January 13, 2005

What the hell is happening at McMurdo? - The US base at McMurdo in Antarctica has been undergoing dramatic evacuation procedures of all personel assisted by the Russians, largely ignored by world media. What the fuck is actually happening?

The US has ordered the evacuation of the McMurdo base in the Antartic. The Russian icebreaker Krasin, apparently one of the largest in their fleet, has gone full steam to rendezvous with US icebreakers in order to assist the evac, & is likely at McMurdo right now as I write this. What is going on? A massive 3,000-square-kilometer/1,200-square-mile iceberg is about to impact with a glacial peninsula of ice in McMurdo sound known as the Drygalski Ice Tongue. The impact is predicted to happen tomorrow. While this collision is in 'slow motion', even a glancing blow from such a massive island of ice will have unpredictable results, which is why McMurdo base is being evacuated. While the report linked above is bland in its language, & somewhat cheery in its interpretation of this remarkable event, what we may witness is the shearing off of a chunk of glacial ice from the Antarctic landmass the size of a small country, possibly impacting the nearby base as the ice collapses out into the sea. A slow motion cataclysm. Why do they need these massive icebreakers? The whole sound is clogged with ice. More interesting is that these ships are apparently needed to transport all the equipment out. It seems as if the potential for McMurdo to disappear is being provided for.

