You’d need a heart of stone not to laugh at the spectacle of global warming fanatics trapped in the ice on their way to Antarctica, where they planned to make a big deal about the relative shortage of ice. It’s even funnier because the highly sympathetic mainstream media so clearly understands how utterly embarrassing this is. As NewsBusters discovered, very few MSM reports are willing to admit what the true purpose of the expedition was. You’ve got to dig pretty deep to discover they essentially planned their voyage using the same fraudulent climate projections the global warming racket has been using for decades, and promptly got stuck in a few zillion tons of hard, cold reality. Perhaps we should applaud one of the very few examples of warmists behaving as if they actually believe their own predictions, unlike the jet-setting “climate activists” who think noting of filling the atmosphere with “greenhouse gases” as they descend upon climate conferences in their fleets of private jets and limousines.
While tastefully avoiding mention that the point of this adventure was to draw attention to the supposedly dwindling polar ice caps, the Associated Press describes the scientists’ predicament:A Chinese icebreaker that was en route to rescue a ship trapped in Antarctic ice was forced to turn back on Saturday after being unable to push its way through the heavy sea ice.
The Snow Dragon icebreaker came within 7 miles (11 kilometers) of the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy, which has been stuck since Christmas Eve, but had to retreat after the ice became too thick, said expedition spokesman Alvin Stone.
The Akademik Shokalskiy, which has been on a research expedition to Antarctica, got stuck Tuesday after a blizzard’s whipping winds pushed the sea ice around the ship, freezing it in place. The ship wasn’t in danger of sinking, and there are weeks’ worth of supplies for the 74 scientists, tourists and crew on board, but the vessel cannot move.
Three icebreakers, including the Snow Dragon, have been trying to reach the ship since Wednesday. France’s L’Astrolabe made it to the edge of the sea ice surrounding the ship on Saturday, but called off its mission after it, too, failed to break through, said Lisa Martin, spokeswoman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the rescue.
They say they’re going to continue the expedition after their ship is freed, although they’ve already discovered enough Antarctic ice to answer any lingering global warming questions. They’ve also been able to get some other science done while rescuers unsuccessfully attempt to smash through the ice that wasn’t supposed to be there:Despite the interruption to the expedition, the scientists have continued their research while stuck, counting birds in the area and drilling through the ice surrounding the ship to photograph sea life. Those on board also managed to celebrate the holiday with a traditional Christmas feast and a “Secret Santa” gift exchange, which helped keep everyone’s spirits high, [expedition leader Chris] Turney said.
Thank Heavens they don’t have to face anything like the deadly conditions confronted by the 1912 expedition they were attempting to retrace, described as follows by National Geographic:Most people are familiar with explorers like Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott, two explorers who raced to reach the South Pole.
But Douglas Mawson was different. Along with two fellow explorers, Xavier Mertz and Belgrave Ninnis, Mawson sought to study the shelves of ice rimming Antarctica, ones that had remained untouched for millions of years. The trio left a base camp hut in Commonwealth Bay on December 14, 1912.
The scientific expedition turned into an epic life-or-death struggle: Ninnis, along with the team’s vital gear, food, and dogs, tumbled through a 150-foot-deep (46-meter-deep) crevasse.
Mertz died on the way back.
Mawson fought the elements to return alone and on the brink of death to the team’s hut on February 8, 1913. But he was triumphant, bearing valuable data that would shape modern understanding of Antarctica. His travails prompted Sir Edmund Hillary to call Mawson’s tale “the greatest survival story in the history of exploration.”
The new team wanted to measure the ice and compare it to Mawson’s observations, in the hope of asserting some “role” for global warming, “particularly with respect to melted ice in the East Antarctic.” By the way, it’s currently summer in the Antarctic. Soon we’ll be hearing how unexpectedly dense ice in the summer is “proof” of global warming, just as melted ice and warm water would have been.
http://www.humanevents.com/2013/12/3...arming-on-ice/
