| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (28 min. 19 sec.) ; 171584279 bytes |
| Summary |
Every summer its numbers swell as some of the world's top international scientists from more than a dozen countries travel to research bases dotted across King George Island. And whether it's to witness darts being shot at elephant seals or the pinning down of penguins, Foreign Correspondent has been invited to experience a side of Antarctica that is rarely seen and find out what life is really like on this wild frontier.King George Island, has been described as one of the strangest places on the planet. Located at the far north tip of Antarctica at the very bottom of the world, it's home to the closest thing this southernmost continent has to an international town, complete with a school, a post office and bizarrely, a Russian Orthodox church. One of the world's largest and richest natural laboratories, Antarctica is also a place where scientists need the help of military police to go on a simple field trip. Just try retrieving a biological sample from a three tonne snorting elephant seal.There's a small window each year when the weather is "good" enough for research to take place and some might say what's being done is arguably the most important scientific work in the world right now.The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming regions on the planet, with average temperatures rising 2.8 degrees in 50 years. The effects are dramatic, from melting glaciers to disappearing penguins."The animals are so vulnerable to the climate. They are like canaries in the mine and they are sending a message to the Earth." - Dr In Young Anh, South Korean station chiefReporter Eric Campbell gains rare permission to travel around the island, visiting the Russian, Chinese, Chilean and South Korean bases. It's one of the most visually stunning places he's filmed in, with humpback whales, towering ice caps, and vast colonies of seals and penguins.Scientists say it's also a signpost of what the world has to do to avoid devastating climate change."We have essentially knocked the global climate system out of kilter. And I would say, rightly we should be scared about what's going to happen to humans." - Professor Peter Convey, British Antarctic SurveyBut, as Campbell discovers, there's another reason why many countries are so keen to maintain their presence in Antarctica, and it's got nothing to do with their stated aims |
| Notes |
Closed captioning in English |
| Event |
Broadcast 2015-05-05 at 20:00:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: PG |
| Subject |
Animals -- Research.
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Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects.
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Scientific expeditions.
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Seals (Animals)
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Animals -- Effect of global warming on.
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Glaciers -- Climatic factors.
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Antarctic Ocean -- King George Island.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Campbell, Eric, host
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Ahn, In-Young, contributor
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Convey, Peter, contributor
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Leppe, Marcelo, contributor
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Rossel, Luis, contributor
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