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The Willis Resilience Expedition is a scientific and exploratory program taking place in Antarctica from November 2013 to January 2014, with goals of gaining a better understanding of the Earth's changing climate and weather-related risk. Announced in August 2013, the Expedition will be led by Parker Liautaud, a teenage polar adventurer and environmental campaigner, and fellow explorer Douglas Stoup. The expedition is being underwritten by Willis Group, a global risk advisor, insurance and reinsurance broker. The expedition is significant for a number of reasons: # Science. Liautaud and Stoup plan to conduct an isotope transect of Antarctica by collecting snow samples on which stable isotope analysis will be conducted in the hope of providing a valuable contribution to human understanding of Antarctic climate and potential for climate change. # World Record Attempt. Parker Liautaud will attempt to ski 640 km unsupported from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole in 22 days, in the hope of setting a “coast to Pole” speed record. At 19 years old, he also hopes to become the youngest person to ski to both the North and the South Poles. # Live Communications. The Expedition will be accompanied by a custom-built 6x6 communications truck outfitted with equipment that will provide 24x7 connectivity to the rest of the world, enabling Liautaud and Stoup to document the journey in real time. ==The Science: Antarctica as a Source of Environmental Information== While one of the harshest environments on the planet, Antarctica offers scientists important clues about environmental change. Its ice sheet contains a record of past climates, chronicling changes in temperatures and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere stretching back hundreds of thousands of years. According to the British Antarctic Survey, the Antarctic Peninsula is also one of the fastest warming parts of the planet. Melting of Antarctica's ice sheets could cause sea levels to rise much more than already predicted.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Ice Sheets Programme Summary )〕 According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), sea levels are expected to rise by over the next hundred years. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Willis Resilience Expedition」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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