Saving the Antarctic scientists, er media, er, activists, er tourists trapped by sea ice

UPDATE2: get a load of the hilarious announcement from the expedition, where they claim sea ice is disappearing, see update 2 below.

UPDATE3: A film (now a video) has been found from 1912 showing Mawson landing in ice free Commonwealth Bay in 1912. see update 3 below.

UPDATE4: Bad weather has forced the Aurora Australis to back off from its rescue attempt. See below.

UPDATE5: See my opinion piece on why this is a fiasco

There’s quite an ongoing worldwide fascination over the So much sea ice in Antarctica that a research vessel gets stuck, in summer! episode with the ship Akademik Shokalskiy we first reported on WUWT.

I think it was best summed up by this Tweet:

http://twitter.com/ElBuehn/status/416608616070664192

Now, after the first rescue ship The “Snow Dragon” failed:

Which we see in the distance here…

Turney_SnowDragon

…all eyes are now on the Aurora Australis, which was trapped in ice for 3 weeks last month.

But, even that ship seems to have trouble picking through the sea ice. here is the webcam from the bow of the Aurora Australis:

A133631800A[1]

Link to webcam: http://www.antarctica.gov.au/webcams/aurora

Supposedly, the ice around the Akademik Shokalskiy 3-4 meters thick.

Then there’s the comedy of a scientific research expedition disguised as a junket for activists and reporters, such as this guy, tweeting up a storm from on-board:

AlokJha

The other fellow, Chris Turney, has some science credentials, but also has a propensity for wackadoodle alarmism as we see in this WUWT post: Now it’s 2°C climate change target ‘not safe’

Mostly, it’s a media sponsored event, presumably so they can tell us how terrible things are in Anarctica with melting and such:

WUWT reader “pat” writes at  2013/12/26 at 1:59 pm

seems this expedition was more a BBC/Guardian/ABC CAGW exercise!

18 Dec: Guardian: The Guardian lays claim to Antarctica – in pictures Journalists Alok Jha and Laurence Topham have landed in Antarctica with the 2013 Australasian Antarctic Expedition Documentary filmmaker Laurence Topham lines up a shot from the bows. Photograph: Alok Jha/Guardian…

http://www.theguardian.com/science/antarctica-live/gallery/2013/dec/18/guardian-antarctica-pictures

Guardian: Laurence Topham, documentary filmmaker

In 2007 he worked for Current TV, where he edited over 50 short-form documentaries for terrestrial broadcast…

http://www.theguardian.com/open-weekend/laurence-topham

Guardian: Science: Antarctica live (MASSIVE COVERAGE, NO HINT ABOUT THE SHIP’S CURRENT PREDICAMENT!)

http://www.theguardian.com/science/antarctica-live

26 Dec: BBC: Andrew Luck-Baker: Science continues for trapped Australasian Antarctic expedition Science reporter Andrew Luck-Baker is on board the Russian research vessel Shokalskiy, covering the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013 for the BBC World Service programme Discovery…

Tantalisingly, a low band of grey sky to the Northeast suggests clear water lies not so many kilometres away. The grey colour is light reflected from open water. The early Antarctic explorers named this colour phenomenon “water sky” and used it to navigate their route through the treacherous pack ice…

In addition to the Russian crew of 22, the expedition team consists of 18 professional scientists from Australia and New Zealand, and 22 volunteer science assistants. They are members of the public, ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s. They paid to join the scientific adventure…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25519059

25 Nov: ABC Lateline: $1.5 million Australian expedition to Antarctica Professor Chris Turney from the University of NSW is mounting the largest Australian science expeditions to the Antarctic with an 85-person team to try to answer questions about how climate change in the frozen continent might be already shifting weather patterns in Australia.

ABC’s MARGOT O’NEILL: The research stakes are high. Antarctica is one of the great engines driving the world’s oceans, winds and weather, especially in Australia. But there’s ominous signs of climate change.

