US Government shutdown affecting Antarctica too!

[Clare]

It will be a real shame if the shut down halts the US programs this Antarctic season which should be getting under way there this month:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11138156
&
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11137394

[Pmt111500]

http://icewishes.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/contains-offensive-language/

[Clare]

Thanks for that link PMT, I thought her language pretty mild under the circumstances!

This is a tragedy, and the ramifications spread & spread,
the writer mentions all the Antarcticians who will be out of work now, & for the whole season. I really feel for them, these are people who work with such passion & commitment, & on short seasonal contracts.


And I am also thinking about the effect on the Christchurch economy, as a major gateway to the ice:
"...., a recent economic impact study in Canterbury estimates that Antarctic related activity
benefits the region to around $155.1 million per annum and creates
employment opportunities for 1256 people. (Saunders et al. 2007) "
Christchurch is still struggling to recover from the earthquakes, a lot of people had to leave... it doesn't need to lose even a part of this income too!

[Clare]

Maybe this is a better choice of pic?

[wili]

Thanks to Jim Larsen at RC for this link about the shutdown’s tragic effect on Antarctic research.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/us/an-american-shutdown-reaches-the-earths-end.html?src=recg

An American Shutdown Reaches the Earth’s End

...with the United States government partly shut down, federally financed research has come to a halt for Dr. Levy and hundreds of other Americans. Even if a budget deal is struck, these scientists will have less time on the ice, and some will lose a full year’s worth of work as the narrow window of productive time closes.

“It’s like a biography of the earth with a couple of pages in the middle torn out,” Dr. Levy said. “Nature will have taken its course, and we will have not been there to see it.”

[AbruptSLR]

Here are two more examples of permanent damage done to Antarctic climate change related research due to the temporary US Federal Government shutdown:

http://www.wrex.com/story/23762305/2013/10/22/federal-govt-shutdown-aftermath-freezes-rockford-areas-connection-to-antarctica

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/ax-falls-antarctic-research-projects-after-shutdown-8C11435682