He’s searching for a human-made problem in areas largely untouched by humans. Answers are just emerging

(CNN) — Crouched low in one of the coldest, remotest places on Earth, polar explorer Alan Chambers searched for an invisible threat.

Traveling with fellow former Royal Marine Dave Thomas, he had spent two long months skiing 715 miles (1,151 kilometers) — completely unassisted — from the Hercules Inlet on the coast of Antarctica to the geographic South Pole. The pair hauled a sled heavily loaded with supplies and equipment, as well an extra one for snow samples, all while battling high winds, bitter temperatures and disorientating whiteouts.

“I built a specialist sledge with a perfectly crafted insert inside,” Chambers explained. “Each evening I’d get on my hands and knees, lay on my belly upwind from the camp and scrape the snow at minus 35 to fill the tins, which we then logged and photographed.”

That effort, which wrapped in January 2024, was Chambers’ first expedition in a partnership with leading climate scientists at Columbia University to map the spread of microplastics and nanoplastics across the globe. Ultimately, he plans to visit seven of the world’s most remote places to collect earth, sand, snow, water, permafrost and riverbed silt, which experts will then analyze to determine how pervasive plastic waste is.

Microplastics, minuscule bits of plastic that break off of larger products, are smaller than a pencil eraser, measuring less than 5 millimeters. Once they degrade further they are labeled nanoplastics, which measure less than 1 micrometer, or one-thousandth of a millimeter. Their microscopic size makes them difficult to observe and quantify, nevertheless research shows they’re ingested by hundreds of species — including humans. A recent study revealed that the amount of plastic now found in human brains is around 50% higher than what it was a decade ago.

Research into the impact of such pollution on human health is ongoing, but it is known that nanoplastics can potentially interrupt cellular processes and deposit endocrine-disrupting chemicals that can interfere with the reproductive system, while the impact on certain forms of cancer is also being researched.

The tiny plastics have already been detected across many varied environments; the aim of Chambers’ collaboration with Columbia University is to find out how regions largely untouched by humans are impacted. Their hope is that analysis of these samples, a process that’s already beginning to deliver intriguing results, will provide the scientists with the evidence necessary to influence environmental policy and drive systemic change in the future.

“Each mission is designed to push boundaries — both physically and scientifically — while contributing vital data to the global fight against plastic pollution,” Chambers, who also works as a motivational speaker, told CNN by video call.

Birth of a mission

Chambers was awarded an MBE, a British honor recognizing community service or notable achievement, in 2000 for “determination and leadership in constant adversity.” His many accomplishments include having been part of the first team in the world to ski across Iceland in winter in 1995, while five years later he led the first British team to walk from Canada unassisted to the geographic North Pole.

The idea for Mission Spiritus came to Chambers after he ran a trip for an “ultra high net worth” individual and his family to Antarctica.

“He asked what I was doing in my life that would have an impact in 300 years. So I asked him, ‘What are you doing?’ and he said, ‘I want to make energy for the planet from the atmosphere.’ That blew my mind.”

Chambers has undoubtedly made a difference in his time, having helped raise more than 14 million pounds ($18.8 million) for charity — benefiting causes such as cancer research — while exploring and leading extreme expeditions in over 70 countries. But this proposition was different.

“This was about putting a lot of effort in during your lifetime but not seeing the results — it had a profound effect on me,” he said. “I said to the guy, ‘I’ve walked across Iceland, across Greenland, all the way from the coast to the North Pole — so it makes sense to walk from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole, but taking your philosophy, I’d like to do some scientific research.’”

With that in mind, he approached scientists at Columbia University’s climate school, who jumped at the chance of carrying out such valuable research without having to conduct the extreme fieldwork themselves.

“I was thrilled when Alan reached out suggesting an exploration/scientific collaboration centered around his epic walk across Antarctica,” said Maureen Raymo, G. Unger Vetlesen Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, in an email. Chambers and Raymo have been friends since first meeting on an expedition to the North Pole in 2017.

