Warming Trends: A Flag for Antarctica, Lonely Hearts ‘Hot for Climate Change Activists,’ and How to Check Your Environmental Handprint
A column highlighting climate-related studies, innovations, books, cultural events and other developments from the global warming frontier.
April 24, 2021
Demonstrators kiss with their protective face masks, as they hold a placard reading down with the patriarchy, not the climate , during a demonstration called by youth for climate and several NGOs and unions for a true law on climate, in Nantes, western France, on March 28, 2021. Credit: Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images
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“Flags are maybe the best example of effective communication design there is,” says designer Evan Townsend. “I knew we could use a tool like that in Antarctica.”
Despite having been the subject of human exploration for 200 years, Townsend is the designer of Antarctica’s “first ever” flag.
He designed True South while working there, providing support to a scientific research team during the continent’s winter, when the average temperature averages -49°C.
Now, he is part of a team which is seeking recognition of the flag across the world. In doing so, Townsend says he hopes to give people the visual language they need to express their commitment to protecting the land.
The icy continent has historically been a place for men. First “discovered” in 1820, Antarctica would not be visited by a woman for well over a century.
In 1935, Norwegian Caroline Mikkelsen, a whaler’s wife, became the first woman to do so, some 24 years after her compatriot Roald Amundsen had trekked all the way to the South Pole.
It wasn’t until the 1950s that women were finally allowed to participate in Antarctic science.
How had Antarctica come to be so dominated by men? Where were all the women?
Among the group were 77 women working in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM), who took part in a three-week leadership program. As part of our study of this program, Meredith travelled with the group to Antarctica to gather women’s first-hand accounts of their experiences.
The pandemic has reached every continent on Earth.
Chilean authorities announced that at least 58 people at two military bases in Antarctica, or on a navy ship that went to the continent, tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
So far, no other country with a presence in Antarctica has publicly reported other cases. There are 36 coronavirus cases at the Gen. Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme Antarctic base, Chile says. (Google Street View) (Google Street View)
Chile’s army announced Monday that 36 people at the Gen. Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme Antarctic base tested positive, and on Tuesday, the health minister for the Biobio region in Chile said there are 21 infections involving people aboard the Chilean navy’s Sergeant Aldea supply vessel.
Coronavirus Florida: Live updates for Thursday, Dec. 24
2:05 p.m. | Jacksonville firefighters begin getting COVID-19 vaccine as the year of the pandemic winds to a close
It has been a tough year for Jacksonville s firefighters, suiting up for viral protection to help hundreds sickened by the COVID-19 virus as they see dozens of their co-workers quarantined due to exposure or worse.
On top of that, firefighters have been burned while battling a ship fire on Blount Island and as they looked for a victim in a burning house, and injured when a fire engine rolled over on Interstate 95.
So when the first firefighters received the Moderna vaccine Wednesday to combat COVID-19 as they prepare to help administer it across the city, Chief Keith Powers said he was glad that his unites got it this quick.