“For scientific discovery give me Scott; for efficiency give me Amundsen; but when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, give me Shackleton every time"

In the preface to his 1922 book The Worst Journey in the World, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, one of Scott's team on the Terra Nova Expedition, wrote: "For a joint scientific and geographical piece of organisation, give me Scott; for a Winter Journey, Wilson; for a dash to the Pole and nothing else, Amundsen: and if I am in the devil of a hole and want to get out of it, give me Shackleton every time".

From National Geographic Creative: "Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew took bitter defeat and turned it into heroic survival. Early last century, members of the imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition watched as their ship, the Endurance was crushed by the frozen sea. They were left with no radio and no hope of rescue. For more than a year, they drifted on packed ice, surviving on seal, penguin, and eventually dog meat, while battling freezing temperatures and mind-numbing boredom. When Shackleton, along with all 28 members of the expedition, emerged at Stromness whaling station in May, 1916, almost two years after their departure, the world was shocked."

Video:



Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton died of hear attack at age 47 during his last expedition. Robert Falcon Scott died at age 43 from hypothermia during his last expedition. Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen died at age 55, he disappeared while on a plane taking part in a rescue mission.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton
https://bigthink.com/experts-corner/how-leadership-is-like-antarctic-exploration
http://shackleton100.com/ernest-shackleton/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Amundsen

Polar bears will disappear by 2050 as Arctic sea ice melts, killer whale will be top predator

From NPR:

At the rate the sea ice is melting, by the summer of 2050, the Arctic will be a mostly open ocean.

Anderson says as the ice melts, it will take several forms of "revenge" on those living south of the Arctic.

"Once the tundra that rims the Arctic starts to thaw, what we'll see is greenhouse gases pouring out of that tundra," Anderson says. Those gases include methane and carbon dioxide, and they'll contribute to climate change, he says.

Another problem: rising sea levels. As the ice cap sitting on top of Greenland melts, it pours into the sea. Anderson says if the entire cap melts, sea levels worldwide will rise by 20 feet or more.



There are 64 polar bears in captivity in American zoos, far short of the 200 considered optimal for maintaining the population over 100 years. Source: Zoos’ Bitter Choice - To Save Some Species, Letting Others Die - NYTimes.com http://goo.gl/UiiLj -- Zoos Have to Decide Which Species to Keep - Graphic http://goo.gl/bfTlh

References:

What Happens To Polar Bears As Arctic Ice Shrinks? NPR.
Come on in, the water's freezing! Images of polar bears diving into icy pool. Daily Mail, 2011.