Our good friend and colleague Lewis Gordon Pugh, an explorer and environmentalist, has launched yet another awe inspiring expedition to the North Pole. You may recall that Lewis was the first human to swim the North Pole, completing a 1km (0.62 mile) swim, in minus 1.7°C water. As he continues to raise awareness about the environmental and political threats in North Pole, his newest expedition, kayaking from Spitsbergen, Norway to as far North as possible, will certainly be just as impressive.

The purpose of Lewis’s journey is to document the loss of sea ice due to global warming and to remind the world of the crucial role that Arctic regions play in our ecosystem. As the ice depletes, new shipping routes are being created, further opening up this fragile region for oil exploration. Political tensions are also escalating, as many nations are staking claim to the newly exposed territory. To keep up with Lewis’s expedition, please check out the Polar Defense Project.

Lewis also spoke at our last Green Design Event here in Boston. Check out the video of his presentation here.