{"id":1022,"date":"2019-12-06T13:35:09","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T20:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022"},"modified":"2019-12-06T13:38:39","modified_gmt":"2019-12-06T20:38:39","slug":"if-you-could-only-go-to-one-pole-which-one-would-you-rather-explore-the-north-pole-or-antarctica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022","title":{"rendered":"If you could only go to one pole, which one would you rather explore, the North Pole or Antarctica?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"mr_social_sharing_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Social Sharing Toolkit v2.2 --><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 51px; height: 21px; overflow: hidden;\"><div class=\"fb-like\" data-href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022\" data-send=\"false\" data-width=\"51\" data-show-faces=\"false\"><\/div><\/span><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><fb:share-button type=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022\"><\/fb:share-button><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"none\" data-url=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022\" data-text=\"If you could only go to one pole, which one would you rather explore, the North Pole or Antarctica?\"><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><div class=\"g-plusone\" data-size=\"medium\" data-annotation=\"none\" data-href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022\"><\/div><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_digg\" href=\"http:\/\/digg.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthrawnrickle.com%2F%3Fp%3D1022&amp;title=If+you+could+only+go+to+one+pole%2C+which+one+would+you+rather+explore%2C+the+North+Pole+or+Antarctica%3F\" class=\"mr_social_sharing_popup_link\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/buttons\/digg.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Digg This\" title=\"Digg This\"\/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_reddit\" href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthrawnrickle.com%2F%3Fp%3D1022\" class=\"mr_social_sharing_popup_link\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/buttons\/reddit.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Submit to reddit\" title=\"Submit to reddit\"\/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"linksalpha_button linksalpha_link\" href=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/social\/mobile\" data-url=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022\" data-text=\"If you could only go to one pole, which one would you rather explore, the North Pole or Antarctica?\" data-desc=\"Having lived at the South Pole for 13 months and fleetingly visited the North Pole, but having spent the better part of three years in the Arctic ice pack, I have a thing or two to say about both. South Pole Let\u2019s address Antarctica and the South Pole first. Antarctica is a very large place: 5.4\" data-image=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-5be75bbdb38d50c801b77661ac6afd65.webp\" data-button=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/images\/social_share_button.png\" alt=\"Share\" class=\"linksalpha_image\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/scripts\/loader_iconbox.js?v=2.4\"><\/script><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having lived at the South Pole for 13 months and fleetingly visited the North Pole, but having spent the better part of three years in the Arctic ice pack, I have a thing or two to say about both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>South Pole<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s address Antarctica and the South Pole first. Antarctica is a very large place: 5.4 million mi\u00b2 (14 million km\u00b2) compared to the United States at 3.8 million mi\u00b2 (9.8 million km\u00b2) (Europe and Canada are similarly sized). Virtually all of Antarctica is covered by a very thick ice sheet \u2014 it\u2019s 10,000 ft (3,000 m) thick at the pole. This means that the South Pole is at an altitude of a 10,000 ft (3,000 m) mountain and the air is appropriately lean on oxygen. At the pole, the temperature rarely rises above -20\u00b0 (-29\u00b0 C), and typically is at -50\u00b0 F (-46\u00b0 C) or lower. During my 13-month stay there, we hit a record low of -117.8\u00b0 F (-83.2\u00b0 C). Except for the mountains near the continental edge that are not ice-covered and the spectacular glaciers flowing toward the sea, there is very little to see. The ice sheet is flat and featureless. Skiing is virtually impossible since normal skiing requires the ski\u2019s friction against the snow to melt sufficient water to make the skis glide. In Antarctica, the temperature is too low for this to happen more often than not. It\u2019s a bit like skiing on sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the continental margins, you can find penguins (they taste awful!), seals of various types (fairly good eating if you know what you are doing), and cold-water fish of all kinds. The birds are edible, but don\u2019t taste much better than penguins. Nothing, absolutely nothing grows. The only dangerous predators are the leopard seal (weighing in at 780 lbs &#8211; 350 kg) on both floating ice, in the water, and on snow-covered land near the shore, and the Orca (male Orca weighs up to 12,000 lbs &#8211; 5,400 kg) in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-5be75bbdb38d50c801b77661ac6afd65.webp\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>Comparison of USA and Antarctica (Except for this photo, all the following photos I took while in Antarctica.)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-811a6784e6c92c3f5908f6595cd83b9a\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>The Antarctic plateau at the South Pole<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-e00b2cd4e506237fb35bea9f18113a9a\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>Antarctic mountain range at the head of Beardmore Glacier \u2014 the ice sheet extends from the top of the photo<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-7fce4c6cf401503945149b4387b03dbe\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>The Beardmore Glacier crevasse field \u2014 Scott got lost here for two weeks on his way to the South Pole. (The grey vertical line is the Hercules Aircraft propeller.)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-e957cf67d4bc34bbca680dc36344a51e\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>The head of Beardmore Glacier and the start of the Antarctic Plateau<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-a7f73fd9a019e31dc3a1797345c7f618\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>A penguin rookery in Antarctica<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-cc28aed307ea9811ab5d638f6fcda851\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>Leopard Seal eating a penguin<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-c9bb168d9112fa4b7ab831f62a52ece0\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>Antarctic Orca<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>North Pole<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now for the Arctic and the North Pole. I have been under the ice pack at the pole on subs, I have flown over the pole on planes, and I have trekked through the ice pack within a few hundred miles of the North Pole. One part of the ice pack is indistinguishable from any other so long as land is not in sight, and even then it\u2019s difficult to identify your location without modern instrumentation. Ice thickness ranges from three feet (one m) or so at the ice margins to twenty feet (6 m) or more at the pole. The central parts of the ice pack are virtually lifeless, because polar bears, walrusses, and seals cannot penetrate the ice. Closer to the margins, however, and closer to shore, the ice is less thick, and water leads often open up. This is where you find virtually endless numbers of seals, walrusses, and quite a few polar bears. (Incidentally, polar bears are NOT dying off. The polar bear population in the 13 identified lines is greater than ever before except for one line in northern Canada where human incursion has driven the polar bears out.