tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/australian-antarctic-division-12824/articlesAustralian Antarctic Division – The Conversation2023-08-21T20:18:03Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2115202023-08-21T20:18:03Z2023-08-21T20:18:03ZI’ve spent 40 years studying Antarctica. The frozen continent has never needed our help more<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543611/original/file-20230821-252667-2ea691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C0%2C4559%2C2586&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Patti Virtue</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After decades immersed in Antarctic science, I’ve learned that physical and biological changes rarely occur smoothly. More often than not, they unfold in sharp steps. Right now, Antarctica’s climate and ecosystems are experiencing disturbing changes.</p>
<p>Much of this winter’s sea ice is <a href="https://theconversation.com/antarctica-is-missing-a-chunk-of-sea-ice-bigger-than-greenland-whats-going-on-210665">missing</a>. A crucial <a href="https://theconversation.com/torrents-of-antarctic-meltwater-are-slowing-the-currents-that-drive-our-vital-ocean-overturning-and-threaten-its-collapse-202108">ocean current</a> is slowing down, and glaciers and ice shelves are <a href="https://theconversation.com/antarctic-tipping-points-the-irreversible-changes-to-come-if-we-fail-to-keep-warming-below-2-207410">disintegrating</a>.</p>
<p>On land, fragile moss ecosystems are <a href="https://theconversation.com/existential-threat-to-our-survival-see-the-19-australian-ecosystems-already-collapsing-154077">collapsing</a>. Majestic emperor penguins may be headed for <a href="https://theconversation.com/antarcticas-emperor-penguins-could-be-extinct-by-2100-and-other-species-may-follow-if-we-dont-act-196563">extinction</a>. And pollution from human activity in Antarctica has left a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/10/pollution-at-australias-largest-antarctic-research-station-exceeded-guidelines-for-almost-20-years">toxic legacy</a>.</p>
<p>It’s almost certain <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/08/drastic-action-needed-to-limit-worsening-extreme-events-in-antarctica-scientists-warn">things will get worse</a>. On Friday, hundreds of international scientists called for an <a href="https://soos.aq/soos-symposium-2023">urgent expansion</a> – not contraction – of Southern Ocean science in response to the emerging climate crisis. This adds to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2023/aug/04/antarctica-heatwaves-sea-ice-levels-melting">scientific chorus</a> claiming we have only a narrow window to save the planet. </p>
<p>I’ve spent 40 years in Antarctic and subantarctic research. Some 22 of those were spent at the federal government’s <a href="https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-us/">Australian Antarctic Division</a>; my final day there was last Thursday. No longer a public servant, I feel compelled, as a private citizen now, to publicly stand up for the icy continent and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/sundayextra/antarctica/102746764">the benefit of Antarctic science</a> to society.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/antarctic-alarm-bells-observations-reveal-deep-ocean-currents-are-slowing-earlier-than-predicted-206289">Antarctic alarm bells: observations reveal deep ocean currents are slowing earlier than predicted</a>
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<h2>Crucial to life as we know it</h2>
<p>Antarctica matters. What happens there affects global weather patterns and sea levels.</p>
<p>But Antarctica’s climate is changing. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-21/ocean-tempertature-records-2023/102701172">Record-breaking stored heat</a> is melting ice shelves from underneath, setting off a chain reaction. Without the buttressing of the ice shelves, glaciers flow faster to the sea. In West Antarctica, the Thwaites “doomsday glacier” is <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/images-antarcticas-doomsday-glacier-show-melting-below/story?id=97269226">melting faster than predicted</a>. In East Antarctica, lesser-known <a href="https://theconversation.com/conger-ice-shelf-has-collapsed-what-you-need-to-know-according-to-experts-180077">ice shelves have collapsed</a> and glaciers are shrinking, adding to sea-level rise.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/antarcticas-doomsday-glacier-how-its-collapse-could-trigger-global-floods-and-swallow-islands-173940">Antarctica's 'doomsday' glacier: how its collapse could trigger global floods and swallow islands</a>
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<p>Antarctica is governed by <a href="https://www.ats.aq/e/antarctictreaty.html">the Antarctic Treaty</a>, negotiated by 12 countries, including Australia, during the Cold War in 1959. Australia’s territory in Antarctica comprises 42% of the continent. </p>
<p>In my view, the treaty is magnificent. It represents a grand vision: a continent set aside for conservation, peace and science.</p>
<p>But Antarctica remains under threat. And the biggest threat of all is climate change. </p>
<p>In June this year, <a href="https://um.fi/current-affairs/-/asset_publisher/gc654PySnjTX/content/helsinki-declaration-on-climate-change-and-the-antarctic">all treaty nations</a>, including Australia, collectively stated:</p>
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<p>changes in Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments are linked to, and influence, climate impact drivers globally.</p>
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<p>They added “further irreversible change is likely” without “accelerated efforts” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<p>Scientific research is crucial in the face of these threats, to help better understand these changes now and over the longer term, and to feed into policy interventions. </p>
<p>Surprisingly a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-29/australian-antarctic-division-told-to-find-25m-in-budget/102653756">budget shortfall</a> appears to be inadvertently <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/01/australian-antarctic-division-research-program-budget-cuts-climate-science-projects">curtailing plans for science this summer</a>, according to the Guardian Australia.</p>
