A Researcher's Life In Antarctica

During December in Antarctica, a bright summer morning may see the temperature rise to 25 degrees below zero. It takes just one gale-forced wind blowing across a glacier that's two miles thick, everywhere you look, to create a wind chill that'll freeze your eyelids. Antarctica is one of the most harshest places to live on our Earth.

That being said, there's also no less important place for scientific research than America's dedicated Antarctic research station. The Pole at one time was barred to anyone except certified researchers and workers. But all this change when wealthy tourists and adventurers began to charter flights to the frosty region.

It seems that all there is to see is ice and snow. From the South Pole, you will not be able to find a penguin for a thousand miles. But that does not diminish the want, need and desire to be somewhere where most people cannot even fathom of coming to visit.

The concept that this scientific outpost is a tourist draw, isn't something that the scientists and others conducting work here feel comfortable with. The cranes and bulldozers that noisily work to continue to enhance the outpost, don't exactly make for a relaxing getaway.

But uninvited visitors will frequently arrive throughout the research season. There is not much that can be done to keep them away.

Antarctica isn't owned by any nation, however 43 nations signed treaties in order to protect and study an icy section as big as Mexico and the United States combined. The three good-sized stations that the United States maintains at the South Pole are manned throughout the year, even through the pitch-black darkness of winter that lasts for eight months.

Whether invited or not, there is an unwritten code of the ice that compels the staff to help anybody that makes it as far as 90 degrees south of latitude.

Visitors are not solicited since frequently they are not knowledgeable about the area and are not aware they are at 10,000 feet. The thrill seekers flock to the icy spot nonetheless, and subsequently need assistance to deal with their dehydration, altitude sickness, and extreme cold.

The dome's sleeping accommodations opened in 1975 with the capacity for thirty-three men. Now, crammed into every little spot they can fit, they can fit two hundred men and women. Nicknamed, Summer Camp, there is a prefabricated bunkhouse made of plywood, canvas, and plastic, that stretches down the glacier.

"summer Camp", similar to so many other camps, has a supply of fresh water that won't run out. Unfortunately, you have to melt ice using $12 per gallon fuel.

This means that showers, laundry, and flush toilet are only occasionally enjoyed. 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. Much has changed since then, as one-third of the workers at The Pole in summer are now women, and the men working with them regard them as equals. The Pole is balanced equally.

According to studies it take workers in extremely cold conditions three times longer to complete even a simple task. In cold weather, the brain produces more hormones for completing physical tasks, and decreases the hormones that your body needs to solve problems. The conditions are even worse in the winter.

During the middle of February, the final plane takes off for the north. Only a crew of 28 winter-overs remain for the next six-months. It will not be until October that the sun will rise, spring will arrive, and that airplane will be able to come back.