Antarctica – it’s hot and it’s cold
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US heavy metal band Metallica’s lead vocalist, James Hetfield (C), and lead guitarist Kirck Hammet (L) perform in Antarctica on December 8. Picture: AFP PHOTO / NA
Source: AFP
ANTARCTICA is so hot right now. And so very, very cold.
Just days after US heavy metal band Metallica played a gig in the frozen continent and Prince Harry set off on the final leg of his journey to the South Pole, scientists have revealed the remote region has set a new record low temperature.
Speaking at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco on Monday, Ted Scambos from the National Snow and Ice Data Center revealed that in August 2010, a remote region of Antarctica recorded a temperature of minus 94.7C.
The mercury plunged to similarly cruel depths on July 31 of this year, when it registered minus 92.9C.
The previous record low temperature was a comparatively cosy minus 89.2C.
The low temperatures have not deterred an increasing number of visitors to the icy continent, including heavy metal band Metallica, who can now say they have performed on every continent on the planet.
Sunday evening’s unusual concert, near a glacier and inside a transparent dome on Argentina’s Carlini base, was seen by about 100 spectators wearing headphones, and a live audience watching on YouTube.
Sporting a fur hat and sunglasses, lead singer James Hetfield told the select crowd: “Are you ready to make history? So are we.”
The dome protected the band and the small crowd from ferocious icy winds sweeping Antarctica, with the audience – scientists and a few other guests – wearing headphones to protect the environment.
The concert was wired for sound with a generator and solar panels, but without amplifiers or speakers, and was streamed live and put on YouTube.
According to Rolling Stone, the concert was the second staged in Antarctica.
The first, in 2007, was by indie rock group Nunatak, consisting of climate change researchers, it reported on its website.
Another current visitor to Antarctica, Prince Harry, was due to set off on the final leg of his journey to the South Pole on Sunday as part of the group Walking With The Wounded.
The expedition had been suspended for safety reasons, but the director of the war veteran charity trek, Ed Parker, said the group was determined that everyone would make it to the South Pole in one group.
On the charity’s website, he said: “We have had a tricky couple of days. The weather remains good but the terrain is very difficult, far harder than we were anticipating and because of various factors, I have decided to suspend the race.
Prince Harry (right) with members of the Walking with the Wounded trek team training near Novo, Antarctica. Picture: AP Photo/Robert Leveritt, WWTW
Source: AP
“The reasons for this are entirely safety based. I am looking at the three teams. They are going really well but people are beginning to get very, very tired.
“With our doctor here, who I am in constant contact with, we just feel we are beginning to push people a little too hard, so I have suspended the race.”
The charity’s website said this is “certainly not the end” for the challenge, but added that steps have been put into place to ensure that all of those involved are kept safe.
The final leg of the challenge was due to begin on Sunday from the team’s second allotted checkpoint, 112km from the South Pole.
The team will be driven to this point and, over the course of the next seven days, will move as one whole allied team to reach the South Pole together.
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