Record Antarctic Ice May Force Mawson Base To Relocate (Video)

– Record Antarctic Ice May Force Mawson Base to Relocate – Video (Ice Age Now, May 31, 2015):

Expanding sea ice threatening the viability of Australia’s Mawson Antarctic research station, warns Rob Wooding, general manager of the Australian Antarctic Division’s Operations Branch.

12 May 2015 – Satellite observations show a new daily record being set for ­Antarctic sea ice every day for the past two weeks. Annual records have also been broken every year for the past three years.

Resupplying Australia’s Mawson Station — the longest continuously operated outpost in Antarctica — relied on access to a bay, a task increasingly complicated by sea ice blocking the way, said Wooding.

Sea ice around Antarctica hit a new record in September last year, with the US-based National Snow and Ice Data Center reporting that the ice averaged 20.0 million square kilometres (7.72 million square miles) during the month.

“In the 2013-4 season we couldn’t get anywhere near Mawson due to the sea ice and we had to get fuel in there by helicopter which is inadequate for the long-term sustainability of the station,” said Wooding, adding that the French and Japanese had similar problems.

“If we were to face such a situation at Mawson for three or four successive seasons, it would be unlikely that we could continue to resupply the station under the current operating model,” he said. “Unless we could find an alternative resupply strategy, questions would arise as to the ongoing ­viability of the station.”

http://news.discovery.com/adventure/antarctic-sea-ice-may-force-research-stations-to-move-150512.htm

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/05/12/record-antarctic-ice-mawson-base-might-have-to-relocate/

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/climate/australian-antarctic-division-battles-record-ice-considers-moving/story-e6frg6xf-1227350881836

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/05/12/record-antarctic-ice-mawson-base-might-have-to-relocate/

http://phys.org/news/2015-05-antarctic-sea-ice-logistic-problem.html

Thanks to Lyn Roberts, Mellyrn, Petsku P  and Shannon Silver for these links

This Australian Govt website talks about living at Mawson.
http://www.antarctica.gov.au/living-and-working/stations/mawson/living

“Thankfully, most climate models indicate Antarctic ice is melting,” says Eric Worrall. “We just have to wait for the observations to agree with the theory.”