Polar explorer to take on new challenge

He will be collecting samples of sea water from beneath the Arctic ice for analysis by scientists.

The groundbreaking research will help to show the impact of acidification on the oceans – a problem caused by the high levels of carbon dioxide absorbed by the sea water.

Mr Paton, 39, expects the wind chill to make it feel like -75C – like living in a freezer.

Along with his two teammates he will be sleeping in a tent every night and his role will be to navigate through the hazardous ice sheets of the Arctic.

The work will require so much energy he will eat 6,000 calories every day. However, this will not be enough to keep his weight up and he expects to lose 15lb over the duration of the project.

Mr Paton said his role would be to enable samples to be collected in the extreme conditions. "There are not many of us that can survive in these situations," he said. "If you put scientists in there, there's not many of them would survive."

He used to be a Royal Marine and in 2000 was in the first British team to trek unsupported to the North Pole. Since then, he has been to the region seven times.

"When it's cold, it really is cold," he said. "It's difficult to explain. You can put your hand in a freezer and leave it there.

"When you go outside, your nose hairs freeze. If your eyes water in the wind, it freezes. It's an amazing place, but it's always got the upper hand. You have got the shifting ice. It's always moving and cracking and creaking."

Mr Paton believes it is the first time such a collaboration has taken place between explorers and scientists.

He is currently preparing for the trip in Resolute, Canada, and expects to set off on Tuesday.

His partner and her two children will be supporting him from their home in Ross-shire.

The project, called the Catlin Arctic Survey, will be run from a purpose-built ice base 75 miles from the geographic North Pole.

Mr Paton and the two other seasoned explorers will trek up to 500km across the floating Arctic sea ice to collect data.

Some scientists believe that by 2050 – based on current projections – the acidity of the world's oceans could reach levels not seen on Earth for 20 million years, with serious consequences for marine life.

Professor Jean-Pierre Gattuso from CNRS-Universit Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, whose researchers are heading for the Ice Base, said ocean acidification was the "other carbon dioxide problem".

He went on: "The oceans absorb about a quarter of human-made . This has been limiting the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and mitigating climate change.

"However, the massive amounts of absorbed considerably upset the ocean chemistry by increasing the acidity of sea water."

Prof Gattuso added: "It is certain that acidification will impact on marine ecosystems, although we do not fully understand how all marine species will cope at the levels of acidity projected later in this century".