<p>In July, the ABC reported the Antarctic Division told staff <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-29/australian-antarctic-division-told-to-find-25m-in-budget/102653756">A$25 million in budget savings</a> was needed this financial year. This led to a review of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02576-8">plans for field research</a> this summer. Reportedly, two out of three permanent research stations (Mawson and Davis) will not be filled with the normal number of scientists this season. That means some planned and approved <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/01/australian-antarctic-division-research-program-budget-cuts-climate-science-projects">projects will not be going ahead this year</a>, including surveys on sea-ice thickness and landfast sea ice. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fractured-foundations-how-antarcticas-landfast-ice-is-dwindling-and-why-thats-bad-news-207814">Fractured foundations: how Antarctica's 'landfast' ice is dwindling and why that's bad news</a>
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<p>The Greens claim the $25 million hit to the Antarctic Division represents a <a href="https://greens.org.au/news/media-release/senate-inquiry-aad-mismanagement-established">16% cut to its operating budget</a> for the current financial year.</p>
<p>Seizing an opportunity, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/09/antarctica-climate-science-projects-liberal-greens-deal">Greens and Liberal Party</a> established a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Environment_and_Communications/AntarcticDivision">Senate inquiry</a> into what they refer to as funding cuts, to report by November 30.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, Antarctic activities receive overwhelmingly bipartisan support. For many decades Australia’s record in Antarctic protection has been impressive. For example, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek recently tripled the size of the marine protected area around <a href="https://theconversation.com/penguin-paradise-and-geological-freak-why-macquarie-island-deserves-a-bigger-marine-park-201368">Macquarie Island</a>. </p>
<p>Former Labor environment minister <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/garrett-talks-up-governments-whaling-stance-20100605-xm31.html">Peter Garrett advanced whale conservation</a>. He was instrumental in the campaign against so-called “scientific whaling” in the Antarctic, backed by government scientists, which culminated in Australia’s successful challenge to Japanese whaling in the International Court of Justice in 2014. </p>
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<p>Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull funded <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/29/malcolm-turnbull-announces-custom-built-icebreaker-for-antarctic-research">Australia’s new icebreaker</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/10/rats-and-rabbits-invasive-species-macquarie-island-southern-ocean-aoe">feral pest eradication from Macquarie Island</a>. And Labor prime minister Bob Hawke, with treasurer Paul Keating, collaborated with French prime minister Michel Rocard in 1991 to ensure a mining ban and sign the <a href="https://www.ats.aq/e/protocol.html">Madrid Protocol</a> to protect Antarctic ecosystems. </p>
<p>Support for Antarctic Division activities contributed to curtailing the illegal toothfish fishing in Antarctic waters. A regulated, sustainable industry is now in place. Krill fisheries operate according to science-based decisions. Efforts to reduce albatross bycatch in longline fishing were also led by Antarctic Division scientists.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542753/original/file-20230815-29-5xb8yc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of icy mountains looming over Ross Sea in east Antarctica" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542753/original/file-20230815-29-5xb8yc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542753/original/file-20230815-29-5xb8yc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542753/original/file-20230815-29-5xb8yc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542753/original/file-20230815-29-5xb8yc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542753/original/file-20230815-29-5xb8yc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542753/original/file-20230815-29-5xb8yc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542753/original/file-20230815-29-5xb8yc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Mount Martin looms over the Ross Sea in east Antarctica.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dana M Bergstrom</span></span>
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<h2>Cleaning up the mess in Antarctica</h2>
<p>The story of Antarctica serves as a compelling reminder humanity must end our reliance on fossil fuels. We must also do a far better job of environmental stewardship – including paying for the scientific research so urgently needed.</p>
<p>Failing to fully support vital Antarctic science in a rapidly unfolding climate emergency, in my view, is unwise.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211520/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dana M Bergstrom has received funding from the Australian Antarctic Program. As well as her university affiliation, her recent past position was a Principal Research Scientist with the Australian Antarctic Division.</span></em></p>After several decades in research, including 22 years at the Australian Antarctic Division, this scientist is standing up for our icy continent. Here’s why Antarctic research needs ongoing funding.Dana M Bergstrom, Honorary Senior Fellow, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1050342018-10-16T07:27:29Z2018-10-16T07:27:29ZRemembering Sidney Jeffryes and the darker side of our tales of Antarctic heroism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240755/original/file-20181016-165924-14cuqe4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Aurora lying at anchor in Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica in 1913.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Library of Australia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Antarctica is famous for its survival stories, but one of the most compelling has languished in the shadows for over a century. An unmarked grave in the public cemetery at Ararat has been the resting place of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Jeffryes">Sidney Jeffryes</a>, the remarkable radio operator of Douglas Mawson’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110423023749/http://www.mawsonshuts.aq/">Australasian Antarctic Expedition</a>. </p>
