Can you please tell us more about the weather, climate, daylight hours, and time zones in Antartica?

The time zones are basically…you come down under New Zealand and you go straight down south to the Ross dependency where we are going, to that part of Antarctica where the Ross Ice Shelf is, Scott Base, McMurdo same time zone, there is not change in time. It’s only when you go sideways around the planet that you change time. The weather depends on the wind. That’s the key thing, whether the wind is going to blow or not. Remember that when the wind blows, it will get warmer. When it’s blowing a blizzard, although it’s very unpleasant being outside, you might only get temperatures of minus five. Even in winter it can be like that. So it’s not very much different from being on a ski field in New Zealand. However, when it’s calm, then the temperature starts to plummet, and you can get temperatures down to minus 55. Certainly in the part of Antarctica that we’re going to, and I see the books behind you, “The Worst Journey in the World”, a historic book… once you start reading it, you won’t want to stop, so it’s about the climate in that part of the world.

I’ve got in the ice here, a couple of examples of rocks from Antarctica, and they’re rather special. I might put this one against a white background so you can see it a bit better. Now this gives you an example of Antarctic climate. This is called a ventafact, and the dry valleys is covered in it. And the dry valleys are about the size of Canterbury, or bigger, about a third of the South Island, that sort of size, and there are about four or five valleys that have got no ice in them. There has been a drilling project in the dry valleys in the past, and this particular rock here has been sculptured by the wind. You can imagine millions of these rocks fitted together across the surface of the land. And the wind blowing off the Polar Ice Cap for millions of years, even thousands of years actually sculptures them. So you end up with these polished shapes, with the next one sitting next to it, and these extend for hundreds of meters. They are quite difficult to walk on, because they’re so uneven. Do ventafacts are an example of this Antartic climate.

I do hope out of today that you will be able to look at the story of climate change and think of that’s a good point, they’ve made a good point there, and other ones you will be able to say, that is a load of nonsense, that just doesn’t happen. The sort of thing I think that you’ve got to pick up out of this drilling project, is that when somebody said it was really wet in Wellington over the past few days, its all to do with climate change, and we talk about the millions of years that its being going on, it isn’t true, you cant say because last season was a good ski season that that single one event is an example of climate change. So watch out for the nonsense that’s spoken about climate change, and look for the real story, and be critical when you weigh up that evidence.

It’s been a pleasure talking to you guys, really enjoyed it, and looking forward to communicating to you from Antarctica, in the videos and diaries, audio/video, it will be great fun, and great learning, looking forward to it.