Global insurer Willis is supporting a world record attempt in the Antarctic, to aid climate change research.

The Willis Resilience Expedition will see 19-year-old Parker Liautaud attempt to ski from the continent’s coast to the South Pole in record time.

The US-born teenager would also be the youngest person to achieve the feat.

Snow samples will be taken at various depths along the route, to provide a better understanding of climate change and its impact on Antarctica.

Mr Liautaud will also test a lightweight weather station that will relay meteorological data every 30 minutes.

Willis says the insurance industry plays a crucial rule helping companies and organisations withstand and recover from extreme weather.

Mr Liautaud will leave the Ross Ice Shelf on December 3 and ski 640km to the pole, aiming to break the 22-day record.

The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest-warming parts of the world, according to the British Antarctic Survey.

The continent’s ice sheet contains an archive of past climates, showing changes in temperature and greenhouse gas concentrations over hundreds of thousands of years.