Geologist almost lost his life mapping unknown Antarctic regions in ‘the Edwardian equivalent of space travel’. Toronto Public Library Special Collections/Flickr When Douglas Mawson plodded into base camp at Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica in February 1913 his fellow explorers barely recognised him. The geologist was in apalling physical shape after a harrowing journey into the Antarctic interior during which two of his fellow explorers had died. By the time his ship, the SY Aurora, arrived in December 1913 to take his team home, they had spent more than two years on the frozen continent – a whole year longer than planned. Mawson’s was one of the major expeditions during what has become known as the “Heroic Age” of Antarctic exploration of a century ago. Unlike his more well-known contemporaries Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott, he had no interest in racing to the South Pole, preferring to focus on scientific research. Two-thirds of his crew were scientists engaged in geological, marine and wildlife research and their measurements, carefully made in the face of tragic losses and horrendous conditions, are some of the most valuable scientific data in existence. This Sunday, scientists will begin a month-long expedition to re-trace Mawson’s journey and examine how the eastern Antarctic, one of the most pristine, remote and untouched parts of the world’s surface, has fared after a hundred years of climate changes. “They collected a wealth of scientific data on this entirely new continent,” said Prof Chris Turney, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales, Australia, and leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013. “As a result it provides this incredibly good baseline – we’re going to repeat the measurements and see how much has changed over the last century.” To keep reading, click here. Read original article: Scientists Re-Trace Steps of Great Antarctic Explorer Douglas Mawson ; ;Related ArticlesHow Do Meteorologists Fit into the 97% Global Warming Consensus?Why Climate Change Skeptics and Evolution Deniers Joined ForcesHere’s Why Developing Countries Will Consume 65% of the World’s Energy by 2040 ;
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Scientists Re-Trace Steps of Great Antarctic Explorer Douglas Mawson