posted by Nostrildamus 19 years ago
  • Wow, maybe it's a good thing I didn't go down there this season...
  • In related news, "Icebergs have been sighted in New Zealand waters for the first time in 57 years, prompting a warning to shipping in the region.". The continuing break-up of the great Antarctic ice sheets are being ignored by Western media. Why?
  • from a UPI story: The collision actually could help both penguins and ships reach the open sea more easily, scientists said. Penguins must now swim great distances to reach open waters and food. Adult penguins may not be able to make the trip and return with food for their young. After the collision, the ice tongue actually might collapse, opening a lane to the sea. think of the penguins! hurray!
  • An iceberg the size of New York's Long Island is hard to imagine. That's incredibly huge.
  • it's obviously a penguin conspiracy.
  • 2nd Impact imminent?
  • The continuing break-up of the great Antarctic ice sheets are being ignored by Western media. Why? In case you haven't noticed, we have celebrities on trial here.
  • we can only cover one breakup at a time, and right now it's brad pitt/jennifer aniston.
  • I can't believe you bought the cover story. It's aliens, man!
  • Well, *one* alien, but he can change form to look like anything. That's trouble. The continuing break-up of the great Antarctic ice sheets are being ignored by Western media. My guess would be a combination of no one knowing either what that means or what the hell to do about it.
  • Fascinating post, Nostrildamus. Thank you. Is this the Antarctic version of a "snow day"?
  • The Antarctic breakup is being reported in the American science media (_Discover Magazine_, etc), but of course that still means that not as many people know about it as know about Pitt/Aniston. I wonder if celebrity stories like this are so widely popular because the journalists or the readers are all "Weee! Now he/she can be mine -- all mine!"
  • I am curious to know more about this "ice tongue," and wonder what it might feel like.
  • another beauty post Nosey, thanks. So . . why not . . y'know .. . fly some stuff out? Can't they be reached by plane? Will science not invent a plane big enough to fly there??
  • The continuing break-up of the great Antarctic ice sheets are being ignored by Western media. Why? Because Chicken Little is still not news.
  • "Can't they be reached by plane?" There have been rare airlifts out there, but the intense cold has a way of fucking planes up really bad viz hydraulics, fuel, etc.
  • "Because Chicken Little is still not news." LOL what temperature is the sand?
  • The continuing break-up of the great Antarctic ice sheets are being ignored by Western media. Why? Because quoting from the article.. Scientists believe that the enormous piece of ice broke away as part of a long-term natural cycle (every 50-to-100 years, or so) in which the shelf, which is roughly the size of Texas, sheds pieces much as human fingernails grow and break off. Since McMurdo station is behind the path of the iceberg. You can see from the photo's that the iceberg has passed Mt Erbreus. So why panic? From the article again... The National Science Foundation (NSF) officials said that the B-15A iceberg and the frozen Sound will not interfere with supply ship access to McMurdo Station, the U. S. logistics hub for much of the nation's research activity in Antarctica. Forty miles of ice typically separate the pier at McMurdo from the open sea, but this year the ice stretched 80 miles from the station. So far, the extra ice has not been a problem. The U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star left Seattle, Washington, on Nov. 4 and docked at McMurdo in early January after cutting a channel through the ice for supply ships.
  • I'm on the side of the overwhelming majority of climatologists who say that global warming is real, is caused largely by humans, and will probably suck. However: Uh, what zedcaster said.
  • ...the intense cold has a way of fucking planes up... It's the middle of summer down there. They should quit their bitchin' and bask in the sun.
  • "The US base at McMurdo in Antarctica has been undergoing dramatic evacuation procedures of all personel assisted by the Russians." Huh? Where'd you come up with that? I don't find any news of an evacuation. McMurdo isn't in any danger whatsoever.
  • If there is a McMurdo evacuation going on, I wonder if it happened to be inspired by the Asian Tsunami, or was pre-planned? Some of the background research on tsunamis I've come across recently is based on exactly the sort of event that might occur when two immense icebergs collide.
  • Latest image... also a pretty cool movie (QT).
  • Yeah, I dont know what all you people are on but this is obviously a hoax. I'm here on Long Island and it's nowhere near Antarctica...
  • we can only cover one breakup at a time, and right now it's brad pitt/jennifer aniston. SideDish wins.
  • check out ice blog for more on life in the big A.
  • Webcams In Antarctica
  • Seriously, not one joke or reference to "The Thing" in this entire thread? I'm severely dissapointed in all of you...
  • Seriously, not one joke or reference to "The Thing" in this entire thread? I can't believe you bought the cover story. It's aliens, man! posted by rushmc at 05:10PM UTC on January 13 Well, *one* alien, but he can change form to look like anything. That's trouble... posted by Fes at 05:15PM UTC on January 13 Also, what zedcaster said. They sky may well be falling, but I think this just an acorn.
  • 2nd Impact imminent? /begins development on the S2 engine /buys boat
  • "Since McMurdo station is behind the path of the iceberg. You can see from the photo's that the iceberg has passed Mt Erbreus. So why panic?" My point in a nutshell. Why have the Russians been asked by the US to help evacuate McMurdo?
  • Answer: they haven't.
  • In a worst case, the large chunks of ice floating around from the collision/breakup could cause the whole area to be choked up with impassable ice. Flying in to McMurdo is not a simple thing, so the best thing to do is get out while you can. Another thing to worry about is the possiblilty of the very large waves from the collision causing a further breakup of the ice shelf, turning the whole area into one big clusterfuck of large ice bergs. Russki ice breakers are second to none, so when you absolutely, positively have to get through ice, the Russian ships are your best bet. There is a large amount of stuff there, so the more capacity the better. Also, this was on the morning news in Aus, but they showed a BBC clip. Maybe it's only the US media missing the point.
  • ... global warming is real, is caused largely by humans, and will probably suck ... posted by dirigibleman at 08:50PM UTC on January 13 Agreed on points 1 and 3, but minor quibble on 2. I'm of the opinion that global warming is a natural phenomena. Especially concerning Antartica, where it takes centuries for warmer average temperatures to penetrate the land based ice sheets. It's being accelerated like a rocket on a sled by humans, however. And if you don't like change (I mean, isn't that the implicit social compact we have with pan handlers? We feel good by helping them, and they do us a favor by absorbing our annoying change. *shakes fist at pocketful of pennies*), that's so not a good thing. Short Version: Turn off your computer, you're ruining my world!
  • Moonbird, thanks for the link. Also, check out Big Dead Place. It's all full of dark comedy and antarctic drunkenness, and apparently they have a book coming out this year. One of my favorite random spots on the web.
  • "Answer: they haven't." posted by kmellis at 02:58AM UTC on January 14 Russian icebreaker to rescue U.S. base
  • Russian rescue for the American base, then -- only the Americans don't know about it. Which seems odd.
  • More on the Krasin
  • Didn't the Washington Times also say that Russia stole the hi-ex out of the Al Qaaqaa facility? Credibility is not their strong point.
  • Yeah, that's right, step 2: impugn the source. There isn't a media source on earth that hasn't made an error about something. Which particular media source that accords with your version of reality should I cite? ;) That was a random one I picked out from a shiteload. Let's put it this way.. the American government is completely forthcoming and truthful about everything. /eyebrows raised
  • That's not a "rescue"...certainly not in the sense that the ship is there to EVACUATE the base as you've repeatedly claimed. In truth, the ship is an icebreaker there to help break some ice that would otherwise stop supplies from getting there and that is too much for the American icebreaker on its own. This is not a big deal.
  • This McMurdo area has a deep lake sealed off for thousands, if not millions of years. From the picture I even recognize the ice tongue from the mother article linked... Yet there is life subsisting there, found to be energized by H-H molecular hydrogen.