Antarctica
I'm going to Antarctica this year.
People ask me, "Why do you want to go?"
I say, "Why not go?"
I currently live in the Pacific Northwest, in a city with an elevation of 50 feet, an average yearly precipitation of 36 inches, and average winter temperature of 54 degrees Farenheit.
I'll be traveling to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, on the Ross Ice Shelf, elevation 33 feet, average yearly precipitation of 8 inches, and it will average a whopping 27 degrees Farenheit in the warmest month, January. Not too different from those nice brisk January days in good old PNW!
Surprised? Antarctica is full of surprises! Read on for more surprising facts!
It's the highest continent in the world. The South pole is at over 9,000 feet (close to the altitude of Mt. Thielsen). The highest point in the continent is Mt. Vinson at 16,000 feet (2,000 ft taller than Rainier!).
It's the driest continent in the world. It is a super-arid desert, a category shared with the likes of the Sahara desert. Average precipitation inland is less than 2 inches a year (obviously coastal locations, like where I'll be, get more)
It contains 90% of the world's ice. (In the thickest parts, the icepack is 3 MILES thick!)
That ice makes up 70% of the world's entire freshwater supply. Let that sink in a bit.
Antarctica is one of the most peaceful places on Earth, politically speaking. The Antarctic treaty, ratified by 50 countries, has declared that the continent will remain unowned by any country, and a place protected for peaceful scientific research.
And along those ends, the types of research conducted in Antarctica include climate change, the study of glaciers, ozone depletion, marine ecosystems, and believe it or not, astronomy!
Who wouldn't want to go?
I mean.....
How I imagine myself in Antarctica
How my friends imagine me in Antarctica
How my mom imagines me in Antarctica
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Me actually in Antarctica (though I don't think they'll let me spread pizza sauce with my hands)
In other words, don't expect tales of narwhales and iceberg parties. Perhaps you might just learn that daily life in Antarctica is devastatingly similar to life where you are. Or is it? That's what you'll find out if you keep track of my adventures!
I plan to post periodically leading up to my September/October deployment with what the getting-ready-to-deploy-to-Antarctica process is like and other interesting facts about Antarctica. Stay tuned!
And they're worried about climate change in the north while the South Pole only expands! Safe travels friend!
ReplyDeleteThanks friend! And thanks for bringing this up, climate change is an interesting (and important) topic! I hope to learn even more "in person" about this while I'm there and have better info to write about. One thing on this topic I just learned about was the difference between sea ice and land ice, and how the melting (or growing) of both indicate different things about the changes in the planet.
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