KUALA LUMPUR : Global warming is fast melting the polar ice, according to explorers who ventured there recently.

And Dr Sharifah Mazlina, the first Asian woman who has completed both the North and South pole expeditions, is working to raise awareness about this issue.

In a special environmental series on Saving Gaia, she relates her experience to Channel NewsAsia.

Standing only 154 centimetres and weighing less than 60 kilogrammes, 42-year-old Dr Sharifah is the first Malaysian to successfully embark on a solo expedition to the Arctic, after conquering Antarctica two years ago.

Pulling her sled which is heavier than her, she completed the treacherous journey in just under 10 days, covering 110 kilometres to the North Pole.

Dr Sharifah said: "All the way, I was facing headwind, that's why it is so challenging. The second day itself I got a lot of frost bites on my face, under my chin and on my thumb."

Having seen the effects of global warming in both the North and South pole, Dr Sharifah, who is a lecturer in sports psychology, is worried about the threat from melting polar ice.

"The open water I have seen is as big as the Strait of Melaka. It's like no end, it's like a big open sea, that's very scary. I even asked the other groups, and they saw even bigger than me," she said.

Also alarming is the presence of pressured ridges and ice cracks all over the Arctic.

Dr Sharifah said: "It's like millions of it, it's everywhere, especially towards reaching North Pole. I can say in the last 20 kilometres before reaching the North Pole ... the surface is nice and flat like a plateau but there are ice cracks everywhere. So that's actually not a good sign because it is not stable, meaning the water is flowing very fast underneath."

Scientists say there is strong evidence that humans are responsible for much of the global warming, which has led to drastic changes in the weather and rising sea levels.

Malaysia was not spared either from the devastating effects of global warming.

Last year it witnessed its worst floods in decades - hundreds of thousands in the state of Johor were forced to evacuate as rising flood waters damaged their homes and livelihoods. - CNA/de