Thursday, January 2, 2014

Jeopardy: Not soon enough for us

What is, when will Antarctica's ice be disappeared for those trapped in it;
Several attempts to break through to the ship [Akademik Shokalskiy] by sea - by the Xue Long, Aurora Australis and French-flagged L'Astrolabe - failed because of the thickness of the ice.
Andrew Luck-Baker says the Aurora Australis, although big, was simply not up to the task and there is speculation two larger vessels may be coming to the area in the weeks to come.
Despite being trapped, the scientists continued their experiments, measuring temperature and salinity through cracks in the surrounding ice.
One of the aims was to track how quickly the Antarctic's sea ice was disappearing.
Since they were finally rescued by a fossil fuel powered helicopter, maybe that will help thaw things out.

1 comment:

  1. What about the stranded ship Akademik Shokalskiy? It must have unused fuel on board, and be filled with toxic industrial substances. What will it's polution do to the pristine Antarctic? Does it have plastic bags on board?

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