Waste left on Antartica

[janieliz]

I heard there was one organisation that was involved in cleaning up the litter etc left on Antartica? Is that true?

[Mike]

Yes - it's a charity set up by Robert Swan (UK polar explorer who led the 'Footsteps of Scott' expedition in the mid-80's) under the UNESCO umbrella.

See http://www.missionantarctica.com/ for more info.

Mike

how did antartica get dirty in the first place?

[Paul]

Originally Posted by bsimple0

how did antartica get dirty in the first place?

The waste is left behind from previous expeditions or more often from Antarctic bases that have been abandonded. Some Antarctic bases still in use have pretty impressive garbage dumps nearby.

Until recently, everything that ever went to Antarctica stayed there. When it broke was discarded it was just left where it lay or taken to the edge of the base and left.

These days, the waste is dealt with by taking it out the same way it arrived - by ship, but there's still huge amounts of stuff lying around in some places from the bad-old-days.

[ladyjanuary]

Originally Posted by Mike

Yes - it's a charity set up by Robert Swan (UK polar explorer who led the 'Footsteps of Scott' expedition in the mid-80's) under the UNESCO umbrella.

See http://www.missionantarctica.com/ for more info.

Mike

Thank you for sharing the MissionAntarticaUSA site it was very interesting.
I wonder if there is a site like it from Canada and/or does Canada have any involment in the Antartica?>

[jessicamary]

I actually has the great chance to join Robert Swan on his mission last year (Feb 2005) in Antarctica. The clean up project was pretty much complete and our job was to start the 5 year project of building an education centre in Antarctica. Last year we built the accomodation hut, this years team will start to build the education centre itself. In fact they set sail from Ushuaia tomorrow (Feb 26th) for Antarctica - you can follow the progress on www.2041.com.

As for similar things in Canada, though I lived in Canada for 7 years and had lots of friends who were arctic scientists, I don't know of any similar missions. If I find out about any I will post the info here.

btw: anyone can join Roberts missions, you just need to get sponsorship. I am a packaging designer, not a polar explorer or professional environmentalist, I am just passionate about Antarctica! Details on how to join his missions are on the 2041 website also.