Ok I know it's like deathly cold in some parts of Antartica but do you think we could ever colonize ANY parts of it? Like maybe the parts closest to South America?


May sound dumb but just curious.

Ok I know it's like deathly cold in some parts of Antartica but do you think we could ever colonize ANY parts of it? Like maybe the parts closest to South America?


May sound dumb but just curious.
The poster called Gilligan fanatic has lived/worked in Antarctica during the time that it's six months of sunlight.

Gilligan Fanatic would know. I've seen pictures of him hanging out with penguins. He also posted pictures of his job site over there. Interesting stuff.

The poster called Gilligan fanatic has lived/worked in Antarctica during the time that it's six months of sunlight.

Gilligan Fanatic would know. I've seen pictures of him hanging out with penguins. He also posted pictures of his job site over there. Interesting stuff.

Yeah and what's funny is, I actually thought there were ppl living there until just a few monthes ago lol

I wrote a story when I was younger about Santa's misfit twin brother who lives at the South Poll, who looks identical to Santa but wears green :)

Yeah and what's funny is, I actually thought there were ppl living there until just a few monthes ago lol

I wrote a story when I was younger about Santa's misfit twin brother who lives at the South Poll, who looks identical to Santa but wears green :)
I wouldn't mind living in Antarctica during the summer months. I hate the summer heat.

I wouldn't mind living in Antarctica during the summer months. I hate the summer heat.
I'm just the opposite, I could live in the Sahara all year long if I had plenty of food and water. I hate the cold.

These are some of Gilligan fanatic's photos from Antarctica. I would absolutely love to be there during the summer. It looks beautiful. And I would love the cold.
I got back in March, but here are some of my favorite pictures I took while I was there. I took 1700+ so I got plenty of others

Those pics dont look too unbearable.

And I don't like the extreme cold nor hot, I like it about 75 degrees.

Good topic - lol

The parts near South America potentially could be, but I don't think it would ever happen because of the expense of flying back and forth constantly. You can't grow food there, and because of the Antartic Treaty, everything you bring down there can't be permanent and can't be left there. So like all our trash has to leave at the end of the season, even our waste leaves the continent. The buildings are permanent, but even they can be taken down at anytime.

The US has a base near Chile called Palmer Station but it is a lot smaller than McMurdo Station where I was at. We had about a 1000 people where as Palmer had less than 100. Argentina and Chile are a lot more into Antarctica than the US is (they claim territory, we don't). We are there for only one purpose, research and science. Chile and Argentnia are a lot closer than we are to it, so if it wasn't for the Antarctic Treaty I bet they woud be interested in it, but definetly not us.

Those pics dont look too unbearable.

And I don't like the extreme cold nor hot, I like it about 75 degrees.

It really wasn't at all during the summer when I was there. I'll break it down by the month the basic or average temperature of every day.

October - minus 10 to postive 10 (This was the coldest month) The coldest temperature when I was there was minus 50 with the wind chill.
November - 15 to 30
December 25-30
January 20-30
February 15-25 (It started to cool down again when we were leaving.
The warmest it ever got while I was there was maybe 35, but that is warmer than a lot of places here. Plus it is always 24 hours of sunlight so that makes it tolerable.

I didn't post these in my thread about the ice, but here are every single picture I posted to facebook while I was there. Just respect the privacy of my friends because they are in a lot of the pictures.

