Working as a Research Scientist in Antarctica
Antarctica is both treacherous and beautiful in it’s vastness. During a typical winter morning the temp will raise to negative 25. Add in gale-force winds that blow in all directions covering a two-mile thick glacier, and the wind chill that results can freeze your eyelids shut. Antarctica is one of the harshest places to live on our Earth.
It would be hard to find a job that is more desolate and important as the United State’s permanent scientific outpost located here. At one time only approved researchers and workers were able to be at the South Pole. Now, tourists with enough money can take a charter flight out to see the harsh but wonderful wastelands of the South Pole.
There is not much to observe but white. Within a thousand miles of the Pole there is not even a penguin. But arriving at The Pole continues to be the rarest of experiences in our world of been there, done that.
A lot of the scientists and officials shiver knowing the outpost is a tourist attraction, especially when diesel bulldozers and other heavy equipment help develop the site further. But is doesn’t stop visitors, as they do come frequently during research season. It can’t really be helped, as no one can prevent them from doing so.
No one nation possesses Antarctica, though forty-three nations have executed treaties to protect and examine the icebound landmass which is the size of the U.S. and Mexico together. The U.S. staffs three large stations throughout the year, even during the Pole’s winter, which lasts for eight months without a ray of sunlight. No matter how unwanted visitors are, the unwritten code of the Pole encourages residents and scientists to welcome anyone who makes it as far as 90 degrees south of latitude, even if they are not invited.
Visitors are not solicited since frequently they are not knowledgeable about the area and are not aware they are at 10,000 feet. The result of this is that they arrive cold, dehydrated and dealing with altitude sickness.
The dome’s sleeping accommodations opened in 1975 with the capacity for thirty-three men. Now the two hundred men and women at the Pole crowd into every bed that is available. There is now a stretch of pre-built bunkhouses made of plywood, canvas, and plastic that makes up what is known as Summer Camp.
As in many camps, Summer Camp has access to an unlimited supply of fresh water. However, it takes melting ice with $12 per gallon fuel to get it. This means that showers, laundry, and flush toilets are few and far between. The long trek to a communal bathroom can be a perilous and bone-chilling experience even underneath the blazing sun at 3:00 AM.
The first women who came to Antarctica had to have military escorts. Today, however, women comprise fully one-third of the summer crew and are treated as equals. The Pole takes its toll on the work and the work force.
According to the studies, it takes three times longer for workers to finish a simple task in the extreme cold. This is caused by the brain producing more hormones for physical activity (to warm the body) and decreasing the production of those required for problem solving. In the winter months, conditions get even worse.
During the middle of February, the final plane takes off for the north. That last airplane leaves a group of 28 workers who will live at The Pole for the six months that follow. It will remain dark until spring arrives in October, and the daylight and aircraft return to the continent.
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