AN ADVENTURER has set himself the challenge of a life-time spending up to 12 months on top of a floating iceberg.

Alex Bellini is no stranger to epic challenges and hopes his latest feat will encourage people to change attitudes about global warming.

The 35-year-old from Thame will be airlifted over Greenland next May and dropped on to an iceberg that will measure 300 metres by 200 metres as it sheers away from a glacier.

Mr Bellini will have to face freezing temperatures of -20C but is not fazed by the prospect of spending months in the ocean as his new home melts beneath him.

He said: “This is going to be a great adventure.

“We will look for the best iceberg, or tabular – which is a special type of iceberg that is flat on top.

“I want to provide people with a reason to see why the icebergs are melting.”

Mr Bellini will leave behind daughters four-year-old Sofia and two-year-old Margherita.

His wife Francesca, 34, works with Mr Bellini in their company The 5th Element.

Originally from Aprica, in Northern Italy, he moved to Thame about 18 months ago.

The adventurer has a scientific purpose for the mission as he hopes to add to theories about global warming, and he will collect data on the trip.

He expects the iceberg to melt within 12 months and said that an iceberg can travel up to 1,000km before it melts.

Mr Bellini is used to the freezing cold.

In 2002, the motivational speaker completed the 600km Alaska Ultrasport Extreme walk and returned the next year to spend 27 days walking 1,400km in the Alaska Ultrasport Impossible.

He said: “When I went to Alaska I managed to work for a month in temperatures of -30C to -40C and that was freezing. But -20C is nothing special.

“I really love doing adventures, but sometimes there is a small part of myself saying ‘what are you doing’?”

Mr Bellini completed a 250km marathon in the Sahara in 2001 and had to abandon attempts to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a rowing boat in 2004 because of a shipwreck.

He said: “By doing this, I hope to raise awareness about all the global changes that are occuring because of global warming. I feel like this is the right time and the right moment.”

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