Andy Smith, Glaciologist for the British Antarctic Survey, talking about how for the first time, hot water was used to drill 2 kilometres through the Antarctic Ice Sheet. On the Earth Stage at New Scientist Live 2019
After almost 20 years of planning and pitfalls, glaciologist Andy Smith and his team drilled more than 2 kilometres through the Antarctic Ice Sheet - the first time anyone has drilled through this region using hot water. Living and working in a challenging environment with freezing temperatures as low as minus 30, Andy and his team spent three months drilling several holes to better understand how Antarctica will respond to a warming world. Join Andy on a tour of the science and engineering needed to achieve a logistically challenging drilling project of this kind and hear what it’s like to live and work in such a hostile yet beautiful place. Andy Smith is a senior glaciologist at the British Antarctic Survey who has spent 36 years wandering around Antarctica studying its ice cap. In that time he has made 22 visits to Antarctica working in some of the most spectacular and captivating landscapes on Earth, in temperatures as low as -40 C and winds up to 60 knots. His hair is now much greyer than it was when he started. Andy researches fast glacier flow and the role of ice sheets in the Earth system, especially what lies beneath the ice. He has been awarded the Polar Medal and Bar for services to Antarctic research. he British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national Antarctic operation. It is part of the Natural Environment Research Council. With over 400 staff, BAS takes an active role in Antarctic affairs, operating five research stations, two ships and five aircraft in both polar regions,[2] as well as addressing key global and regional issues. This involves joint research projects with over 40 UK universities and more than 120 national and international collaborations.
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Location: ExCel London, One Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock,
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: 2019, andy, antarctic, british, earth, fast, flow, glacier, glaciologist, ice, live, medal, polar, research., scientist, senior, sheet, smith, stage, survey
