The Secrets of Antarctica Talk

Hello once again everybody. This post is going to be about another talk that I have attended in Cambridge. It was organised by the Cambridge Carbon Footprint (and no prizes are to be awarded for guessing what issues this talk revolved around). The talk was held on the 2nd of July at St. Luke's Church in Cambridge. It was presented by Anne Miller who is in fact Director of The Creativity Partnership of the British Antarctic Survey. If I followed her correctly, I think she is in fact an engineer that was given the opportunity of visiting the Antarctic. I just came across it on the internet, thought it sounded quite interesting, hopped on the train with my mother and brother and then caught a taxi to the venue. We arrived around five minutes late, but I don't think we missed anything significant (or at least I hope we didn't).

• Ice cores and bubbles- This is one of the very few things that I was actually aware of prior to the talk. The drilling of these ice cores enable scientists to analyse the air bubbles trapped within the ice cores and can then give some idea of the various gas components of the atmosphere several years ago. The disks that are collected are apparently sent to Cambridge for analysis, so it was particularly significant that this talk was held within the very place where the scientific data is collected. Using these ice cores, I think the scientists are attempting to map changes in the concentration of various gases in the atmosphere (like carbon dioxide, for an example).
  
• The Antarctic Treaty- This intrigued me a lot because of the neat way in which Antarctica is divided according to which area is designated to which country. Despite the fact that the divisions seem quite strict, various articles within the treaty state that military activity within Antarctica is not permitted, although military personnel and equipment may be used to aid the scientific research that is been done within each country's respective bases.
  
• Anne Miller also spoke about the wildlife surrounding the camps and bases. She showed pictures of various penguins, elephant seals and also told us stories about the consequences of crossing the path of leopard seals. The rather unusual aspect of Antarctica that she explained to us was that marine life were generally larger and lived for longer than usual due to their slower metabolism (which relates to the temperatures that they are living in). One of the most frightening aspects regarding the wildlife in the area was that many of the species are highly sensitive to changes in temperature. For you and I, a three degree increase in temperature may seem minute, but for some species that can mean the difference between survival and extinction. 
  
• Another rather intriguing aspect of the life in the Antarctic was that, even during the very late hours of the night, there would still be sunshine. Due to the increased intensity of the sunlight, a lot of protection had to be used to prevent any damage to the skin, which included sun creams at a high SPF. 
  
• One of the more important issues being discussed (other than the elephant seals that were blocking pathways between various buildings) was the part that Southern oceans play in the absorption of carbon dioxide. Apparently, these oceans absorb around 40% of the all of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. But, now scientists are puzzling over the possibility that this absorbed carbon dioxide may be re-released back into the atmosphere, which could have several dangerous implications on the global climate. Hopefully, some means of calculating whether this is indeed the case has been developed, after all, BAS were the first to realise the existence of the ozone hole. 
  
• Another possibility explored by scientists regarding the melting glaciers, is that currents around the Antarctic are bringing warmer sea water, which may be melting the the glaciers from underneath the surface. But, whatever cause the scientists identify for the melting of the glaciers may not necessarily have an impact on slowing down or stopping the effects that it is having on the wildlife around it. I hope that whatever discoveries are made will now be used in order to better the current situation that we are facing. However, outmanoeuvring nature is not an easy task.