Is it feasible to live in Antarctica?

[Vick]

Hi:

I'm currently thinking about living in Antarctica because I like cold and dry weather. At the present, I live in Southern California in USA.

If I were to live in Antarctica, I would like two have two power generation methods -- geothermal and wind.

Has anyone else thought of living around the south pole region?


Regards,

Vick

[flighter]

From my (amateur) point of view, almost anything is possible, as long as you have the cash for it.

Great idea, and feasible, but absolutely certainly very costly.

Issues you would have would be (not necessarily in this priority):

1. Transport to and from. If it is deep inland, the only option would be a proper runway, which is costly to build and maintain.

2. Emergency evacuation options (medical, natural disaster etc).

3. Transport of supplies

4. Waste management (in case you want to do it the right way)

5. Power generation in very specific conditions

6. Telecom stuff (probably not too many satellites cover your specific area, and there is no underwater cables. Even if there were some, it would also be insanely expensive for an individual customer)

7. Local production of food would consume a lot of energy...


All in all, it would all be possible, assuming that you have the money.

[Paul Ward]

I presume you're an American citizen which means you will have to apply to your government for permission as the USA is a signatory to the Antarctic Treaty.

You would have to supply extensive and in depth descriptions about what you intend to do and how you will adhere to the treaty and its subsequent protocols. If you fail to do this or are unconvincing you won't be given permission, if you do it anyway, you will probably be arrested and terrible unspecified things (because no-one has ever actually really done it) will happen to you.

You can't just turn up in Antarctica and do your own thing without jumping through many hoops first and showing that your "thing" fits in with many constraints. Overall, this is probably a good thing.

...and everything flighter says applies too!