that raises the question of why we should bother not -- jeremy paxman discuss that with a conservative who has written a new report on climate change and is the new leader of the british green party. but first he spoke to our science editor. >> we have known for some time that the arctic ice is melting at a rapid rate but new figures we have been given suggest that the impact is doubling mankind's contribution to climate change. when we first saw these beautiful shots from space, it triggered the green movement. 30 years since satellites started observing the arctic in detail, that has changed. this is what it looked like in the summer of 1979. this is what it looked like in 2007, half of its eyes had gone. one of the leading scientists predicts that all of the ice could be gone in summer within a few years. this year there has been another big melt and we are still a few days away from the official minimum. he spent the summer on the arctic ice using lasers and robots submarines to get a picture of how much is left. he is also taking part in a bbc documentary series to be broadcast ne