctic Survey."

Many of the borough Green Guardian winners at the event said they wanted to keep up to date with news of the expedition and, as part of our sponsorship of the expedition, we will bring you the latest news, video footage and pictures from the team on our websites and in our newspapers.

Pen and the other two team members, Ann Daniels and Martin Hartley, are currently in Broughton Island, Canada, until January 21 for final preparation and equipment checks ahead of the expedition.

When they set off over the sea ice in late February, they will take millions of radar readings using the sled. The technology has been developed with some of the world's leading experts including the US Naval postgraduate school, NASA and the University of Cambridge.

Until now, sea ice studies from satellites and submarines have not been able to give an accurate picture of the thickness of the ice and, crucially, have not been able to differentiate between ice and the snow on top of it.

Pen said: "Our physical efforts hauling the equipment over the surface will amass data in unprecedented detail.

"Experienced explorers are the only people who have the expertise to undertake a survey of this magnitude and help science in this way."