CHRIS TURNEY: The Southern Hemisphere westerly winds encircle Antarctica, and over the last 20 or 30 years or so, they’ve been pushing further south. Now – so actually in a way it’s almost like Antarctica’s withdrawing itself from the rest of the world…

EMMA ALBERICI: And tomorrow night, in the second part of this special report, could the British Antarctic explorer Robert Scott have lived? We look at how Professor Turney discovered that choosing the right team can be a matter of life and death.

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3898858.htm

Meanwhile, in the “Spirit of Mawson” Spirit of “never let a good crisis go to waste”, the folks on-board have realized the world is watching, and decided to make a pitch for money at their website, presumably to fund next year’s research media junket:

spiritofmawsonmoney

Mother nature doesn’t seem to care about the comedy either way, as Antarctic sea ice is still over 2 standard deviations above normal.

National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) – Click the pic to view at source

========================================================

UPDATE1: Thanks to Roger Tattersall “Tallbloke” who writes:

I’m amused to see Global Warmist Professor Chris Turney’s expedition to Antarctica to retrace polar explorer Douglas Mawson’s route and replicate measurements has run into a spot of bother.

image

Here’s an old news report on Mawson’s expedition

image

It looks like that part of the Antarctic was warmer in Mawson’s day than now. In fact the antarctic is currently colder than it has been for a long time. The high latitudes of the Southern Ocean have been cooling since the 1980′s according to SST data.

UPDATE2: You can’t make this stuff up. This is from a news.com.au story covering the incident and the announcement made by the expedition:

trapped_by_invisible_ice

Um, no, sea ice isn’t disappearing right now, it is growing in the Arctic and within two standard deviations:

National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) – click to view at source

Two standard deviations above normal in the Antarctic:

National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) – Click the pic to view at source

And above normal globally:

Cryosphere Today – University of Illinois – Polar Research Group – Click the pic to view at source

UPDATE3:

A video has been found from 1912 showing Mawson landing in ice free Commonwealth Bay in 1912.

========================================================

UPDATE4: The Times of India reports:

SYDNEY: Bad weather on Monday forced back an Australian icebreaker struggling to reach a scientific expedition ship stranded off Antarctica, while snow and winds have prevented a helicopter rescue, authorities said.

The Aurora Australis made it to within 10 nautical miles of the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, which is stuck in an ice field, before retreating in the face of freezing winds and snow showers.

“Adverse weather conditions have resulted in the Australian Antarctic Division vessel Aurora Australis moving back into open water this afternoon,” the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.

==========================================================

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Man Bearpig
December 30, 2013 9:02 am

This is a very serious problem and the mirthful responses should probably be toned down until their fate is known.

Whatever happens they are going to end up on Mr T’s Fools TV program which will be replayed on Dave for centuries.

December 30, 2013 9:04 am

I really feel sorry for the Russian captain on board the Akademik Sjokalskyi. He needs to solve these urgent problems:
1) What to do when the vessel starts a serious leak (not ‘if’, but when – everybody stuck in severe ice – knows that…).
2) Will the lifeboats hold all people on board, or do I have to leave some of them sitting on the ice, perhaps sheltered in tents or inflatables?
3) What other floatation do I have – furniture, empty tanks, wooden planks, nets and rope?
4) How many Arctic survival suits do we have on board, etc. etc.
5) Can we use the motor-vehicles (ATVs) in some way across the ice – after all, they are amphibian.
6) What ‘abandon ship’ alarm shall I use – the normal sirene signal.
7) Which Assembly location shall we use – up-wind or down-wind?
8) When shall we start lifting equipment off the ship – and where to put it?
Anyway, let’s hope it does not get to this. Let’s hope the Americans can come over to the rescue with the Polar Star, although the ice seems too thick for her also. Why not ask for support from the world’s largest icebreaker – the Russian Sovjetsky Soyus, currently residing at it’s base in Murmansk?
In the mean time, I hope the scientists make the best of performing as many measurements as they can, of temperature, salinity, current speed and direction, down in the water column – right to the bottom. We desperately need those measurements, as many as possible, to feed into the numerical climate models used to predict climate 100 years ahead. We aslo need ground measurements at this location to help us interpret all the satellite images over the area.