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<span class="caption">Sidney Jeffryes photographed between 1912 and 1914.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
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<p>In 1913, Jeffryes achieved a world first when he made ongoing two-way wireless contact between Antarctica and Australia. However, his mental illness during the expedition, and his subsequent committal to a high-security asylum, meant his contribution was swept under the carpet.</p>
<p>Only now has his important role in Australian Antarctic history been recognised with the laying of a plaque on his grave.</p>
<p>A Queenslander, Jeffryes was working as a shipboard radio operator and already making claims to long-distance telegraphy records when in 1911 he applied for a position on Mawson’s expedition. Although another applicant was selected, Mawson considered Jeffryes a “very good man”. </p>
<p>It is unsurprising, then, that the following year, when the expedition vessel, the Aurora, left Hobart to bring the expeditioners back from Antarctica, Jeffryes was offered a place as its wireless operator. What he didn’t realise was that he would end up spending an unexpected year in the far south.</p>
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<span class="caption">Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition in polar seas, 1912.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">E.W Searle, National Library of Australia</span></span>
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<p>When the Aurora arrived at the expedition hut in Commonwealth Bay to take all the men home, three were missing: a sledging party led by Mawson had failed to return. With the season growing late, the ship’s captain had to leave to collect a group of men at another continental base. So he took most of the expeditioners with him, leaving five behind to wait for the missing party. Jeffryes agreed to stay behind and take the place of the original radio operator, Walter Hannam.</p>
<p>When Mawson returned to the hut, he was alone. His two companions had perished during the journey. Thus began a very trying year. Mawson was recovering from an extremely arduous journey, and he and the five men from the original expedition were mourning the loss of two beloved friends. As the only newcomer to the hut, unused to the extreme conditions, and under pressure to make the wireless work better than it had, Jeffryes was in a difficult position.</p>
<p>Despite these pressures, he made a success of his unanticipated role. In March 1913 the Australian press celebrated the establishment of wireless contact with Australia. The expeditioners were delighted to be able to communicate with their loved ones, although there was tension over whose messages would get priority. Jeffryes had to operate under testing circumstances, working late into the night, when reception was best, to try to pick up the faint and noisy messages.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sledging-songs-penguins-and-melting-ice-how-antarctica-has-inspired-australian-composers-101325">Sledging songs, penguins and melting ice: how Antarctica has inspired Australian composers</a>
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<p>In June 1913, after a particularly strong gale, the always troublesome wireless mast blew down, making it impossible to send or receive messages. Shortly afterwards, Jeffryes began exhibiting unusual behaviour, at one point challenging another man to a fight.</p>
<h2>‘Delusional insanity’</h2>
<p>Over the next few weeks he exhibited a series of symptoms – including delusions of persecution, paranoia and decline in hygiene – that are consistent with what we now classify as schizophrenia. The expedition doctor, Archie McLean, diagnosed “delusional insanity”. With none of the men able to leave the hut in the freezing, dark winter, the situation became very trying for all. </p>
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<span class="caption">Mawson’s hut at main base, 1911.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
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<p>Believing his companions were trying to murder him, Jeffryes began sending out messages secretly on the wireless, including one saying that five others were “unwell” and he and Mawson would have to escape. Luckily, it was never received, but Mawson eventually dismissed Jeffryes – a strange situation given he was unable to leave his workplace.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240773/original/file-20181016-165891-t7xrsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240773/original/file-20181016-165891-t7xrsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240773/original/file-20181016-165891-t7xrsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240773/original/file-20181016-165891-t7xrsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240773/original/file-20181016-165891-t7xrsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240773/original/file-20181016-165891-t7xrsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240773/original/file-20181016-165891-t7xrsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240773/original/file-20181016-165891-t7xrsf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Jeffryes’ cell in J-ward, Ararat Hospital for the Insane.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elizabeth Leane</span></span>
