These are excellent and important questions! The expeditions to the South Pole take a lot more money than an expedition to, say, Philadelphia! Because of the harsh climate and long traveling distances, everything costs more - food, electricity, internet. The IceCube project has been given about $300,000,000 by the federal government for the research - this includes all the materials (which are expensive to begin with) and money to get all the people down here and working.
Without people down here, the South Pole would be about the cleanest place on earth. With people here, we run generators for electricity, gas engines for transportation such as snowmobiles and planes, plus we sometimes accidentally leave trash or dirt. So yes, these expeditions definitely contribute to pollution. But since we are relatively few people in the middle of a huge continent, the pollution is fairly minor. In fact, one of the studies being done here samples the south pole air, which if you go upwind of the station, is considered the cleanest air in the world.
But how can you decide if the research and knowledge gained is worth the cost in terms of money and pollution? that is an important question that needs to be considered for every scientist researching in a place like the South Pole.
Hi Kaniyah,
These are excellent and important questions! The expeditions to the South Pole take a lot more money than an expedition to, say, Philadelphia! Because of the harsh climate and long traveling distances, everything costs more - food, electricity, internet. The IceCube project has been given about $300,000,000 by the federal government for the research - this includes all the materials (which are expensive to begin with) and money to get all the people down here and working.
Without people down here, the South Pole would be about the cleanest place on earth. With people here, we run generators for electricity, gas engines for transportation such as snowmobiles and planes, plus we sometimes accidentally leave trash or dirt. So yes, these expeditions definitely contribute to pollution. But since we are relatively few people in the middle of a huge continent, the pollution is fairly minor. In fact, one of the studies being done here samples the south pole air, which if you go upwind of the station, is considered the cleanest air in the world.
But how can you decide if the research and knowledge gained is worth the cost in terms of money and pollution? that is an important question that needs to be considered for every scientist researching in a place like the South Pole.
Great questions, thanks for posting them!