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Arctic is at sea level (except for mountains on the various pieces of land). Because it is not so cold as the Antarctic, skiing is possible. Near the ice margins and land, food is plentiful, and virtually all of it tastes good, if you know what you are doing. The only predators dangerous to humans are the polar bear (on land, ice, and in the water) and the Orca (in the water).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-103a648c9945e0752c24d5868131a2a1\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>Me in the Bering Sea ice pack with a seal pup we tagged<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-091a50e99d34f9d39fc6151c0f91e3c8\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>Close-up of me and the seal pup<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-c4999d8cc3782f2f875ceb5ad203e4f9\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>Diving in the Arctic ice pack<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-a774ebe2c40b41dc3c6a01183385ff17\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>Polar bear cub in the Arctic ice pack \u2014 NOTE that there are no footprints leading to the cub. I picked him up and dropped him in that spot for the photo!<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-15640be3a4fa3df0b635cc3112c281ff\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>The nearly featureless Arctic ice pack. The yellow die marks a hole in the ice we blasted to dive below the ice collecting information about the growth of the ice from beneath.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-3fe9bc316bbe2931e119d3aa6be6918b\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption> <em>Walrusses on an ice floe Photo taken from a helicopter. I was in a Boston Whaler just to the bottom-left of the photo.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-f08b18c3c73c7e9c52153c32bbe2e0ae\" alt=\"\" width=\"586\" height=\"438\"\/><figcaption> <em>Polar bear jumping from one ice floe to another<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-4c80540b1367e3551d637e9f7dc0a0ef\" alt=\"\" width=\"585\" height=\"863\"\/><figcaption> <em>Arctic Orcas<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So\u2026what\u2019s the bottom line? I guess it depends completely on what your task is and whether or not you plan to live off the land. You decide!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"mr_social_sharing_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Social Sharing Toolkit v2.2 --><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 51px; height: 21px; overflow: hidden;\"><div class=\"fb-like\" data-href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022\" data-send=\"false\" data-width=\"51\" data-show-faces=\"false\"><\/div><\/span><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><fb:share-button type=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022\"><\/fb:share-button><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"none\" data-url=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022\" data-text=\"If you could only go to one pole, which one would you rather explore, the North Pole or Antarctica?\"><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><div class=\"g-plusone\" data-size=\"medium\" data-annotation=\"none\" data-href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022\"><\/div><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_digg\" href=\"http:\/\/digg.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthrawnrickle.com%2F%3Fp%3D1022&amp;title=If+you+could+only+go+to+one+pole%2C+which+one+would+you+rather+explore%2C+the+North+Pole+or+Antarctica%3F\" class=\"mr_social_sharing_popup_link\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/buttons\/digg.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Digg This\" title=\"Digg This\"\/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_reddit\" href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthrawnrickle.com%2F%3Fp%3D1022\" class=\"mr_social_sharing_popup_link\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/buttons\/reddit.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Submit to reddit\" title=\"Submit to reddit\"\/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"linksalpha_button linksalpha_link\" href=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/social\/mobile\" data-url=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022\" data-text=\"If you could only go to one pole, which one would you rather explore, the North Pole or Antarctica?\" data-desc=\"Having lived at the South Pole for 13 months and fleetingly visited the North Pole, but having spent the better part of three years in the Arctic ice pack, I have a thing or two to say about both. South Pole Let\u2019s address Antarctica and the South Pole first. Antarctica is a very large place: 5.4\" data-image=\"\" data-button=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/images\/social_share_button.png\" alt=\"Share\" class=\"linksalpha_image\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/scripts\/loader_iconbox.js?v=2.4\"><\/script><\/span><\/div><p>Having lived at the South Pole for 13 months and fleetingly visited the North Pole, but having spent the better part of three years in the Arctic ice pack, I have a thing or two to say about both. South Pole Let\u2019s address Antarctica and the South Pole first. Antarctica is a very large place: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,17,22,10,4,1408],"tags":[206,207,1483,1484,1485,1482,1140,1480,1481,1049,191],"class_list":["post-1022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diving","category-environment","category-general","category-personal","category-science","category-south-pole","tag-antarctica","tag-arctic","tag-beardsmore","tag-glacier","tag-ice-cap","tag-leopard-seal","tag-north-pole","tag-orcas","tag-penguin","tag-polar-bears","tag-south-pole"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.3 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Having lived at the South Pole for 13 months and fleetingly visited the North Pole, but having spent the better part of three years in the Arctic ice pack, I have a thing or two to say about both. 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Antarctica is a very large place:\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robert Williscroft\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thrawnrickle.com\/?p=1022\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 5.0.3\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Thrawn Rickle - Robert Williscroft&#039;s personal blog site\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"If you could only go to one pole, which one would you rather explore, the North Pole or Antarctica? - The Thrawn Rickle\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Having lived at the South Pole for 13 months and fleetingly visited the North Pole, but having spent the better part of three years in the Arctic ice pack, I have a thing or two to say about both. 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