“How often does a friend come along and say ‘I’m walking to the South Pole — is there anything of scientific use I can do along the way?’” she added.

To take on work of this kind in a place like Antarctica is “extremely difficult” for researchers, according to Raymo. “For a regular team of still highly specialized and trained scientists to have collected this set of samples, it would have taken years of logistical planning and support from federal science agencies and probably a million dollars,” she explained.

Chambers admits that he had “limited knowledge of microplastics” until meeting Raymo. To understand their true impact, he later traveled to New York City to meet her and her team at Columbia, he said.

It was there that the research team taught him how to collect samples and the correct protocols surrounding how they should be stored and logged.

The ambitious project is called Mission Spiritus. “Spiritus is the Latin word for breath,” Chambers explained. “The idea is to try and do something now that will eventually help the planet breathe on its own, not on the life support system we all know it’s on at the moment.”

‘The brainy bit’

For Chambers, Mission Spiritus is about “adventure with purpose.”

“If we collect samples from the most remote areas of every continent, that will provide the experts with the evidence and leverage they need to reduce the impact of plastic.

“We’re just the Earth’s gardeners — it’s then down to the scientists to do the brainy bit,” he said.

After completing their Antarctic mission in 2024, Chambers and Thomas traveled to southern Chile where they met Dr. Beizhan Yan, an environmental geochemist from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia’s Climate School.

“(All of the samples were) still frozen, and he transported it back to the US in the same way you might transport a live organ,” Chambers said.

The analysis is ongoing, but initial findings are shocking, Chambers said.

“The researchers found some traces of plastic in (samples from) the middle of Antarctica. The only way it can get there is in the wind system,” he added. “Is it snowing plastic in Antarctica?”

Raymo said the results from the first set of specimens would be complete by summer’s end. “We’re currently measuring the first continental-scale transect of plastic contamination and black carbon contamination in Antarctica using the snow samples collected by Alan,” she said.

“Initial measurements suggest some presence of microplastics and a stronger signal in black carbon, which results from fuel combustion,” Raymo said.

The importance of this mission is clear, Chambers said. “It’s not about demonizing plastic because plastic is used in every part of our lives,” he noted. “It’s about how we recycle plastic so it doesn’t get into the atmosphere or wind system.”

New Horizons

Following that first expedition, the Columbia researchers drew up a wish list of future destinations for the sampling project.

“As we thought about how to continue this collaboration, the idea of sampling some of the remotest and most iconic wildernesses, communities, and ecosystems in the world rapidly became our north star,” Raymo said.

Earlier this year, Chambers set off on the mission’s second leg with a new team. This time the aim was to collect 52 sand samples during a 26-day expedition through Oman’s Empty Quarter, the world’s largest sand desert, which includes a swath of the Arabian Peninsula.

“We geotagged the samples and logged the conditions, temperature and wind direction,” he said. “We photographed each sample before packing them in a secure case.”

Distance covered was the same as in Antarctica — half by foot and the rest via sand vehicles and camels. The samples were once again handed over to Yan, who met them in the vast desert region of Wahiba Sands.

Chambers and his team in July will tackle all 18 of the main Faroe Islands, an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, where they’ll collect lake water and sediment.

“These (Faroe Islands) samples will also be compared to measurements we will make using sediment samples that were collected over a decade ago, allowing us to also look at time-varying trends in plastic pollution in this remote region,” Raymo said.

If Chambers is successful in raising around $1 million more in funding, the plan is to head for the Atacama Desert in Chile in 2026 for samples of the world’s driest nonpolar desert. After that will be the Comoros Islands; Canada’s Northwest Passage; and, finally, the Gibson Desert in Western Australia.

“Most important is to raise awareness of the prevalence of harmful plastics in our environment, air and water,” Raymo said. “Alan has a large audience through his public speaking, philanthropy and adventures. Together we can help raise awareness of plastic pollution while he inspires legions of people with his amazing feats of exploration.”

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