R. de Haan
December 30, 2013 9:07 am

The Antarctic Horse and Pony Show presented by the Green Morons to feed the BBC and CBS Global Warming propaganda machinery with alarmist “new facts” about the desintegrating Antactice ice, thanks to Mother Nature, has backfired in a spectacular fashion.
We should take advantage of the situation and blow the entire scam climate scam out of the water for good.
This is their self inflicted Waterloo.
Our follow up should be directed into into a massive campaign to whistle back our political establishment and send them back to their their seats.
They have been in bed with the “Green Machine” too long and we can no longer accept any further destruction of our economies, our energy infra structure and capital spend on useless wind, solar and bio fuels schemes or “climate science” for that matter.
This must be the end of the gravy train.
In short, we will no longer accept any measure to curb Co2 emissions.
We will no longer accept the thievery and the fraud covered by the Green flag of saving the planet and we will no longer pay a single dime to fund their schemes.
This is where we draw the the line in the sand and this is where the buck stops.
There is no place for Green Schemes in this world anymore and the only thing we expect from our political establishment is the immediate roll back of all the rules and regulations that are based on crooked IPCC reports and AGW propaganda.
To achieve this we have to walk the path of civil disobedience.
We have to stop paying for the Green goodies, the high energy prices the taxes, the fraud, the propaganda and the deadly trap of a fossil fuel free and zero CO2 emission future by 2050.
Only a zero tolerance policy for all the climate BS on any level can succeed.
If we all follow suite and hit the establishment in their wallet and bury them under a flood of protest letters we have a chance to end the madness.
If we don’t engage on a personal level and continue our fight on the blog sphere we will be isolated and screwed over by the ignorant masses brainwashed by the propaganda machinery.
It’s them or us and it’s now or never.
Fight for your freedom, your independence and your future because they have planned to take it all.

Gail Combs
December 30, 2013 9:07 am

Greg says: December 30, 2013 at 8:43 am
…Climate change denial still seems strong despite the slap in the face.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..
As long as there is $$$$ to be made what do you expect?
Anyone still pushing CAGW is either a brain dead useful idiot or has a vested interest. I think there are some who will still be in ‘climate change denial ‘ with a mile of glacier sitting on their house.

December 30, 2013 9:13 am

The Dutch have a marvellous word that defies easy translation but puts such a nice sound in such a nasty remark: “sneu”.
Pronounced as “snø” it means something like: “oh what poor poor luck you sad sods have… *snicker*…*guffaw*… *roll over the floor dying from laughter*…”.

Man Bearpig
December 30, 2013 9:16 am

Katabasis says:
December 29, 2013 at 10:41 pm
Outstanding. Only in narcissistic Guardian land is this possible.
Whilst the crews of four vessels are now worrying themselves sick and putting their lives at risk to save them, the passengers tweet about how they have set up a “media hub”. No, really:—–
Just out of interest, why would anyone need a media hub on a scientific mission ?

jim South London Sci Fi Techno Geek TV Show fan
December 30, 2013 9:26 am

Headline Polar Research vessel investigating melting icecaps caused by manmade Global Warming trapped in advancing sea ice
Suppose the power on the research ship fails
So all the Scientist and crews studying Catastrophic Global Warming in sub zero temperatures will have to do exactly as Sheldon ,Howard Raj and Leonard did when faced with a similar situation.All get naked huddle together and share body heat.
Lovely memories of Man (no women) made warming to cherish

Greg
December 30, 2013 9:28 am

Newsbytes: For Global Warming Campaigners, 2013 Was The Year From Hell
Posted on December 20, 2013
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/20/newsbytes-for-global-warming-campaigners-2013-was-the-year-from-hell/
“2013 marks the 17th year of no warming on the planet. Almost everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the cause of global warming.”
Well I guess we can scrub the “almost”.
What a fitting end to the year from hell.