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<p>The seven men struggled through the next few months, and were relieved when the Aurora arrived to pick them up towards the end of 1913. Jeffryes’ behaviour remained erratic and he took no part in the celebrations that greeted the expedition on its arrival in Adelaide in February 1914. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, he was allowed to board a train alone, presumably headed home to distant Toowoomba. The next that was heard of him was media reports that he had been found wandering in the bush in regional Victoria, starving despite the money in his pocket, and saying Mawson had hypnotised him.</p>
<p>Jeffryes was quickly committed to Ararat Hospital for the Insane (as it was then called). Initially his prognosis was hopeful, and he was transferred to Royal Park and Sunbury asylums in the hope a change of scenery would help. In Sunbury, however, he attacked a staff member, which landed him back in Ararat, this time in “J-Ward”, the facility for the criminally insane.</p>
<p>Life in the high-security ward was notoriously hard and the temperatures could be very low; a cell in J-Ward must have made the hut in Antarctica look like a picnic. Yet Jeffryes survived for another 28 years, until his death from a cerebral haemorrhage in 1942.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240774/original/file-20181016-165921-1rx03dp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240774/original/file-20181016-165921-1rx03dp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240774/original/file-20181016-165921-1rx03dp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240774/original/file-20181016-165921-1rx03dp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240774/original/file-20181016-165921-1rx03dp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240774/original/file-20181016-165921-1rx03dp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240774/original/file-20181016-165921-1rx03dp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240774/original/file-20181016-165921-1rx03dp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The plaque unveiled on October 16 2018 in Ararat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elizabeth Leane</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With mental illness highly stigmatized in the early 20th century, and incongruous with the heroic framework within which Antarctic explorers were viewed, Jeffryes’ part in the expedition was deliberately downplayed. He gradually vanished from exploration history, his impressive achievement largely forgotten.</p>
<p>This changed today (Tuesday), when Mawson’s Huts Foundation chairman David Jensen unveiled a plaque on Jeffyres’ grave, officially marking his contribution to wireless history and Australian Antarctic history. </p>
<p>We are moving beyond our obsession with heroes and now telling richer, more complex accounts of human presence in the far south.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Ben Maddison.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105034/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Leane receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kimberley Norris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sidney Jeffryes achieved a world first by establishing wireless contact between Antarctica and Australia. But his mental illness meant he gradually vanished from history - until now.Elizabeth Leane, Associate Professor of English and ARC Future Fellow, University of TasmaniaKimberley Norris, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/860592017-11-14T03:47:50Z2017-11-14T03:47:50ZAs China flexes its muscles in Antarctica, science is the best diplomatic tool on the frozen continent<p>Science has always drawn people and nations to Antarctica. But territorial claims and political tensions are also part of the history of that continent. </p>
<p>China is investing heavily in infrastructure and capability in Antarctica with research stations, airfields, field camps and plans for more. Science must continue to play a pivotal role in easing territorial tensions, as interest in Antarctica increases.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-china-came-in-from-the-cold-to-help-set-up-antarcticas-vast-new-marine-park-67911">How China came in from the cold to help set up Antarctica's vast new marine park</a>
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<h2>A brutal scientific history</h2>
<p>Some argue that Captain Robert Scott and his team perished on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/mar/28/captain-scott-antarctic-centenary-profile">their infamous return journey</a> from the South Pole because of their dogged determination to haul 15kg of geological specimens. </p>
<p>Science has always nestled alongside the dominant motivation of territorial claims. But in Antarctica, it has evolved as a tool of diplomacy between nations, as a means to suppress tensions about national claims to the land. </p>
<p>This tension is not new. It was during his 1929–31 expedition that Sir Douglas Mawson claimed what is now the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) as British sovereign territory, with sovereignty eventually being <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/australia-in-antarctica/australian-antarctic-territory">transferred to Australia</a> in 1936.</p>
<p>Australia’s National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE), formalised in 1947, were not established for <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2356043">scientific reasons</a>. Rather, they were meant to support our territorial claims and enable investigation of valuable mineral and marine resources located within the AAT. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.science.org.au/news-and-events/events/antarctic-frontier-developing-research-extreme-environment">A recent event</a> in Hobart held by the Australian Academy of Science, examining the future of antarctic science was underscored by such themes. </p>
<h2>A time of increased tensions</h2>
<p>In their 2016 book, <a href="http://au.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-074565245X.html">The Scramble for the Poles</a>, academics Klaus Dodds and Mark Nuttall suggest that the planting of a Russian flag beneath the North Pole in 2007 precipitated a new scramble for resources in the polar regions. </p>
