-57°C and half a year without sun: tiktoker shows what it's like to live in Antarctica (3 photos + 4 videos)
Antarctica has been shrouded in mystery for centuries, and brave travelers from all over the world went there to discover it secrets. But nowadays everyone can see what life is like in the South pole, and helps in this tiktoker Matty Jordan, who works in Antarctica is over five years old and tells new stories every day.
Jordan now lives in the south of Ross Island in New Zealand. Scott Base Antarctic Research Station, named after the first Briton who reached the South Pole. Life here is far from easy. half a year the continent is shrouded in complete darkness, blizzards regularly rage and even there are volcanic eruptions. But Jordan is still proud of his work and declares that he would not trade it for anything. He even dated former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who came to the station to personally see and understand what research are held there.
New Zealand's Scott Base is one of over 80 stations scattered throughout Antarctica, operated by more than 30 countries. It is located 1350 kilometers from the South Pole, located next to the active Mount Erebus, and usually contains about 86 person at the same time. To get to her, Matty commits five to eight hour flight from Christchurch in New Zealand.
For all its severity, the local nature and temperature (-35°C!) continue to amaze Matty and he regularly shares new discoveries with almost 400,000 subscribers. For example, last Tuesday filmed the first snowstorm of the year on Ross Island with wind gusts up to 70 knots (130 km/h). The blizzard was classified as "Weather 1" - the most extreme weather classification in Antarctica, with which Jordan did not have to face it. His team usually works in "condition 3" - higher temperatures, good visibility and weak wind. If the temperature drops -60°C and -70°C, the researchers always stay inside.
“Such strong gusts of wind completely shake the buildings,” he says in the video. - The windows are completely covered with snow, and we will have to dig some outside doors when the snow is over so we we definitely got out."
Three days later there was another blizzard, this time the wind reached a maximum speed of 62 knots. Both events took place in twilight period - a six-month state of darkness over most of Antarctica. Scott Base is now "nautical twilight", that is, the sun lies between 6° and 12° below the horizon, so Ross Island is now pitch darkness reigns all day. And although for most people it sounds scary, Jordana watching dark Antarctica from warmth and comfort station rather pacifies - he first saw snow when he was 19 years, so that he had not yet had time to get bored with him.
For anyone who dreams of visiting the South Pole, Matty a lot of tips are in store - a kind of survival guide.
For example, it is strictly forbidden to leave food and drinks on outdoors - as Matty amply demonstrates, they can freeze completely even before you take a bite.
Also, everyone should wear about three thick layers of clothing. at -43°C or five if it falls below -50°C. Outfit includes a special jacket for extremely low temperatures, two layers of gloves, hat, boots and goggles.
“Many people ask if we have big warm jackets, but the most effective thing you can do to prepare for a cold weather, is to carefully choose the layers of clothing. Thermal base layer perhaps the most important. We wear merino wool thermal underwear.”