Tweet
Scientific stations from various nations have been in operation there for well over 60 years. What are they studying, apart from the climate? And what have they been studying historically that was so damned important? Apart from only requiring so many people to carry out, climate observations can't have been the overarching concern back when the stations were set up. And one would think that most of it could have been automated by now.
Simply having a token presence on the continent for reasons of present or future territorial claims can't fully explain the multitude of permanent or semi-permanent settlements there.
Mapping and topological surveying should have been completed decades ago. Ice core retreival for historiographic purposes can only be performed so much before it will have to get utterly boring even to people who have decided to concern themselves with ice cores for a living.
The observation of penguin numbers, health and behaviour should be an all but exhausted subject by now.
So I'm wondering why are scientists flocking to the Antarctic of all places? You don't see them taking anywhere near a comparative interest in other similarly remote locations like the Arctic region, Sahara or the great oceans. Ever heard of a scientific surveying station on Tuvalu? Or Central Australia? At least they'd be able to get a nice tan there - and not having to cram together in smelly tents and aluminum shelters for months on end.
Even the Apollo astronauts didn't linger on as long as these guys do. There's obviously something going on down there that thery're not telling us.
Or is it simply because of the heavy rush hour traffic now going up and down Mt. Everest that they've decided, "Oh heck, let's go camp out in the second-most Godforsaken place anyone could think of"?
Simply having a token presence on the continent for reasons of present or future territorial claims can't fully explain the multitude of permanent or semi-permanent settlements there.
Mapping and topological surveying should have been completed decades ago. Ice core retreival for historiographic purposes can only be performed so much before it will have to get utterly boring even to people who have decided to concern themselves with ice cores for a living.
The observation of penguin numbers, health and behaviour should be an all but exhausted subject by now.
So I'm wondering why are scientists flocking to the Antarctic of all places? You don't see them taking anywhere near a comparative interest in other similarly remote locations like the Arctic region, Sahara or the great oceans. Ever heard of a scientific surveying station on Tuvalu? Or Central Australia? At least they'd be able to get a nice tan there - and not having to cram together in smelly tents and aluminum shelters for months on end.
Even the Apollo astronauts didn't linger on as long as these guys do. There's obviously something going on down there that thery're not telling us.
Or is it simply because of the heavy rush hour traffic now going up and down Mt. Everest that they've decided, "Oh heck, let's go camp out in the second-most Godforsaken place anyone could think of"?
Comment