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War in Ukraine: how scientists react to the worrying news from Antarctica
A group of Ukrainian scientists live in self-sufficiency in Antarctica. How do they receive the worrying news from the front? – (Franceinfo)
Ukrainian scientists have been working on “polar science” in Antarctica for several decades. They welcome the worrying news from the front with fear and fear for the future of their research program.
It’s a little piece of Ukraine on the other side of the world. The Akademik-Vernadsky scientific station hosts fourteen Ukrainian scientists during the winter and up to twenty-four in the summer. But, even 15,000 km away, war is omnipresent in their daily lives. During a visit to the Perseverance expedition led by French explorer Jean-Louis Etienne, France Télévisions journalists were able to discover this base located at Marina Point on Galindez Island, on the Antarctic Peninsula.
They are welcomed by Bogdan Gavrylyuk, geophysicist and base commander. He made his first winter here twenty-one years ago. He always had this passion for polar science and was already working in his hometown of Kharkiv on Antarctica and on infrastructure plans for this station.
It is made up of nine buildings, including numerous laboratories but also a dental and surgery room. Because, during the long night of the southern winter, winterers here are cut off from the world. The station has a large fuel tank, vital for heating the base. It is supplied once a year thanks to an icebreaker. This moment is always a relief for the station staff. But now, the war poses a constant threat to their activity.
“Every day we receive terrible news from our countryexplains Bogdan Gavrylyuk. We have big personnel problems because many men are mobilized by the army. We have logistical problems. This season we received our supply but who knows what will happen next year and for the future…?”.
70 years of polar science
The history of this base dates back to the post-war period. In 1947, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) established a first settlement called “Base F” on Winter Island. The main building, now transformed into a small museum, gives an overview of living conditions at the time. It is called “Wordie House” in homage to James Wordie, one of the members of Ernest Shackelton’s famous Endurance expedition between 1914 and 1917, who explored this area.
Subsequently, the base was moved to the adjacent island of Galindez in 1954. In 1985, it was from this observation post that English scientists spotted (they were among the first to do so) the anomaly of the ” hole” in the ozone layer. Since then, the measurements have never stopped and when kyiv took over the base in 1996, the Ukrainians committed to continuing this work in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey. This is the challenge for the sustainability of these research programs: science in Antarctica is a long-term issue.
“Our station is a unique place where we supply the largest and oldest meteorological database but also geophysics and research on magnetic fields on the Antarctic Peninsulaemphasizes Bogdan Gavrylyuk. This is not important just for the Ukrainian Antarctic program. We work with other countries, English and American experts. It is very important to continue but the Russian invasion brings many problems. It’s very difficult for me to imagine that all these programs will stop. I can’t imagine it…”
In April, the change of teams will take place. Bogdan Gavrylyuk will return to Kharkiv and take up arms to defend his country.