I am sure most of you are aware of the “Tourist” ship trapped in the Antarctic Ice. This is now starting to look like a serious situation. So far, two ice breakers have failed to free the ship and a third does not appear to be doing much better. The good news is that they have a helicopter on board. The bad news is that they may have to evacuate everyone and abandon the ship.
But what makes this interesting is that this was another foolish Arctic/Antarctic expedition fueled by illusionary dreams of global warming. Even global warming advocates admit that the Antarctic ice is not melting, but this group of people wanted to repeat the measurements taken by the Mawson Expedition in 1911. Following is a link to the expedition website:
http://www.spiritofmawson.com/
The Australasian Antarctic Expedition – the AAE – will truly meld science and adventure, repeating century old measurements to discover and communicate the changes taking place in this remote and pristine environment.
One can guarantee that they were desperately searching for proof of global warming. Why is it, if global warming has been proven beyond dispute that scientists are always searching for more evidence?
Here’s what they left out. The 1911 Mawson expedition was a total disaster. The following blog from the Smithsonian describes it as the worst Antarctic expedition ever:
Mawson barely survived and the rest of his crew all died. When he finally made it back to his base camp, it was just in time to see the supply ship heading back to Australia. Mawson ended up spending another winter in Antarctica.
In the meantime this new expedition is now trapped in the ice, miles short of where Mawson landed in 1911. They are blocked by 75 miles of ice.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/antarctica-live/2013/dec/29/antarctica-expedition-ice-wait-rescue
I wonder if anyone in the New York Times will notice that 75 miles of more ice is not exactly evidence of global warming.
By the war, the Aurora, the ship that brought Mawson to Antarctica was a wooden sail boat with a hull that had been reinforced by steel. This is not exactly the modern ice breakers we see currently in action. If they were trying to replicate this trip with a ship similar to the Aurora they would definitely be in serious trouble.
TDM
Astute observations! I just wonder what a B-52 could do to break up that ice – just a few air burst Mk-84 500 pound-ers should do the trick.
In strategic bombing – it is helpful to know the soil characteristics so that the shock waves of each bomb interact positively, creating a Richter 6 between the bombs!
The B52 proposal works for me. I wonder how the cost of a B52 raid compares with the loss of the research vessel. If they can’t get it out in the middle of the summer when do they expect things to improve?