Earth is a vast stretch of places that are yet not known. While it is common knowledge that man found his way to the moon, it is astonishing to admit that there are points on our globe that have not been touched by a man’s foot yet. These places are the most captivating calls of geography enthusiasts everywhere.
Known as the “poles of inaccessibility,” these stretches of land or ice, and in one case ocean, are the farthest away from land and coast that no one could ever reach. Hence, the name, the “poles of inaccessibility.” The inaccessible ocean pole, Point Nemo, is currently being used as a spacecraft graveyard, as the ocean is bare of any marine life.
With time all other poles of inaccessibility of the globe gave way, and humans thrived in their attempts to reach the remote zones. From the North American pole to the Eurasian pole, their inaccessibility could not stop humans from visiting. But one particular pole still holds the rank of never being toured. The farthest northern point of the globe, known as the Northern Point of inaccessibility, holds the title of the most inaccessible pole. The area will once again be hit by Jim McNeill, a seasoned polar explorer, and 28 other citizen scientists traveling to the Northern pole. McNeil is intrigued explicitly by the pole not being touched by humans yet.
But why is the pole not yet visited?
The Northern Pole of inaccessibility is a constantly shifting point. With new areas and lands being discovered, the point of inaccessibility farthest away from coast changes. The continuously shifting pole hence has to be updated with every discovery. In 2013, McNeil made a startling discovery when observing the Nasa satellite imagery. As it happened to be, the Northern Pole of inaccessibility had shifted by a whopping 133 miles!
The area equidistantly away from Komsomolets Island, Russia, Henrietta Island, Siberia, and Ellesmere Island, Canada, by 626 miles is an ever-present danger zone. The unreached area can be no help to stranded polar explorers.
Belief is the key
McNeil is not from the ones who accept defeat easily. He believes in his third attempt at reaching the pole of inaccessibility and is backed up by 28 citizen scientists traveling to the Northern pole. These citizen scientists will be paying for the expedition, their training to trek ice stretches, medical supplies, and food, that will come at a whopping $21,000. The citizen scientists traveling to the Northern pole will face the danger of starvation, getting stranded, ice breaks, and hungry polar bears at each step. Extremely low temperatures, shifting ice below them, and continuously changing global climate will also not help much. But scientists are more than enthusiastic about taking up this project.
According to Nico Kaufmann, this adventure is his way of helping research for the safety of the planet. The team is very excited to reach a part of the globe never walked on by a human. This dangerous project will be dedicated to research so they can find anything and everything that help save the ice regions from melting forever.
