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Catlin Arctic Survey Team Selected as 'Heroes of the Environment' by TIME Magazine

28 September 2009

HAMILTON, Bermuda – The three explorers who participated in the Catlin Arctic Survey earlier this year have been selected as ‘Heroes of the Environment - 2009’ by TIME Magazine.  Pen Hadow, Martin Hartley and Ann Daniels were cited in TIME’s annual special report recognising those individuals who have made significant environmental contributions during the past year.  

Hadow, Hartley and Daniels spent 73 days on the floating Arctic Sea Ice to conduct the Catlin Arctic Survey, during which the team trekked 434 kilometres towards the North Geographic Pole to measure the thickness and density of the ice.  The approximately 16,000 observations and 1,500 physical measurements taken by the explorers are now helping researchers estimate how long the Arctic sea ice will remain a permanent feature of the Earth. 

Catlin Group Limited (‘CGL’; London Stock Exchange), the international specialty property/casualty insurer and reinsurer, was the title sponsor of the Catlin Arctic Survey.

TIME recognised the contributions of Hadow, Hartley and Daniels among 37 individuals – and the residents of the German district of Vauban – who have dedicated themselves to protecting the environment and researching the causes and effects of climate change  The special report – including the full list of the 2009 ‘Heroes of the Environment’ – is available on the internet at: www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1924149_1924151,00.html.

In the special report which appears in TIME’s 5 October 2009 issue, the magazine noted: “It's easy to think that all the hard decisions are in the hands of our leaders alone.  Not true.  As the men and women in the following pages prove, we can all make a difference.  Pen Hadow, leader of a daring survey across the Arctic to measure the thickness of sea ice, puts it this way:  "Turning off a standby light once won't make a difference. Do it for the rest of your life and that amounts to something. And if everybody's doing something, then we're moving in the right direction."

Current estimates as to how long floating sea ice will remain a full-year feature of the Arctic vary considerably, with scientific predictions ranging from as little as five years to as much as 100 years.  The data gathered by the Catlin Arctic Survey will help researchers make more accurate predictions regarding the melt rate of the ice and anticipate more fully how the melting of the Arctic sea ice will affect the world’s population. 

Researchers have commented that it was essential that Arctic explorers make physical observations and measurements of the ice’s thickness and density, despite the inhospitable environment, as the data previously collected by satellites and submarines were not sufficiently accurate.

In commending the explorers’ commitment to environmental research, TIME noted the hardships endured by Hadow, Hartley and Daniels during the expedition as well as the value of the data collected:

“Crossing the hostile Arctic terrain took a heavy physical toll on the team. Hartley shed 35 pounds (16 kg), and almost lost a big toe to frostbite.  Hadow’s and Daniel's feet and hands suffered temporary nerve damage from the cold.  But their sacrifices are paying off for scientists around the world.  ‘This is up-to-date data that will help fill gaps in our understanding,’ says Wieslaw Maslowski, an oceanographer at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., who is combining the team's numbers with information from satellites and submarines to develop more accurate melt projections.”

Professor Malinowski’s projections – along with analysis from other leading researchers based on the information collected by the Catlin Arctic Survey – are expected to be presented at the UN Climate Change Conference, to be held in December in Copenhagen.  Negotiating teams from 192 nations will gather in Copenhagen in an attempt to establish an international global agreement to stabilize the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and to prevent dangerous man-made climate changes.

Stephen Catlin, chief executive of Catlin Group Limited, said: “I am delighted that TIME Magazine has selected Pen Hadow, Martin Hartley and Ann Daniels as ‘Heroes of the Environment’.  The Catlin Arctic Survey ice team gathered a wealth of information about the floating Arctic sea ice which had previously not been available to scientists.  It is appropriate that TIME has recognised not only the explorers’ commitment to a better understanding of our environment, but also the physical hardships that Pen, Martin and Ann endured while collecting crucial data.”

Along with Catlin’s sponsorship of the Catlin Arctic Survey, Catlin is a member of ClimateWise, a group of leading companies and organisations in the insurance industry which are committed to taking action on climate change and to reporting publicly on their own performance.  ClimateWise has established a set of principles to provide a framework for insurance and reinsurance companies worldwide to set out how they will build recognition of climate change into their business operations.

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