A medical emergency aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer sends the ship and reporter Carolyn Beeler back north just as they’re about to reach the Thwaites Glacier. That means a big delay in starting work on the ship’s core mission, but also an unscheduled visit to a research base at a dramatic location just off the Antarctic Peninsula.
The Rothera Research Station on Adelaide Island, operated by the British Antarctic Survey. It’s home to more than 100 researchers in the summer months, and 20-30 in the Antarctic winter.
Carolyn Beeler/The World
Icebergs calving off local glaciers litter the sea around the Rothera station. Researchers at the station say glaciers in the area are in rapid retreat as the region warms. “It’s really scary,” says one.
Carolyn Beeler/The World
Sunset in Ryder Bay off the Antarctic Peninsula, Feb. 20, 2019, as the Nathaniel B. Palmer waited near Rothera station.
Carolyn Beeler/The World
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Antarctica Dispatch 2: Crossing the Drake Passage
Antarctica Dispatch 1: Gearing up and shipping out
What Thwaites Glacier can tell us about the future of West Antarctica