<p>In their view, there is an ongoing and under-discussed unease among Antarctic players when it comes to territory. This is felt particularly keenly by countries that have publicly reserved their right to make a future Antarctic claim (such as the United States and Russia), and those that have made no such claim, nor reserved such a right (such as China). </p>
<p>Australia is one of the <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/law-and-treaty/history/antarctic-territorial-claims">original seven Antarctic claimants</a>; we claim 42% of the continent. Our actions in Antarctica are pivotal as we grapple with increasing interest in the continent from assertive states such as China. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.aspi.org.au/report/chinas-expanding-interests-antarctica">Special Report</a> to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in 2017, Anne-Marie Brady of the University of Canterbury outlined three stations, three airfields and two field camps that China has in the AAT. She also noted China’s intention to build a fourth station on King George Island, with plans for a fifth station for the Ross Sea region.</p>
<p>Only weeks ago, Brady released a book, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316832004">China as a Polar Great Power</a> that further examines the game changing nature of China’s growing strength at the poles. </p>
<p>This power has grown, she argues, thanks to the country “investing more in capacity than any other nation”. This includes investment in BeiDou, China’s own global GPS network, which will enhance capability for the Chinese military.</p>
<h2>What is Australia doing about this?</h2>
<p>Australia is emerging from a long period of under-investment in Antarctica to slowly address this geopolitical situation.</p>
<p>In 2012, the US <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/geo/opp/usap_special_review/usap_brp/rpt/index.jsp">released an examination</a> of its need to renew its infrastructure and logistical capability in Antarctica. In 2016, the Australian Antarctic Division released its own <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-us/antarctic-strategy-and-action-plan">Australian Antarctic Strategy and 20 Year Action Plan</a>. </p>
<p>These documents explain Australia’s future role in Antarctica and outline the measures we need to implement to retain our role as an Antarctic leader. These measures include things such as the re-establishment of our overland traverse capability, an upgrade of our ageing Antarctic stations and the investigation of year-round aviation links.</p>
<p>Progress is being made. Australia’s newest icebreaker was <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2017/australias-new-icebreaker-name-providing-students-with-the-trip-of-a-lifetime">recently named</a> and the first steel was cut in June 2017. A Modernisation Taskforce has been established. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191494/original/file-20171023-1722-1jwr3m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191494/original/file-20171023-1722-1jwr3m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191494/original/file-20171023-1722-1jwr3m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191494/original/file-20171023-1722-1jwr3m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191494/original/file-20171023-1722-1jwr3m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191494/original/file-20171023-1722-1jwr3m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191494/original/file-20171023-1722-1jwr3m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191494/original/file-20171023-1722-1jwr3m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Australia’s new icebreaker will be called RSV Nuyina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2017/australias-new-icebreaker-name-providing-students-with-the-trip-of-a-lifetime">Australian Antarctic Division/Damen/DMS Maritime/Knud E Hansen</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Without these vital infrastructure and operational assets, we lose the ability to conduct science across our territorial claim. If we lose this, we can no longer wield science as a valuable diplomatic tool.</p>
<h2>Science as a bridge builder</h2>
<p>Science has long served as a bridge builder in Antarctica, but how long can it sustain this role?</p>
<p>The importance of ongoing scientific collaboration between Australia and China in Antarctica has <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-antarctica-depends-on-australia-and-chinas-alliance-59522">been discussed</a>.</p>
<p>It is generally asserted that the capacity of science to serve as a form of “soft power” diplomacy is sound and that sovereignty can best be sustained by deploying a continuous and substantial scientific program.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/revenge-served-cold-was-scott-of-the-antarctic-sabotaged-by-his-angry-deputy-85288">Revenge served cold: was Scott of the Antarctic sabotaged by his angry deputy?</a>
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<p>But, although Antarctica is considered “a reserve for peace and science” under International governance, <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-australias-claim-to-antarctica-at-risk-33074">the robustness</a> of the Antarctic Treaty too is often discussed. Contemporary media continues to <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/conservation/should-we-be-concerned-about-a-challenge-to-australias-territorial-claim-in-antarctica/news-story/ad27325554ff70b7b0a0e7c5e1312c3a">illustrate concerns</a> over our claim in Antarctica.</p>
<p>The Chief of the Australian Defence Force spoke recently on such matters in Washington and a colleague and I are currently examining the implications for Australian Defence policy of other states’ assertive actions in Antarctica.</p>
