Around 320bc, a Greek merchant called Pytheas set off for a long journey north. He brought back reports of a land called Thule, six days north of Scotland, "where... there are no nights during the [summer] solstice...and also no days during the winter solstice". It is unclear if Pytheas made it there himself, or merely heard tales. But for this and his account of a "congealed sea", he is said to have been one of the first Arctic explorers. Were he to return today, he would find a very different landscape.
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