Nathan Tift's South Pole Journal
Friday, October 27, 2000AdaptingMany people do not realize that Antarctica is not only the coldest continent, it is also the windiest, driest and highest. Some places on the White Continent have average winds exceeding 60 m.p.h. Luckily, the South Pole is not one of these places. However it is still very cold, very dry, and very high. The average annual temperature at the South Pole is fifty-seven degrees below zero. It was sixty-eight below when I arrived here on Monday. Since then it has warmed up and currently the temperature is only forty-nine degrees. Below zero is usually implied here, as the warmest it has ever been is seven degrees above zero. Any temperature above zero is extremely rare. The extreme cold is certainly noticeable to first-time visitors to the Pole, but many people adjust to it well. Remember that everyone here was issued very warm clothes. What is debilitating to newcomers is the extreme dryness and more importantly the altitude. Antarctica is basically a vast frozen desert and the South Pole is in the middle. Although covered with ice, it is one of the driest places on Earth. There is no rain here, and snowfall is nearly imperceptible. The air is virtually devoid of any humidity. It is easy to get dehydrated, and I find myself constantly drinking water to keep from parching. I have used more hand lotion and ChapStick in the last four days than I usually do in a year. Yet it is the altitude that gets most people. The official elevation at the South Pole is 9,301 feet above sea level. However, the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the Earth pulls the atmosphere out from the poles making the air here much thinner. In fact, it feels more like an elevation of 10,000-12,000 feet. It is very difficult to breath for some people, especially heavy smokers. Many people spend most of their first few days here hooked up to an oxygen tank in medical. Already a few people have had to leave. I fell like I have adapted quite well, but even at rest, it feels as though the air here can never quite quench my thirst for oxygen. All of my breaths are deep. Even walking up a hill can cause nearly complete exhaustion. I tried to run once. I won't try that again. I took in so much freezing cold air it nipped my lungs with frostbite. That happened three days ago and I am still recovering. I will adapt. I have found the one thing that is needed for survival in this place unlike any other on Earth is being able to adapt. |