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Mostly Harmless
Dec. 10th, 2019 01:10 amToday the Chilean air force lost contact with a C-130 heading to their base in Antarctica.
I am in Antarctica. There has been some concern expressed as to whether I am OK. I am. I am on the other side of the continent. I was, in fact, supposed to fly in a C-130 today, back to New Zealand, where, coincidentally, a volcano erupted yesterday (quite a long way from Christchurch airport, though). It's been snowing here the last few days, and the runway of the big airfield was torn up by the last C-17 landing, so flights are rather backed up, and I don't know quite when I'm getting out. Honestly I've had such a capital time I really don't mind.
I was giving a lecture on polar tragedy yesterday at the Kiwi base, opposite news of the volcano. It was a cogent reminder that this planet is much more powerful than any of us. The tiniest twitch and mountains explode, snowstorms block flights, explorers lose the constant south wind they were counting on and die. "You think it's nature versus man," sings Sarah Slean, "but the battle is absurd: all the cards are in her hands."
There's a large coalition of US and UK scientists here waiting to head out to Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, to do a thorough study of all the factors acting upon it as it is in danger of collapse. It holds so much water that, if it collapses, sea levels may rise by over a foot, which will impact millions of people. But they can't get out there because the weather has been so bad, hardly any of the planes carrying their infrastructure have been able to fly. We are so puny! Even in trying to quantify how doomed we are, we are powerless.
Anyway, you don't want my philosophising, you want to hear that I am OK. I am OK. The worst that has happened to me is that I got (and have mostly got over) the McMurdo Crud, which may or may not be a virus endemic to the station, and have lost my voice for the time being. As Antarctic mishaps go, that's pretty minor. This trip has been amazing and I am really looking forward to sharing stories and photos with you when I get back to 2010s bandwidth. Bless Dreamwidth for being so simple; it's the only social media site that functions properly here. If further updates are necessary I will post them here, but otherwise will be carrying on soaking in the atmosphere. Who knows if I will ever get the chance again? Make it count!
I am in Antarctica. There has been some concern expressed as to whether I am OK. I am. I am on the other side of the continent. I was, in fact, supposed to fly in a C-130 today, back to New Zealand, where, coincidentally, a volcano erupted yesterday (quite a long way from Christchurch airport, though). It's been snowing here the last few days, and the runway of the big airfield was torn up by the last C-17 landing, so flights are rather backed up, and I don't know quite when I'm getting out. Honestly I've had such a capital time I really don't mind.
I was giving a lecture on polar tragedy yesterday at the Kiwi base, opposite news of the volcano. It was a cogent reminder that this planet is much more powerful than any of us. The tiniest twitch and mountains explode, snowstorms block flights, explorers lose the constant south wind they were counting on and die. "You think it's nature versus man," sings Sarah Slean, "but the battle is absurd: all the cards are in her hands."
There's a large coalition of US and UK scientists here waiting to head out to Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, to do a thorough study of all the factors acting upon it as it is in danger of collapse. It holds so much water that, if it collapses, sea levels may rise by over a foot, which will impact millions of people. But they can't get out there because the weather has been so bad, hardly any of the planes carrying their infrastructure have been able to fly. We are so puny! Even in trying to quantify how doomed we are, we are powerless.
Anyway, you don't want my philosophising, you want to hear that I am OK. I am OK. The worst that has happened to me is that I got (and have mostly got over) the McMurdo Crud, which may or may not be a virus endemic to the station, and have lost my voice for the time being. As Antarctic mishaps go, that's pretty minor. This trip has been amazing and I am really looking forward to sharing stories and photos with you when I get back to 2010s bandwidth. Bless Dreamwidth for being so simple; it's the only social media site that functions properly here. If further updates are necessary I will post them here, but otherwise will be carrying on soaking in the atmosphere. Who knows if I will ever get the chance again? Make it count!
