Antarctica Page #2

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shown here in red hit the Earth.

Nobody noticed it ...

except in Antarctica.

Here, a few scientists

doing theoretical research ...

noticed the change

in the upper atmosphere ...

and learned that man-made

chemicals were causing it.

International cooperation may

slow production of the chemicals ...

but the damage has been done.

So the research goes on ...

trying to understand what we're

doing to our world ...

trying to find out in time.

In this climate,

you must cooperate to survive.

Here, that hard truth applies

even to politics.

Antarctica is not a nation.

It is protected by a unique

agreement among many nations ...

to save the continent

for peace and science.

This treaty has lasted

for over 30 years ...

and stands as a model

for a happier world.

In 1929, 17 years

after the Pole was won,

Richard Byrd traded dogs ...

for an airplane,

and was the first

to fly over the South Pole.

He looked in awe

on the wilderness ...

that Scott and Amundsen

took months to cross.

Today, the flight

takes three hours ...

and the plane lands ...

at what seems to be

a space station in low orbit.

Amundsen-Scott

South Pole Station.

Here, on ice 9,000 feet thick ...

almost a hundred people

from all over the world ...

work on 30 projects,

each looking beyond the edge

of what is known.

At this altitude,

the air is so thin ...

newcomers struggle for breath ...

and the cold is unrelenting.

Even in summer,

it reaches 40 below.

The sun rises once a year.

During the six months

of daylight ...

it makes an almost perfect

circle in the sky every day.

They've come to take its

picture for 2.5 days.

A quick stroll around the world.

The camera's ready ...

and it re-orders time.

Wind is blowing hard ...

and there's that curious,

damp feeling in the air ...

which chills one to the bone.

Praise God ...

this is an awful place.

Captain Scott and his companions

arrived at the Pole ...

to find that Roald Amundsen

had been there ...

just four weeks before.

Taf Evans died ...

a month into the return

journey from the cold,

Titus Oates, who slowed his

companions with his lameness,

walked away to his death

to try to save them.

700 miles from the Pole ...

and just 11 miles from safety,

the last three men

were stalked by a blizzard.

With them were 35 pounds

of geological samples ...

they had hauled

hundreds of miles ...

in the cause of science.

It seems a pity ...

but I don't think

I can write more.

These rough notes

and our dead bodies ...

must tell the tale.

I should so like

to have come through ...

for your dear sake.

It is splendid to pass, however,

with such companions as I have ...

and as all five of us

have mothers and wives ...

you will not be alone.

Your ever-loving son ...

to the end of this life

and the next ...

when God shall wipe away

all tears from our eyes.

Scott and his men

were buried in the ice ...

which will someday

carry them to sea,

but their rock samples

were taken home by others ...

and their work became ...

part of the new century's

Age of Science,

and of the peculiarly

human combination ...

of curiosity and courage ...

that has marked

Antarctica's story.

Dear Lord, we thank you for

this time and this place ...

and an opportunity to gather

together to give thanks.

We just thank you, Father ...

for the food that was

prepared for us ...

and we just pray

that you will keep us safe ...

and protect us

as we work down here.

For it's in your name we pray.

Amen.

The quest continues,

driven by the same force ...

that inspired the old

explorer knights.

Here, in this place of great

beauty and hard truth ...

we're given reason to hope

that we may yet do our best.

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