<p>Science must continue to play a pivotal role in sustaining peace in Antarctica so that alternative tools need not be called upon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86059/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian McCallum is a polar scientist and engineer; he served for twenty years across the Australian Defence Forces and has received research funding from the Australian Army. All views expressed are the author's own.</span></em></p>Australia must keep up its scientific presence in Antarctica and work with others if it’s to maintain its territorial claim on the frozen continent.Adrian McCallum, Lecturer in Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/409602015-04-29T19:38:45Z2015-04-29T19:38:45ZMelting moments: a look under East Antarctica’s biggest glacier<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79714/original/image-20150429-7100-xc5r9x.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C97%2C3234%2C2311&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Totten Glacier, the largest in East Antarctica, has deep channels running beneath it that may allow relatively warm water into its belly.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tas van Ommen</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s 11 o’clock on a January evening in 2011 as our venerable old DC-3 aircraft banks over <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/living-and-working/stations/casey">Casey Station</a>, in the last golden rays of an Antarctic sunset. Offshore, an armada of giant icebergs sits stalled in the relative shallows along Peterson Bank, a mix of dusky pink highlights and violet shadows. </p>
<p>Inside the aircraft we shut down our instruments, and I strap myself back in my seat before the gentle bump and swoosh of the snowy landing – another mission under our belts.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/icecap/">ICECAP</a> (International Collaboration for Exploration of the Cryosphere through Aerogeophysical Profiling) project – a collaboration between US, British and Australian Antarctic researchers – has been mapping the East Antarctic ice sheet to look for changes. On our many flights, we have used radar, laser, geomagnetic and gravity instruments to survey an area the size of New South Wales, inland from Casey Station. So far, the flights have covered a total of 150,000 km over the frozen continent’s vast eastern expanse.</p>
<p>And it turns out that East Antarctica needs careful watching. The project is giving us a new look at the underside of the ice sheet in East Antarctica, and causing significant concerns for future increases in sea level. One of the project’s major recent discoveries is that the <a href="http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v8/n4/full/ngeo2388.html">terrain under the region’s biggest and most important glacier</a> may make it more vulnerable to melting than we thought.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79715/original/image-20150429-7104-j4hpgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79715/original/image-20150429-7104-j4hpgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79715/original/image-20150429-7104-j4hpgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79715/original/image-20150429-7104-j4hpgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79715/original/image-20150429-7104-j4hpgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79715/original/image-20150429-7104-j4hpgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79715/original/image-20150429-7104-j4hpgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79715/original/image-20150429-7104-j4hpgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Surveying the ice from the skies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jack Holt</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Before embarking on the ICECAP project, there were huge gaps in our maps of the bedrock under the ice. The region contains some of the thickest, deepest ice on the continent, more than 4 km thick, and it’s a place we need to map as we look for a good site to drill an elusive <a href="http://www.clim-past.net/9/2489/2013/cp-9-2489-2013.html">“million-year” ice core</a>.</p>
<p>Generally, we expected the mapping surveys to reveal a picture of a stable ice sheet, not likely to be affected by changes wreaked by climate warming <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-can-now-only-watch-as-west-antarcticas-ice-sheets-collapse-26957">like the more vulnerable West Antarctica</a>. But this view was to change.</p>
<h2>The melting monster</h2>
<p>Satellite monitoring drew our attention to a hot-spot right beside our Casey hub. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totten_Glacier">Totten Glacier</a> is the largest glacier in East Antarctica. It drains most of the area of our survey, every year discharging more than 70 cubic km of water into the Southern Ocean. The monster glacier reaches the coast behind a large rocky obstacle known as Law Dome. </p>
<p>Casey Station sits on the west side of Law Dome, while the Totten Glacier runs out on the east. As it does so, it carves a deep trench more than 2 km below sea level, through which the ice emerges and begins to float. Our satellite measurements were showing that just around this point where the ice begins floating, the Totten is thinning and its surface height is lowering by about 2 m per year. ICECAP researchers set about measuring the Totten Glacier’s outlet, so we could understand what is happening.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79718/original/image-20150429-7073-1kh5xg9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79718/original/image-20150429-7073-1kh5xg9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79718/original/image-20150429-7073-1kh5xg9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79718/original/image-20150429-7073-1kh5xg9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79718/original/image-20150429-7073-1kh5xg9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79718/original/image-20150429-7073-1kh5xg9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79718/original/image-20150429-7073-1kh5xg9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79718/original/image-20150429-7073-1kh5xg9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Totten Glacier drains a huge area of East Antarctica.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The project’s results have quite dramatically shifted our view of East Antarctica, in terms of both the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X14007961">overall picture of ice stability in the region</a>, and the implications of the changes in the Totten Glacier itself. The previous view was that, aside from a poorly mapped valley far inland of Casey called the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21637255">Aurora Basin</a>, most of the ice was resting on hills and mountains, well above sea level. But it turns out that Aurora Basin is <a href="http://www.the-cryosphere.net/5/551/2011/tc-5-551-2011.pdf">very deep and much larger than we thought</a>.</p>