Sumner New Zealand (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150323908104327.342614.583649326&type=3&l=23dea0d870)
Akaroa, New Zealand (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150336406104327.344964.583649326&type=3&l=9b16cc9ce0)
Antarctica (Part 1) (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150329864979327.343671.583649326&type=3&l=d44d5d9d83)
Antarctica (Part 2) (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150343668184327.346408.583649326&type=3&l=1a16830ae6)
McMurdo Sign / Scotts Hut (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150348103989327.347322.583649326&type=3&l=2e40c463bf)
Halloween Party / Castle Rock (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150351693454327.348329.583649326&type=3&l=e776917b7a)
Part 3 (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150356074304327.349259.583649326&type=3&l=0e4a432a1e)
Hut Point (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150365488274327.350761.583649326&type=3&l=746610ccd3)
Part 4 (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150384002974327.352977.583649326&type=3&l=741e0e5a05)
Ob Hill (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150389857804327.353551.583649326&type=3&l=28d231d0da)
Birthday Weekend (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150420283944327.356613.583649326&type=3&l=973bd9a9ca)
Part 5 (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150405198759327.355125.583649326&type=3&l=8fd5f85387)
Christmas Time (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150443995814327.360214.583649326&type=3&l=e14239d428)
Finally Saw Penguins (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150456218814327.362468.583649326&type=3&l=279e205f21)
Castle Rock / Ice Stock (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150458447254327.362891.583649326&type=3&l=27926fcb7f)
10 K Run (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150473789604327.365442.583649326&type=3&l=9be9a0cb6e)
Another Awesome Weekend in MacTown (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150486413754327.367399.583649326&type=3&l=b253921768)
Ships (tp://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150514312099327.371622.583649326&type=3&l=03f3a0d3dc)
Work/Emperor/Snow Mobiles/Kites/Herc/Whale Watching (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150534076544327.373897.583649326&type=3&l=38393b1574)
The Palmer (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150547138054327.375082.583649326&type=3&l=ec070ad202)
Sunsets (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150554865784327.375909.583649326&type=3&l=969e717894)
Offload (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150569877179327.377721.583649326&type=3&l=043ea56eab)
Happy Camper (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150497337719327.369021.583649326&type=3&l=3d5d935a74)
Leaving Antarctica (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150587193894327.380362.583649326&type=3&l=da1df80509)

Can't remember if I posted this or not, but here is a 20 minute vide of all the video clips I took while on the ice.

http://telly.com/7GP02

PS, I didn't mean to hijack the tread :cool:

It really wasn't at all during the summer when I was there. I'll break it down by the month the basic or average temperature of every day.

October - minus 10 to postive 10 (This was the coldest month) The coldest temperature when I was there was minus 50 with the wind chill.
November - 15 to 30
December 25-30
January 20-30
February 15-25 (It started to cool down again when we were leaving.
The warmest it ever got while I was there was maybe 35, but that is warmer than a lot of places here. Plus it is always 24 hours of sunlight so that makes it tolerable.

Those temperatures sound pretty good to me. Is it 24 hours of darkness during the summer months? Do you know what the temp. is like in months like June, July or August?

BTW, summer in New Zealand pictures of yours look gorgeous!

Those temperatures sound pretty good to me. Is it 24 hours of darkness during the summer months? Do you know what the temp. is like in months like June, July or August?

BTW, summer in New Zealand pictures of yours look gorgeous!

it's 24 hours of darkness for most of the winter. I believe the last sunset was in late march and then there wasn't a sunrise until late August.

Not sure if you have seen this before, but this is an actual webcam from McMurdo Station where I was at.
http://www.usap.gov/videoclipsandmaps/mcmwebcam.cfm

The big blue building is where I lived. The first green looking shack was where I worked. The red and white building is McMurdo General (the clinic).

As far as tempeatures, this is at McMurdo from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMurdo_Station#Climate

New Zealand was awesome! I was only there for about three days, but it was so great. I was glad to take as many pictures as I did.

it's 24 hours of darkness for most of the winter. I believe the last sunset was in late march and then there wasn't a sunrise until late August.

Not sure if you have seen this before, but this is an actual webcam from McMurdo Station where I was at.

What happens after you all leave? Is the station closed while it's 6 months of darkness? Or do a few people stay behind?

While in Antarctica, what happens if someone has a medical emergency like a heart attack? Is there a hospital? What if someone commits a crime? Is there a jail? What kind of laws apply there?

Antarctica is fascinating to me. I'm very jealous that you got to spend time there. The only thing I wouldn't like is the fact that you don't get a real bathroom. Is there any running water or only bottled water?

Only if there's a futuristic dome that's 72 degrees all the time and is like Utopia.

