AUSTIN, Texas -- There's no easy way to get to the North Pole, even if you're a seasoned explorer, but there's a lot more at stake when you decide to bring your kids along for the ride.

One long-time Austin resident recently faced the challenge in record-breaking fashion:  at three-and-a-half and five, his children were the youngest Americans to ever venture so far north.

In the above extended interview, explorer, astronaut and game developer Richard Garriott de Cayeux visits with our Chief Meteorologist Burton Fitzsimmons at Portalarium, Garriott de Cayeux's Austin gaming headquarters.

According to the explorer, signs of climate change and man made pollution can be seen all over the northern most parts of the globe.

The game maker also talks about his latest on-line endeavor, "Shroud of the Avatar," and we learn how he brought that term -- avatar -- into modern use.