Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 11/14/2011 - 17:52
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Human Impacts in Antarctica 2011

how many coats did you take to Antarctica and how long is daylight?

Wed, 11/16/2011 - 16:49

Michelle Brown

Hello Ben H. :)Great questions!
There were two ways I brought clothes to Antarctica, the first was my
own clothing that I packed and the second was the big orange bag of
clothes that the USAP (United States Antarctic Program) gave me when I
arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Of my own clothes, I brought only 1 down coat and 1 rainproof jacket. I
also brought a warm wool sweater, some fleece layers and lots of
comfortable shirts for when I was inside. The USAP gave me big red
(which I believe you saw--the really big red coat), a lighter red
jacket that was windproof, a fleece jacket, a fleece shirt, and under
layers (and that was just for tops!). So far, I've been wearing my down
jacket a lot and when I go out on the ice for a long amount of time, I
wear the Big Red. Sometimes I wear both!
Daylight is one of my favorite things about Antarctica--daylight is 24
hours long. That means the sun never goes down. When we went out to
Happy Camper school, we were out on the ice all day and slept there too.
I woke up in the middle of the night, but it was as bright as mid-day.
The only difference I noticed was that the sun was on the opposite side
of our camp than it had been earlier in the day. That means that the sun
is going around in a big circle without ever setting. If you take a
globe and a light, and tilt the globe so that Antarctica is facing the
light, you'll see that while the globe spins, Antarctica will always see
light. If I were to return here in June or July, the opposite would
happen--there would be no daylight!
Play around with a globe and light and see if you can figure out how it
works. I'll write about it and try to explain from my end later on in my
expedition.
Thanks for a great question! Keep them coming!
Sincerely,
Michelle