A UK team is heading to Port Lockroy in Antarctica to shore up ageing buildings damaged by rising temperatures and extreme weather. The site also houses the world’s southernmost Post Office and a large gentoo penguin colony.
01Summary
- 01The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust is in the second year of a three-year mission to save Port Lockroy.
- 02A team of eight will spend five months at Base A on Goudier Island in sub-zero temperatures and 24-hour daylight.
- 03They will install beams and props to help the buildings cope with increased precipitation and snow loading.
- 04Port Lockroy is more than 80 years old and is suffering structural deterioration from age, climate change and environmental factors.
- 05A separate field team of six will survey Wordie House, where one of the longest continuous climate records on the continent began in 1947.
02Why it matters
The work is aimed at protecting a British heritage site that is being damaged by a warming Antarctic Peninsula. It also helps preserve the base’s Post Office, museum and wildlife monitoring work.
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