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Monday 7 July 2008

Winter wonderland

Winter wonderland

At the beginning of 1984 — more than 23 years ago — I was lucky enough to be invited by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) to join its research and supply vessel, the John Biscoe, on a six-week trip to Antarctica.

‘Most days,’ he told me, as we sat inside the bunkroom in the original prefabricated hut first brought down to Antarctica in 1944, ‘we have two or three cruise ships. Tourist numbers here have risen from 11,000 last year to 15,000 this year.’ Taking Antarctic tourism as a whole, Atkinson believes that there could be well over 30,000 visitors each year and that some overall limit should be set under the Antarctic Treaty.

Atkinson believes, however, that the direct impact of tourism in Antarctica is minor compared with the impact of global warming. ‘The biggest problem for Antarctica is going to be global warming. Compared to that, all other issues pale into insignificance.’

I had plenty of time to reflect on the long haul back to Ushuaia. I had brought with me a copy of the latest report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). As I sat in my cabin turning the pages, I learned that currently the Antarctic Peninsula was registering the highest temperature changes in the world, over three times the global average. Losses from the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica had very likely contributed to sea level rise between 1993 and 2003 and would, under all the projections, continue to do so in the future. The report further indicated ominously, ‘Global average sea level in the last interglacial period (about 125,000 years ago) was likely four to six metres higher than during the 20th century, mainly due to the retreat of polar ice.’

Four to six metres! It wouldn’t just be goodbye to the Maldives! It would be goodbye Piccadilly, farewell Leicester Square!

I took the report up to the ship’s bar and spread the document out on the polished wood in front of me. At that moment a majestic iceberg with a strange and wonderful bluish tinge floated past the wide plate-glass windows of the Antarctic Dream’s observation deck. What an amazing, utterly stunning place Antarctica was, I thought. How incredibly lucky I had been to visit it not once, but twice in my lifetime.

I sat there, glass in hand, staring out at the waters of the Southern Ocean. Would the Antarctic miracle which I had first observed in 1984 and which, amazingly, seemed largely intact 25 years later, survive temperature increases of the magnitudes projected? What would happen to the penguins, the seals, the whales, the albatross and other sea-birds? Should we just write them off ?

Another stunning iceberg came up over the horizon. (With global warming the glaciers are apparently calving all over the place). ‘I don’t want to live in a world without icebergs, Manuel,’ I said to the barman. He nodded and poured me another pisco sour.

Stanley Johnson travelled courtesy of Discovery Initiatives, the leading nature travel specialists, on board the M/V Antarctic Dream (tel: 01285 643333; www.discoveryinitiatives.com). All Antarctic cruises arranged by Discovery Initiatives include a contribution to the Scott Polar Research Institute (www.spri.cam.ac.uk) and a climate care levy to offset carbon emissions. A 14-day trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, including all flights and accommodation in Buenos Aires, starts from £4,950 per person.

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