antarctica day 1
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Location: MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA Report: 1 This report filed Jan. 8, 1999 In 1922, an early Antarctic explorer wrote a book about his adventure. He called it The Worst Journey in the World. Our crew [correspondent Jerry Bowen, cameraman Brian Nolan, soundman John Weiser, and myself, producer Bruce Rheins] certainly didn't have it as tough as him or the others who first saw this huge—one-and-a-half times the size of the U.S.—and unforgiving continent. But getting here cannot be taken for granted. Our first scheduled flight was scrubbed—whiteout conditions. We took off the next day aboard a specially fitted C-130 Hercules equipped with skis on the landing gear. But four hours into the flight, we "boomeranged"; turned around, bad weather again at McMurdo. "Typical," said one of our fellow travelers, a scientist. "Now your Antarctic experience is authentic." Third time was the charm. We flew in Thursday night. Antarctica is 18 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone. At midnight, the sky was so bright it looked like mid-afternoon. And all you can say is, "look at all that white." It is as if a freshly starched and bleached tablecloth were pulled tight from one horizon to the other. But, it is not particularly cold at McMurdo, the American base. Temperatures reached the upper 20s for most of our first day. That, paradoxically, has caused big problems here. Immediately, the hard-snow-packed road that links McMurdo to the runways [Williams, or "Willy" Field] is melting. Helicopters ferry passengers back and forth. Lon-term, the undeniable increase seen in Antarctica's air and surface temperatures may produce dire consequences for nature. Copyright 1999, CBS Worldwide Inc., All Rights Reserved |
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