Rockets, guns, bombs, hatchets, swords, and light sabers. Today my grandsons play happily on the floor, building a virtual arsenal of imaginary weapons with their Legos. They are cheerful and cooperative as they build and smash, build and smash. Occasional houses and fishing rods materialize, too, but the energy circles mostly around destroying things with loud noise and delight.

At a Think South reading the other day, someone from the audience asked me whether being a woman influenced my experience managing the Trans-Antarctica Expedition, or made the job more difficult. My immediate reaction was a simple 'no', but the answer, in fact, is more nuanced.  As I write in the book's introduction, my whole point is that by accepting our differences - both cultural and personal - all and any of us can work together to accomplish big things. I probably should have added the word 'gender.'

Now adults, this new generation must research, invent, and advocate for the millions of small and large changes that will minimize the damages. They must break this overwhelming global problem into pieces that allow each of us to act within our own lives and permit institutions and governments to drop the theoretical debate and collaborate... the inspirational replaced by the practical, the passion translated to action. They are the climate generation* and they must tell us what to do.