<p>More seriously, the basin is connected to the coast by terrain that is extensively below sea level. This makes it much more like West Antarctica, where there is serious concern that <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-can-now-only-watch-as-west-antarcticas-ice-sheets-collapse-26957">gradual but irreversible ice loss</a> is already under way. The prospect that such a pattern could also impact East Antarctica is a new one – and the prospect that the Totten Glacier’s thinning could herald a similar process of accelerating ice loss in East Antarctica is deeply concerning.</p>
<h2>Glaciers and groundwork</h2>
<p>To appreciate the physical situation, some glaciology is needed. First, outlet glaciers like Totten meet the ocean in floating ice shelves, where they calve icebergs and also melt in the relatively warmer ocean. These ice shelves are buttressed against the coast on their sides and also, in cases like Totten, are very congested at the calving front. </p>
<p>This acts like a “cork in a bottle” that slows the ice as it flows to the sea. But any loss of the ice shelf or retreat of the calving front can let this cork pop out. </p>
<p>A second factor can kick in when the glacier rests below sea level, on a bed that deepens towards its interior. In this situation, if the ice retreats, a runaway process of accelerating flow and further retreat is unstoppable until the ice reaches a point where the bed begins to rise again. In the case of Totten Glacier, a retreat all the way into the deep Aurora Basin would release enough melted ice over the coming centuries to <a href="http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v8/n4/full/ngeo2388.html">raise sea levels by at least 3.5 m</a> – similar to the potential contribution from the whole of West Antarctica.</p>
<p>What’s more, my colleagues and I recently identified <a href="http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v8/n4/full/ngeo2388.html">at least two deep channels reaching back under the glacier front</a>, which may provide a way for warm water to reach deep under the glacier, and could explain the observed thinning and lowering. We discovered the channels with the help of airborne radar and gravity measurements, but what we really need next are direct ocean measurements. Plans are being considered for use of remotely controlled underwater vehicles and robot floats dropped from the air to investigate what is really happening under the Totten Glacier.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79710/original/image-20150429-7073-xuddwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C6%2C1018%2C518&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79710/original/image-20150429-7073-xuddwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C6%2C1018%2C518&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79710/original/image-20150429-7073-xuddwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79710/original/image-20150429-7073-xuddwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79710/original/image-20150429-7073-xuddwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79710/original/image-20150429-7073-xuddwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79710/original/image-20150429-7073-xuddwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79710/original/image-20150429-7073-xuddwz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Casey Station, from where researchers are studying the nearby Totten Glacier.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACasey_station_from_the_air.jpg">Rst/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Better mapping of the region’s bedrock and ocean cavities will also help us match observations with computer model simulations of the ice and oceans, which will be crucial in predicting the changes we can expect East Antarctica to undergo in the future. </p>
<p>Drones and submarines will help gather these measurements, but there is still plenty of work ahead, and it’s fair to say that our old workhorse DC3 aircraft will be busy surveying East Antarctica for many years to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40960/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The ICECAP Project (International Collaboration for Exploration of the Cryosphere through Aerogeophysical Profiling) has operated with support from the U.K.’s Natural Environment Research Council, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Australian Antarctic Division and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, as well as NASA’s Operation IceBridge, the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation, and the University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences.</span></em></p>Researchers in East Antarctica have surveyed an area the size of New South Wales to study the behaviour of the region’s biggest glacier - and the secrets below the ice that could speed up its melting.Tas van Ommen, Senior Principal Research Scientist - Climate and Ice, Australian Antarctic DivisionLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/328092014-10-10T08:16:21Z2014-10-10T08:16:21ZA 20-year plan welcomed for Australia in the Antarctic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61371/original/mm2d2jwk-1412926476.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A brighter future for Australia's Antarctic research.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cmichel67/11257027656">Flickr/Christopher Michel</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Antarctic is a vast and inhospitable place with a time scale all of its own.
