Flying Over Antarctica: Why Commercial Flights Avoid Antarctica

flying over Antarctica

Despite no legal prohibition on flying over Antarctica, the continent remains largely bypassed by regular commercial airlines. Experts point to a combination of environmental challenges, regulatory hurdles, and economic factors that make the South Pole a less-than-ideal route for modern aviation. Harsh Weather and Treacherous TerrainAntarctica is notorious for its extreme cold, unpredictable weather, and formidable terrain. Sudden storms, biting […]

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Painting the world white

Here’s a novel idea for putting the brakes on global warming: Ask everyone in the world to paint their roofs white. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu raised the idea last week at a conference in London, noting that the proposal, first put forth by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, would reflect enormous amounts of sunlight off the […]

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What’s It Like to Work and Play in Antarctica’s Mac Town?

Nature films and science documentaries usually portray Antarctica to be nothing but the most cold, isolated, almost anti-social continent on earth — at least if you’re not a penguin — but life at McMurdo Station disproves that. The 2011-2012 Antarctic southern summer season is now alive and kicking (after numerous delays), and “Mac Town” (as the residents of McMurdo call […]

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Giant boost for south polar waters

Giant boost for south polar waters

Massive icebergs more than 18km long give Giant boost for south polar waters by feeding vital nutrients into the Southern Ocean and helping to increase its carbon storage capacity. LONDON, January, 2016 – British scientists have identified the monsters that fertilize the Southern Ocean and help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Giant icebergs drifting northwards could be responsible for storing up […]

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Strange Plumes On Mars

  Mysterious plumes of gas rising more than 150 miles above the surface of Mars have left scientists confounded. On two occasions in the spring of 2012, amateur astronomers spotted a cloud developing on the surface of the Red Planet. The plumes, which spanned about 600 miles in diameter and changed shape constantly, appeared within a few hours and remained […]

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Watch out, corporations: Space detectives are watching you ruin the planet

Hey, corporations destroying the planet: If you’ve been getting away with illegally logging forests, dumping waste, or overfishing, you might want to reconsider your actions. A new generation of high-tech detectives has traded in their spyglasses for surveillance that’s, shall we say, a little more 21st century — and they think they can catch you red-handed.Fast Company reports that “A growing […]

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