Markon
December 30, 2013 9:40 am

http://www.ecoenquirer.com/south-pole-tragedy.htm
In the above link that talks about James Schneider’s death at the hands of Antarctic cold they can’t give up on “raising awareness about the enormous toll of global warming” – while their man freezes to death.
Remember, these are the smart people folks. The only reason I hope they are rescued is so that people can mock them for the rest of their ignorant, progressive lives.

Steve McIntyre
December 30, 2013 9:47 am

Together with Joelle Gergis, Turney was also co-leader of the AUS contribution to the PAGES2K climate reconstruction. Turney was one of the coauthors of Gergis et al, discussed last year at Climate Audit.

Jon
December 30, 2013 9:52 am

“StefanL says:
December 30, 2013 at 8:40 am
Interesting that the best factual information is coming from Russian and Chinese sources, whereas the reporting from the anglosphere ranges from mediocre superficialities to atrocious spin.”
That could be because “they”, a political movement With an global Agenda, have almost full Control of Media output in the aglosphere?

December 30, 2013 10:16 am

Markon says:
December 30, 2013 at 9:40 am
http://www.ecoenquirer.com/south-pole-tragedy.htm
In the above link that talks about James Schneider’s death at the hands of Antarctic cold they can’t give up on “raising awareness about the enormous toll of global warming” – while their man freezes to death.

That was a pretty funny spoof. Maybe even prescient.
My favorite part was how Professor Schneider didn’t tell the Mrs. where he was going. She thought that when they said “down to Chile” they were discussing the order in which they were going to eat through their expedition supplies.

December 30, 2013 10:16 am

Markon says:
December 30, 2013 at 9:40 am
http://www.ecoenquirer.com/south-pole-tragedy.htm
In the above link that talks about James Schneider’s death at the hands of Antarctic cold they can’t give up on “raising awareness about the enormous toll of global warming” – while their man freezes to death.

That was a pretty funny spoof. Maybe even prescient.
My favorite part was how Professor Schneider didn’t tell the Mrs. where he was going. She thought that when they said “down to Chile” they were discussing the order in which they were going to eat through their expedition supplies.

George Steiner
December 30, 2013 10:20 am

I suspect the captain of this ship will not be a happy captain when this is over. He has put his ship in danger, put his crew in danger, put his passengers in danger. He will be lucky if he does not go to jail.
On an other note. Do you boyses think these morons deserve all this attention you are giving them?

tty
December 30, 2013 10:30 am

Santa says:
“More than 100 years ago some crazy Norwegians froze up in wooden ships in the Arctic and drifted with the ice( current and wind) for many months. I find it hard to belive that the trapped ship in Antarctic, since it’s build for polar regions, is going to have a hull breach”
Nansen wasn’t crazy, far from it. The Fram was built with a special hull form so that she would “pop up” on to of the ice rather than being crushed by the ice press (it incidentally made her an atrocious sea-boat). Fram was also deliberately built from oak and greenheart, because long experience by norwegian whalers and sealers clearly showed that resilient wooden hulls withstood ice-press much better than iron. By the way the “Professor” class ships are ice-reinforced (most russian ships are, for obvious reasons) but they aren’t “built for polar regions”. They have no icebreaker capabilities and fairly weak engines (they do about 12-13 knots if I remember rioght).

negrum
December 30, 2013 10:33 am

George Steiner says:
December 30, 2013 at 10:20 am
” … He will be lucky if he does not go to jail.”
——-
I don’t think the captain runs the risk of being jailed.
An international propaganda effort is always worth exposing – this is why they are getting all the attention.

