confusion of the north pole

I received my new issue of Adventure National Geographic yesterday. As my roommate and I were shivering cold in our apartment that we refuse to increase the temperature, I was reading an article about an Arctic explorer. I was astounded to learn that this was even a possible career choice, but then I read on to learn that he was lugging a 350 weight of equipment that was used to messure the thickness of ice and how quickly it is melting. This may seem like a fairly easy task but when you factor in the idea that no plane can land where he has been traveling, this becomes something a bit more incredible. Apparently this is the newest technology of measuring how quickly we are affected by global warming. Sending a middle aged man with a weight of three other humans in the form of a metal aparatus with no real way of rescuing him. While I was impressed by the feats he has accomplished and overcome, I was horrifyed to share his frustration that we really are working on very young and seemingly primative equipment to attatin this imformation when you compare it to basic technology we use everyday. Not to say what we use everyday is more high tech than that of said equipment, but we havent really found and more successful way than lugging a giant machine to the north pole. I do not claim to know everything about this issue but something about this strikes me as odd and I intend to find out more...