ANTARCTICA: ARGENTINEAN SCIENTISTS TO STUDY GLOBAL WARMING

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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Spanish/Nat It is the beginning of the summer in the Antarctica and scientists from dozens of nations are racing to make use of the two months of comparatively warm weather to carry out research. They work in almost constant daylight while they study global warming and survey the icy wastes. APTV has followed a group of Argentinean scientists to an Air Force base on Seymour Island, one thousand kilometres (625 miles) south of the southern tip of South America. This Argentine Air Force base off the Weddell Sea is a port of entry for the Antarctic Peninsula and islands off its coast. Marambio base gives logistical support to the scientific community, mainly from January to March, the Antarctic summer. With some 25 orange buildings, workshops and storage sheds, the base sits only a few metres (yards) above the sea, choked in the summer with pieces of pack ice. The base has about 30 people in the winter and 50 temporaries in the summer plus about 60 scientists who are working on projects involving fauna, flora and geological formation among others. Scientists can learn here what our planet was 65 (m) million years ago, when Antarctica was much warmer and still connected to South America, Australia, Africa and India in a super continent. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "They were together. So Patagonia was linked with Antarctica. Studies were first made in Patagonia and then here in Antarctica to link fauna and geographical distribution in the past" SUPER CAPTION: Dr Andrea Concheyro, Micropaleontologist from University of Buenos Aires But it is not only the past scientists are interested in learning about. Oil and mineral reserves are another research area. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "There are very specialised studies of sedimentology and the analysis of sediment valleys to search hydrocarbon, that is, the possible reserves of oil." SUPER CAPTION: Dr Andrea Concheyro, Micropaleontologist from University of Buenos Aires And the fact that the Antarctica is a clean area, free of contamination, makes it ideal for studying the atmosphere. Some scientists will spend 13 months studying the greenhouse effect. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "I'm going to measure the carbon dioxide levels to study the impact on human development all over the world, but I do it here, where there are no errors due to the surroundings in the base." SUPER CAPTION: Gabriel Panossin, University Ciudad de la Plata Argentina's presence in Antarctica dates from the beginning of the century. Argentineans now operate 13 bases there, and were among the seven original signatories of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959. The treaty set aside the Antarctica exclusively for peaceful purposes. Nuclear testing and explosions, dumping of radioactive waste and the presence of armed ships or planes are banned here. In the last unpolluted country on earth only the study of the environment is permitted. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/541a56d6c0e411cd6a8511ff5a1c58e2 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork