MEDIA ADVISORY: POOR WEATHER FORCES CANCELLATION OF GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S VISIT TO AUSTRALIA'S ANTARCTIC TERRITORY

24 January 2008

The Australian Antarctic Division has advised that current poor weather conditions at Wilkins Runway in Antarctica are forecast to continue until the weekend, forcing the cancellation of the Governor-General’s proposed flight to Antarctica.

We have been advised that a weak trough has reformed over the southern part of Law Dome, near Wilkins Runway, and along the coast, and will persist until the weekend. A series of weak lows in this trough are generating low cloud and light snow falls. This pattern is expected to continue today and during Friday.

The Governor-General’s program of engagements, together with other important operational requirements for the aircraft, prevent rescheduling the flight for a later time.

His Excellency is extremely disappointed that he is unable to visit scientists in Antarctica undertaking their important work to understand better the frozen continent and its role in the global climate system.

The Governor-General spoke to personnel at Casey Station via a telephone hook-up from Hobart last night and praised the work they were doing on behalf of the nation.

“The scientific program being conducted in the Antarctic is vital, indeed fundamental to understanding our environment,” General Jeffery said.

“The Antarctic location and its environment offers us great insights into climate, particularly as we strive to understand the drivers and impacts of climate change. The location of Casey Station on the edge of Law Dome gives the region a remarkable connection to climate beyond Antarctica: from the Southern Ocean, to as far north as Australia,” General Jeffery said.

The research being undertaken by scientists at the Casey Station includes extracting detailed ice cores, the longest of which provides information going back some 90 thousand years.
Another intended project plans to examine the very old ice in the region to potentially obtain a climate record going back over 1 million years to better understand how the planet responds to warming events.

“The Antarctic is one of the engine rooms of our global climate system and of the food chain — with the characteristics of the enormous populations of krill currently being researched by the Australian Antarctic Division.

“It is also a unique repository of marine and bird life,” General Jeffery said.

General Jeffery officially named the Wilkins Runway and declared it open during the telephone hook-up from the Australian Antarctic Division Headquarters in Hobart.

General Jeffery said “although the new air service brings with it a range of opportunities for science in Antarctica, the air service, just like the transportation of the earliest explorers is still dominated by Antarctica’s weather”.

Click here for the full text of General Jeffery’s message to Casey Station.


Media Contact:
Stephen Jiggins
0408 480 779
24 January 2008