Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 10/31/2010 - 23:32
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Antarctic Seafloor Ecology

Hi Julie, I am Allison Stevens, and I am currently in Tina Sanders' English 1A Class. I had a few questions if you didn't mind me asking...

  1. How does life in Antarctica differ from life in the U.S.? What are the major adjustments that you have encountered?
  2. How are people punished on the continent? What is the harshest offense one can commit?
  3. How hard is it to adjust to climate? How long did it take to become comfortable?
  4. What are your views and opinions on Global Warming and the effects on the frigid planet? Do you think it's avoidable? What can prevent it?
  5. What your favorite thing about living on the continent?
  6. What would most people be surprised by about Antarctica? Are the "generalizations" true? "Nothing but ice, and water"?
  7. Do you ever get tired of being in such a confined and desolate space?

Thank you so much for your time!

Fri, 11/19/2010 - 10:19

Tina Sander

1. How does life in Antarctica differ from life in the U.S.? What are the major adjustments that you have encountered?Living and working here in Antarctica reminds me a bit of college. I live in a dorm and I have a roommate (but lucky for me we have been friends for 10 years). I don't have to cook because I eat in a cafeteria and I can do my laundry upstairs from my room. We are a smallish community and we are getting to know many of the people we see around the town. I miss cooking for myself. I am a bit of a foodie and really appreciate spending time in the kitchen making wonderful meals. So, I miss my farm share and freshies and kitchen!
I also had to adjust to the diving. I spend most of my dives in cold water with very low visibility (10-15ft) in places like New England, Washington, and Alaska. Here I can see hundreds of feet! Although it may sound odd, it took me some time to get used to being able to see so far!
> > >
> > > 2. How are people punished on the continent? What is the harshest offense one can commit?
Hmmmmm. I actually don't really know the answers to this. I like to think that most of the people here are too happy to be here to commit any type of crime. I have heard of things getting stolen, but that sounds very rare. If someone seriously damages property, they can get sent home.
> > > 3. How hard is it to adjust to climate? How long did it take to become comfortable?
I had some trouble the first two weeks with staying warm. Actually, I think I can safely say that I am always the coldest member of the team. Bummer! But I've adjusted a bit and need to wear less layers now (but it is warmer too). I am always cold on the dives, I think we all are though. When I look around the room we are all in right now, I am the only one wearing lots of layers inside. Pretty funny.
> > > 4. What are your views and opinions on Global Warming and the effects on the frigid planet? Do you think it's avoidable? What can prevent it?
I think it is important to say that climate change is not a matter of opinion. Science tests hypotheses and scientists can't control their results. If the questions are asked properly and the analyses are robust - the answer is the answer. In this case, every answer points to anthropogenic climate change. So, it IS happening and the science behind that statement is extremely robust. I think the problems we encounter with general public's misunderstanding of climate change and a seriously large misunderstanding of how science works. I like to point students in the direction of these two excellent websites. I turn to these sites for answers because they are written by climate change scientists, not politicians or the general public. Furthermore, everything discussed on these sites refers to published peer-reviewed scientific papers. If I have any question about climate change science, I'm always going to ask the scientists and read the peer-reviewed literature for the answers.
http://www.realclimate.org/
http://www.skepticalscience.com/ (getting skeptical about global warming skepticism)
Climate change will have profound impacts on polar regions. Heat will come down through the atmosphere and bounce off the ice back up into the atmosphere. As climate change occurs, the heat will melt more ice. That means more heat rays hit the water, and water absorbs the heat....which makes the ice melt even faster! This is called "positive feedback". Polar regions are covered in a lot of ice and thus, positive feedback will probably lead to faster melting and faster warming. Climate change can also create what is called "negative feedback" - which has the opposite effect! Sometimes warming in one region of the planet may cause cooler conditions in other parts of the planet. This is one reason why scientists are trying to stop using the term "global warming" and switch to "climate change" because it better describes some of the problems we will encounter in our life time.
I admit that I have a pretty negative view on if humans can avoid climate change and prevent it. Some countries are trying to be as proactive as possible (New Zealand, France, Germany, Denmark, etc) about climate change while other countries are standing by and refusing to change habits. One of the most serious problems we face that will continue to drive climate change is overpopulation. Until our world population declines, we will continue to do things that contribute to climate change such as logging, driving, agriculture, mining, etc. And until United States really takes some action, many countries will continue to follow our lack of leadership. Because I have seen no action from our nation's leaders, the action has to come from the people. Stop using your dryer and hang your clothes up to dry! I live in a rainy place and hang clothes inside on rainy days and outside on sunny days. Take shorter showers. Turn your hot water heater down. Walk or bike to work. Move closer to your workplace for a shorter commute, and rent or buy a smaller house. Figure out your carbon footprint here and reduce it! http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/ Watch this video for other ideas! http://www.storyofstuff.com/
Whew. I could write forever about this one. It is, by far, the most important issue facing our planet. Think long term.
> > >
> > > 5. What your favorite thing about living on the continent?
The huge sponges under the ice. And the skuas, big gulls that scavenge on any food they can get (placentas from seal births, etc). Neat!
> > > 6. What would most people be surprised by about Antarctica? Are the "generalizations" true? "Nothing but ice, and water"?
It is so much more than ice and water. There are gorgeous mountains everywhere you look. The history of Antarctic exploration is fascinating. The world under the ice is pink, red, white, orange, yellow, and red. The seals chatter while you dive. Skuas fly overhead looking for an easy meal. And the people who live here are lovely.
> > >
> > > 7. Do you ever get tired of being in such a confined and desolate space?
I don't think I've ever been in such a huge and open space. Confined and desolate are about the last words I would use to describe McMurdo and Antarctica. Back home I get tired of cities, jammed roads, wasteful behavior, smog, short term thinking, and pollution. Living here is like living in the world that I wish existed everywhere. This is a place where people care about their surroundings and they work hard to ensure a healthy future for the continent. People are passionate about this land. That is awesome.