What happens after you all leave? Is the station closed while it's 6 months of darkness? Or do a few people stay behind?
There are people who stay during the winter, they are called winter overs. Some people will stay for both the summer and the winter, but most people only do one or the other. The most you can do is two in a row before they send you home so the most you can be on the ice is about a year. During the peak season there is about a 1000 people. During the winter it is about 200 or so.

While in Antarctica, what happens if someone has a medical emergency like a heart attack? Is there a hospital? What if someone commits a crime? Is there a jail? What kind of laws apply there?

We just have the clinic on the ice. During the summer there are military planes brining supplies almost every day (depending on the weather), if you are bad enough they will send you back on one of the military planes and bring you to Christchurch NZ. It is about a 5 hour plane ride to NZ. We had some people sent to NZ, broken legs, people with nervous break downs, stuff like that. Once you leave for NZ you don't usually come back. Most people get sent home after NZ. There were a couple of people who came back, but most didn't.

I was on the MCI team (mass casualty incident). They trained a lot of the base in a skill in case there was a big accident (like a plane crash). I was a stretcher barer. We had a simulation of an event and went through the motions of what we would do if something big happened. It was actually kind of scary doing it.

Most of us down there were civilians, but if there was a crime I bet the military would step in and just bring you back to NZ and deal with you there. Crime really isn't an issue down there. The biggest thing is people accidentaly take the wrong jacket outside the galley because they all look the same. It's all the same laws. If anything there are more because we really aren't on US territory. There are a lot of things we can't do because of the Antarctic treaty.

Antarctica is fascinating to me. I'm very jealous that you got to spend time there. The only thing I wouldn't like is the fact that you don't get a real bathroom. Is there any running water or only bottled water?

We had real bathrooms. The building I worked in didn't have one, but most buildings do. They are a little different. The urinals were waterless, but they have those here too. Human waste is dehydrated and sent back in planes and is used as manure on farms. Back to the treaty, nothing is allowed to stay on the ice, not even waste. There is running water, we had sinks and water fountains. Most of the water there is recycled through reverse osmosis. The waste water treatment facility was one of the best tours I went on there.

Only if there's a futuristic dome that's 72 degrees all the time and is like Utopia.

They do have a green house during the winter that is that warm. We weren't allowed in it though, but the building it was in wasn't too big but I never actually saw the inside.

we really aren't on US territory. There are a lot of things we can't do because of the Antarctic treaty.

So does Argentina or Chile own Antarctica?

So does Argentina or Chile own Antarctica?

Nobody really owns any of it, but certain countries claim a section. The section McMurdo is on is on land claimed by New Zealand.

This is what it looks like broken down
http://www.discoveringantarctica.org.uk/img/activity_pics/9_treaty_map_510.jpg

The U.S. stance is that the claims don't mean anything, but we still respect them anyway.

^^^ It looks like Australia has the biggest claim on it. I wonder if the unclaimed territory will ever be claimed by a certain country.

That is cool!!!

So I'm wondering do the southern parts of South America get REALLY COLD? I didn't realize it was that close to Antartica.

It's funny b/c I always think of South America as being really HOT.

^^^ It looks like Australia has the biggest claim on it. I wonder if the unclaimed territory will ever be claimed by a certain country.

I don't think so because since the treaty came out I don't believe anyone is allowed to claim new territory.

That is cool!!!

So I'm wondering do the southern parts of South America get REALLY COLD? I didn't realize it was that close to Antartica.

It's funny b/c I always think of South America as being really HOT.

I know Palmer Station rarely gets below freezing year round. I think it is usually just above it.

Yeah, the Southern part of South America gets very cold as it is further away from the equator. It's really not that close. From what I read the southern most tip of Argentina is about a 1000 miles to the closest part of Antarctica.

Those pics dont look too unbearable.

And I don't like the extreme cold nor hot, I like it about 75 degrees.

75 sounds good about now here!!


I have heard Antartica is really all land under all that ice (Its a very LOW LEVEL island)

I have heard they have tunnels in the ice going down to the land below where they have stuff there...... Would be interesting to see it!!!!!!!