For the scientists who travel there to carry out research, a project can sometimes take years to plan and even longer to conduct.</p>
<p>So the release today of a <a href="http://20yearplan.antarctica.gov.au/final-report">20-year strategic plan for Australia’s Antarctic</a> program – and the <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/hunt/2014/mr20141010.html">enthusiastic response</a> to it by the Federal Government – is very welcome.</p>
<p>The plan, authored by <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tony-press-991">Professor Tony Press</a>, emphasises the value of Australia’s research effort to the Australian community and the importance of conducting world-leading research to provide stewardship and protection of the Antarctic environment.</p>
<p>It envisions a world-leading science program underpinned by reliable, well-funded, end-to-end logistics and transport infrastructure.</p>
<p>Most of the high-priority research identified in the plan is not in fact done at Australia’s permanent <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/station-updates">Antarctic stations</a>, but on icebreaking research vessels and in the deep field.</p>
<p>So while the Antarctic stations are key parts of our infrastructure requirements, the key to successful Antarctic research lies in the ability to reach the deepest depths of the oceans or the remotest parts of inland Antarctica where the oldest ice can be sampled.</p>
<h2>Funds have been tight for previous research</h2>
<p>In recent years Australia’s ability to access these areas has been compromised. Successive years of budget cuts to the Australian Antarctic Division (<a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/">AAD</a>) have squeezed the science program because the fixed costs of running the Antarctic stations, ships and air link have taken up a larger slice of the budget, leaving less money for science.</p>
<p>This means the Antarctic program is currently able to undertake fewer than 10 days a year of marine science to conduct vital research.</p>
<p>This in no way detracts from the efforts of the AAD and its staff – rather it is a reflection of their present-day operating environment.</p>
<p>So the decision by the Federal Government to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-08/tenders-out-to-replace-antarctic-supply-ship-aurora-australis/4872754">replace the ageing Aurora Australis</a> is very welcome, but as with Australia’s new national research vessel, the <a href="http://csirofrvblog.com/">RV Investigator</a>, funds to operate it are essential.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61370/original/g59qzfc8-1412926180.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61370/original/g59qzfc8-1412926180.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61370/original/g59qzfc8-1412926180.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61370/original/g59qzfc8-1412926180.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61370/original/g59qzfc8-1412926180.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61370/original/g59qzfc8-1412926180.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61370/original/g59qzfc8-1412926180.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61370/original/g59qzfc8-1412926180.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">RV Investigator was built to be out at sea longer than is currently budgeted for.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.csiro.au/Portals/Media/RV-Investigator-arrives.aspx">CSIRO</a></span>
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<p>As things stand there only operating funds for the RV Investigator for 180 days at sea per year – not the 300 days it is designed for.</p>
<p>It makes no sense for Australia’s world-class research vessels to be tied up at a wharf in Hobart when they should be at sea in support of Australia’s marine research effort.</p>
<h2>Australia’s long reach</h2>
<p>Australia has the third-largest marine estate of any country in the world and a responsibility to understand and manage it appropriately. Of course, there are also many good news stories to be told.</p>
<p>The Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, which I lead, was refunded for A$25 million over five years. An additional A$24 million of funding for developing Hobart as an “Antarctic Gateway” have been very welcome.</p>
<p>The 20-year strategic plan is another bright light on our horizon, providing a set of clear recommendations on how to coordinate funding for Australia’s Antarctic research effort to enable long-term, strategic science planning. </p>
<p>The flow-on benefits from a long-term approach to Antarctic science are potentially enormous. The Antarctic and marine research sector is a major driver in the Tasmanian economy, and the report’s ambitious plan to grow Tasmania as a “gateway” to Antarctica is very welcome.</p>
<p>Presently, the sector contributes about A$200 million annually to Tasmania’s Gross State Product, a number which is multiplied several times over when the flow-on effects to local and national businesses are taken into account.</p>
<p>The presence of Australia’s Antarctic program in Hobart supports a diversified, knowledge-based economy, including manufacturing, construction, electronics and information technology, shipping and aviation services, conference hosting, catering and accommodation to name just a few.</p>
<p>These economic benefits are underpinned by the presence of a vibrant, world-class research community that has been built up over the past three decades. </p>
<p>A 20-year vision and a commitment from government to fund critical infrastructure and research programs are exactly what is needed to ensure Australia remains at the leading edge of Antarctic science and innovation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32809/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Worby has previously received funding from the Australian Antarctic Science program.</span></em></p>The Antarctic is a vast and inhospitable place with a time scale all of its own. For the scientists who travel there to carry out research, a project can sometimes take years to plan and even longer to…Tony Worby, CEO at Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRCLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.