tty
December 30, 2013 10:44 am

““Given the recent reorganisation of the ice around the Mertz glacier, glaciologists aboard the Shokalskiy think the ship might have become inadvertently caught in the formation of a new area of fast ice, which could stay in place for several years.”
Pure 24-carat spin. Fast ice is one continuous block of ice – you can’t get into it and then get caught when the wind changes like Shokalskiy did. Furthermore fast ice only forms in winter when the temperature is below zero – not in summer when the ice is melting.
However I think can see the line of retreat: Ship caught in fast ice caused by Mertz glacier surging which in turn is caused by (drumroll!) CLIMATE CHANGE. Ergo nobody is responsible for anything.

December 30, 2013 11:05 am

“It’s just stuck in ice. There’s no danger at all.”
When people who predicted the waters would be ice-free say things like this, I’d start looking for a rescue option …

tty
December 30, 2013 11:07 am

Martin Hovland has a number of questions. Since I have some experience from sister ships of the Shokalskiy, I think I can answer some of them:
2) Will the lifeboats hold all people on board, or do I have to leave some of them sitting on the ice, perhaps sheltered in tents or inflatables?
In short, yes, though they are pretty crowded. I don’t know how much good they are in this situation though. They are built to be launched into water, not onto ice.
4) How many Arctic survival suits do we have on board, etc. etc.
Normally enough for everyone onboard.
6) What ‘abandon ship’ alarm shall I use – the normal sirene signal.
Under SOP on these ships the passengers have been thouroughly briefed on the various alarms used, and what to do when they hear them. No guarantee they listened (or understood) though.

Editor
December 30, 2013 11:20 am

Cobb:
Might I suggest an orchestral piece?
To Beethoven’s 9th : (Ode to Joy or Ode an die Freude)
@1:16 of http://youtu.be/dWocYObumVo
Freu-de,
Freu-De,
Freu-de, Scha-den,
[insert German version of stuck in ice in shame… Warmists In Their Mindless Hour… ]
Pick up at about@about 4:02 for 4:53 choral and refrain throughout (with variations to fit music)
Scha den freu-De
Scha den Freu-de […]
Schaaaaaa deeeen Freuuuuu-de
Schaaaaaa deeeen FreuuuuuDe
Scha den Freuuuuu-De
Schaaaaa den Freude
Ode to AGW Schadenfreude, with apologies to Beethoven…

Teddi
December 30, 2013 12:44 pm

k scott denison says:
December 30, 2013 at 7:08 am
That the group trapped on this ship continue to spout the “globalwarmingclimatechangedisruption…” creed sets the “cause” back more than they can ever fathom. They just don’t seem to realize that there is no credibility in talking about global warming whilst trapped in ice. It is absolutely pathological.
————–
Those are my exact thoughts as well. This entire affair is the perfect visual image for the whole AGW movement. A bread crumb trail of stuck icebreakers that can be followed right to the AGW research ship that was looking for evidence of global warming ice loss…
One picture would be worth a thousand words.

Scute
December 30, 2013 12:45 pm

The Spirit of Mawson website blog was updated assiduously, every day for the two weeks before Christmas with all manner of detail, then on the 27th and beyond…………………..as blank as an ice sheet.

Ah Clem
December 30, 2013 12:58 pm

Cleary the Captain of said “ice bound vessel” is under the employ of the Koch Brothers with assistance from an Oil industry grant to the Heartland Foundation to embarass respected Scientists and confuse the general public about the existence of Man-made Climate change.
These are the same blokes who prevent that group of folks up north in the row boat from reaching the North Pole this summer.
I could be mistaken though, Maybe these folks just can’t read sea charts and understand weather reports.

Robert W Turner
December 30, 2013 1:06 pm

Oh the irony is unprecedented!

empiricist
December 30, 2013 1:11 pm

[Then there’s the comedy of a scientific research expedition disguised as a junket for activists and reporters]
Shouldn’t that be the other way around?

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