Why dont more people live in antarctica (houses, living)

[Need_affordable_home]

Yes I know its cold but so is Cananda, Alaska, Russia, Iceland, Greenland, etc!
Im not saying live near the south pole, too cold but perhaps near the ocean where summers are above freezing and winters are probably similar to north Alaska?

[Racelady88]

I would imagine that there are not very many jobs, places to shop, etc. in Antartica. While there are people who don't need to work outside of their home, the majority of folks do. People also like to be able to go get groceries, eat out once in a while, have their cars serviced, etc.

If someone were to give me a mansion there, I would not live in it.

[grammy164]

Originally Posted by Evey

I would imagine that there are not very many jobs, places to shop, etc. in Antartica. While there are people who don't need to work outside of their home, the majority of folks do. People also like to be able to go get groceries, eat out once in a while, have their cars serviced, etc.

If someone were to give me a mansion there, I would not live in it.

Thank you, Evey! I'm still laughing so hard I can hardly type. I was going to answer "Duhhh!", but I thought I'd get a red rep.

[pixieshmoo]

Thank you too because I had a totally logical answer to this and I deleted it because it began "are you even serious"....I started to wonder for a moment, what exactly is the population in Antartica LOL (duhh!)

[momof2dfw]

LMAO!!!! I too thought it was pretty darn funny. Then pixie had to go and say something about the population of Antarctica. So I looked. 0. That's right, ZERO! There are 0 "residents" of Antarctica. There are tourists (and they are NOT too welcomed for good reason) and the researchers that stay for short periods. The tourists come in on boats/ships and have more of an impact on the region in a bad way than the researchers. All in all, very interesting reading in a quick amount of time. Try looking at coolantarctica com and under tourism and it's impact.

So I guess to answer the original question. You can't live there. No one does.

[pixieshmoo]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

LMAO!!!! I too thought it was pretty darn funny. Then pixie had to go and say something about the population of Antarctica. So I looked. 0. That's right, ZERO! There are 0 "residents" of Antarctica. There are tourists (and they are NOT too welcomed for good reason) and the researchers that stay for short periods. The tourists come in on boats/ships and have more of an impact on the region in a bad way than the researchers. All in all, very interesting reading in a quick amount of time. Try looking at coolantarctica com and under tourism and it's impact.

So I guess to answer the original question. You can't live there. No one does.

You actually looked up the population, you doof LMAO!!!!! If I'm not mistaken the researchers and explores can't even stay outside for more than like 2 minutes at a time because of the temperature. They have to have those weird little heated huts if they're doing research, which kind of sucks because how can we have this place on earth that we can't even explore that good?!?!?! It's there, but ha, ha, you can't go there!!

[Cosmic]

The reason a lot more people don't live in Antarctica is simple, in a word "Fuel".

It is a nightmare place for logistics. Most supplies must be stored underground, even fuel. The entire place is all about energy and usually the lack of it.

The US tried to build and operate a small nuclear power station. Sort of bouched the job but it is a tough environment for anything man made. But they have used "Nuclear Pigs". Using fossil fuels requires a lot of effort. The more people the more fuel.

It is not just the scienitific staffs but the grunt folks that support them. The support people make up the bulk of the US teams. Cooks, mechanics, techs, etc. Couple thousand.

A lot of people go down for the "Summer Season". Tourists, support people, supply vessels, etc. The trick is to keep all the logistics contained in ships to support the additional people. Only the critical people "Winter Over". There are days where no travel in or out is possible. Lot of Navy and Air Force folks go, there is a ribbon / medal if you stay as part of the Winter Over team.

Another sort of problem is the weird things that happen at the Poles to electronics, signals, data, etc. Your little duplex with 1 bath would need pretty hardened gear, especially in things like communications. Probably be the highest cost of living area in the World. Just your fuel bill would eat up your paycheck. All your garbage would have to be removed. Longest garbage route in the World.

In a word it is all about logistics. No outside gardening, can't shoot them fellows in the Tux's. Maybe a little ice fishing. Probably lots of folks with bad cases of Cabin Fever.

Many nations have a pernanent staff at the Antarctica. For the USA about 3000 max for the winter over season. No little brick duplexes or town houses, down in the bunker for everybody. It is all about keeping the fuel consumption down. Oil is king.

[sunrico90]

I never had an opportunity to fly to Antarctica, but it will be an experience of a lifetime. Cosmic provided great info on the logistical nightmare to sustain the research teams that work for six months tours, probably the coldest place in the world. I have experienced the great North Dakota temperature of -72 degrees below zero. Is insane, Iceland was not as cold, neither Cold Lake in Canada.

The USAF has planes specifically designed and modified to land and take off from Antarctica. See site for more info on Antarctica:

http://www.vb-tech.co.za/Antartica/
http://128.138.135.87/antarctica/meg...get_there.html






Operation Deep Freeze LC-130 arrives at Hickam

Soaring Hercules
A New York Air National Guard LC-130 Hercules sits while crews unload fuel and cargo here during a mission to Antartica in 2005. A LC-130 arrived Oct. 17 at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, en route to its first Operation Deep Freeze mission for the year. The LC-130 is equipped with ski-landing gear that allows the aircraft to land on ice or snow while airlifting supplies to remote locations throughout the Antarctic continent. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Efrain Gonzalez

[David Pristupa]

It gets to -114 degrees in the winter...that creates problems...

[MoMark]

When they refused to build a Dunkin' Donuts there, I tore up my moving plans. No Dunkin' Donuts, no Antarctic MoMark.

Seriously...I'm suffering in Southwest Missouri where this month as been unusually cold. It's 45F outside at 2:36pm and the days seem to be alternating between low forties to high fifties when we should be 70F or more. I have the heater running right now and am thinking about lying over a floor vent with a blanket over me to capture the warmth. I can't imagine having to live in the sub-zero (by 100F) of somewhere like Antarctica! Even if they really did have a Dunkin' Donuts, though...that would lessen the misery momentarily