November 15th, 2007 andrea
I had the opportunity to speak with Systems Ecology Scientist Dr. Andreas Fischlin. As a coordinating lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, he is a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Here is the recorded interview:
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November 7th, 2007 andrea
When Tiffany (Tia) Kramer is on the ice working, she makes daily contact via HF, VHF, and Iridium Satellite phone with field camps all over the continent, connecting them with weather forecasters and observers, relaying aircraft off decks, and is their primary point of contact in case of emergencies. She is also an artist who studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, works in media and runs a small business in handmade jewelry.
She is at McMurdo now, and as I prepare to travel there, we have been in contact. Here is her latest update, a difficult situation there:
“At present we are in the midst of an intense Condition 1 storm that has been bombarding us for three days, backing up flight lines from Christchurch and to the pole, halting all helo(copter) and road travel, and stalling the 50 polies who can’t seem to make it to the South Pole. The polies have been living in crowded dorm rooms without their luggage for 8 days.”
but good news the next day:
“There has been a window in the storm front and three evening flight lines finally made it to the Pole tonight! The whole station is celebrating, along with the Today show, who has an hour ground time before they head back to McMurdo. Now we are just hoping for some flights from Christchurch so that we can get our 25,000 lbs of backed-up cargo, package mail and freshies (fresh fruit and veggies)!”
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October 11th, 2007 andrea
Welcome to 90degreessouth.org, the weblog for the 90ºS project!
On November 30, 2007, I will leave New York City to spend seven weeks at McMurdo Station in Antarctica work with scientists gathering and modeling environmental data, particularly scientists in the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research Project and data from Automatic Weather Stations. This project aims to communicate both the aesthetic beauty of Antarctica and the scientific importance of Antarctica to the global climate.
As an artist who works with weather and climate data highlighting climate change issues, traveling to Antarctica and working alongside global climate and weather experts will be an exciting opportunity to explore art and science collaboration. Although this work could be done at any time, it is especially appropriate that it be done during the International Polar Year because the art work relates directly the polar region’s impact on global climate.
I plan to experiment with data compiled by several scientist teams and determine how best to use it in a sound and visual installation. I will record video and audio interviews with the scientists and capture video, sound and digital images of the environment and will include selections of that work here.  Through talking to many people who have visited there, I’ve learned that in Antarctica, one should ‘expect the unexpected’ so I expect that this blog will contain documentation of some unusual and unexpected experiences!
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