4. Does Antarctica or any parts of the ice caps look different than the last time you were there years ago? Due to global warming and rising temperatures. Is it like a noticeable difference if you are in areas you visited in the past? Thank you.

Jillian,

For the most part, no Antarctica does not look different to me this year than last. Part of this is that at the main base, McMurdo, there is a large seasonal cycle. So the start of the season has sea ice in front of the base, but by the end of the season, there is open water and a large vessel can resupply the base. This makes is hard to notice changes when I come at different times of the year.

But climate change is having an effect. The sea ice has thinned and there is a longer time with open water. When I first came in 2010, I actually landed on a sea ice (frozen sea water) runway. But as the sea ice started to break up earlier each year, it stopped being worth establishing this runway, so now we land on the ice shelf (a glacier that flows out over the water) runway.

The photo below shows the ice runway in September 2010. The same view in January 2011 shows open water and an icebreaker where the planes used to be.

T.J.