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:
Our rescue boat, the Xue Long, has had to turn back because the ice was too thick for it to get through. We're now awaiting Aurora Australis
— Alok Jha (@alokjha) December 27, 2013
Which we see in the distance here…
…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]](http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/a133631800a1.jpg?quality=83)
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:
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.
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:
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.
Here’s an old news report on Mawson’s expedition
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:
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 sourceTwo standard deviations above normal in the Antarctic:
National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) – Click the pic to view at sourceAnd 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.
==========================================================
Related articles
- Rescue near for trapped Antarctic ship (foxnews.com)
- Cracks in ice new hope for stranded Antarctica ship (worldnews.nbcnews.com)
- Chinese icebreaker forced to cut Antarctic rescue attempt short (ctvnews.ca)
- Rescue of icebound Antarctic ship faces setback (foxnews.com)
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A climate change opportunist named Turney,
Was the tour guide for an Antarctic journey,
He trapped in the Ice his environmental tourists,
and diverse other journalists and warmists,
For the ice had little time for his dumb theory
I wonder is there was a consensus that there would be a clear passage?
Well, you really have to give credit where credit is due: These guys really know how to burn biblical amounts of diesel fuel.
I just hope they don’t run out of tofu….
Has Michael Mann blamed all this summer ice on a giant Koch machine, yet?
Looks as though the ice left its mark a few days ago:-
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_12_26/Crew-repairing-shell-plating-of-ice-trapped-Russian-ship-in-Antarctic-4427/
Louis says:
December 29, 2013 at 11:59 :
“Aurora Australis can break level ice up to 1.23 metres (4 ft 0 in) thick at 2.5 knots.”
So how are they going to break through 3-4 meters of ice if 1.23 meters is their maximum?
1.23 meters is the continuous depth they can steam through. If it is thicker the ship needs to ride up on the ice and break through, much slower process. Got to tour the Polar Star during college, it had large turbine engines they used for just the ice raming, 75,000 Housepower total. Commissioned in 1976, I think I toured I it 1980, so still shiny new.
Meanwhile, aboard the Akademik Schokalsiy, chief climate change scientist Chris Turney, is reporting that cracks are developing around the ice- encapsulated research (sic) vessel.
http://www.christurney.com/
For a day-to-day stirep (Situation Report) of the Aurora Australis, see here;
https://secure3.aad.gov.au/proms/public/schedules/display_sitrep.cfm?bvs_ID=19313
Reports include weather, temps (both air and water) and ice conditions.
The first thing to notice is that the progressive propaganda rag called The Guardian is deeply involved in this propaganda stunt. The second thing is to notice that less ice proves cAGW and yet more ice also proves cAGW according to the true believers of the anti-plant-food religion.
Look folks, if the government schools taught any logic or real science this scam could not go on. The very fact that any occurrence is said to be proof of cAGW invalidates the entire theory. This is not science for god’s sake.
Taphonomic says:
December 29, 2013 at 12:52 pm
The Guardian… Does mention (quite bizarrely) that problems may arise “…if an iceberg began moving towards the ship.”
I have to wonder how an iceberg can plow through the pack ice when icebreakers can’t?
____________________
The very largest of the icebergs have been factory equipped with the latest All Gore Effect- enabled GPS sensors and are programmed to automatically make their way to the nearest locus of Goreblovationism.
Update number two shows the depth of the AGW disconnect from reality. It must be warming, so ice must be disappearing. Even if satellites show it isn’t. They are just unlucky that what is left trapped their ship? Why not ask Trenberth to send the missing heat.
I wonder. Was there a 98% or 99% consensus among the climate alarmists that this wouldn’t happen? Hmmmm…….
I knew they would say this. Any change in anything, heck a run in my stockings, is meant to point to dangerous heavy breathing.
I guess we are not hearing the views of the sailors on the rescue ships because this is a family friendly site. Too bad. Might be interesting.
I was talking to my mother and she brought up the story about this ship stuck in ice. I told her that they were there researching global warming on the Antarctic ice. She didn’t know that. Which tells you already the spin is in effect. How convenient that the news leaves that important bit of information out.
I’m willing to bet money that there was a global warming story that was pre-prepared before these jokers left. A story filled with “coulds” and “it is worse than we thoughts”. The scientific studies start with the ending already, why not the propaganda too? In any event, the spin masters will either deep-6 a global warming story or create a climate disruption story. The problem is these spin masters still preach global warming in the end.
Seriously, can’t they just be left there until the ice does melt? It’s still a way to go until minimum, they’re safely on a ship, they can be resupplied easily by air, and they might develop some idea of just how powerful Mother Nature is compared to us puny mortals.
Aw, come on guys, I hate to spoil the fun but the ice moves around all the time and any vessel can get trapped at any time.
Regarding sanitation, I am sure the ship will be fitted with proper holding tanks which work a bit
like septic tanks (I nearly said sceptic tanks but thought it better not to) and will have supplies of everything else for a reasonable length of time; and the vessel can always be evacuated or re-supplied if necessary by rotary wing aircraft.
Also remember that it was the Captain who got the ship there, not the “scientists” and their “paying guests”. I spent three years commanding survey vessels and the people who hired the ships knew very well that if I said “We aren’t going to do that” then it didn’t happen, no matter how much extra cash was waved in front of either me or the owners.
More to the point, I wonder how much experience that particular Captain has in those waters. He is the one who will answer if/when things really go wrong.
Obviously the ice is being funded by big oil to embarrass the expedition.
At this minute the erstwhile BBC4 is showing movie ‘Scott of the Antarctic’
(Turney? not likely)
Wally626 says:
December 29, 2013 at 1:00 pm
Louis says:
December 29, 2013 at 11:59 :
“Aurora Australis can break level ice up to 1.23 metres (4 ft 0 in) thick at 2.5 knots.”
So how are they going to break through 3-4 meters of ice if 1.23 meters is their maximum?
1.23 meters is the continuous depth they can steam through. If it is thicker the ship needs to ride up on the ice and break through, much slower process. Got to tour the Polar Star during college, it had large turbine engines they used for just the ice raming, 75,000 Housepower total. Commissioned in 1976, I think I toured I it 1980, so still shiny new.
________________
The Swedish Icebreaker Oden appears to have been developed with the strategy of riding up on the ice to break through it, as the following video shows. Apparently, sea water is sprayed continuously on the ice pack to act as a lubricant.
Other videos of the Oden show her merely plowing through ice floes and such in less frozen environment, without spraying water.
Who pays for the clean-up if that ships gets crushed and goes down?
Now what was it the previous Chief Sclentific Advisor to the UK government, Sir Davld King, once said about Antanrtica and the last survivors of mnkind?
Oldseadog says:
December 29, 2013 at 1:22 pm
“Aw, come on guys, I hate to spoil the fun but the ice moves around all the time and any vessel can get trapped at any time.”
But the Guardian is very successful at getting trapped in ice while our planet is warming faster than at any time in history, don’t you think so?
“I have to wonder how an iceberg can plow through the pack ice when icebreakers can’t?”
A typical Antarctic plateau iceberg goes down 100-200 meters below the surface and weighs from several millions to several billion tons. If it is moving (e. g. because of currents) three meter thick sea ice is only marginally more effective than tissue paper to stop it.
“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…”
This seems to state that open water reflects more light than sea ice. What happened to the runaway albedo-caused warming as the ice disappears?
Has anybody actually measures the albedos of ice and sea?