Rick: Welcome to T2A for December 19th. Today, we meet an explorer as he prepares to take a kayak on a five-week journey into the ice-packed Weddell Sea of Antarctica. Jon Bowermaster along with a team of scientists, navigators and photographers will follow the fast-changing boundaries of the (805 km) Larsen Ice Shelf. The team will collect ice samples, look for signs of pollution, gather aerial footage, and survey the health and populations of local penguins and other wildlife. Jon was part of the recent international rescue effort that saved passengers of the ship that sank off the coast of Antarctica after hitting an iceberg. We're so glad to have Jon with us today, if you have questions, please join the chat!

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Marcien Fossuo (Cameroon): Many countries settle down in Antarctica making it more accessible as never before, the McMurdo station being the local headquarters of the National Science Foundation. France and Italy built an international research facility. Who owns Antarctica?

Jon: That's a really good question - no one owns Antarctica. It's the only place on the planet successfully governed by international treaty. There are 46 countries that are signators of the treaty and they meet every two years to reassess the treaty. For example in 1991 they successfully implemented a 50-year ban on all mineral exploration. The people who are there are only scientists.

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ALVA: What's the real situation at Antarctica? Is the ice melting rapidly than before, is it caused by global warming?

Jon: Antarctica is a very big continent - North America would easily fit inside. The part of Antarctica is actually getting colder. But, along the peninsula, which is surrounded by water, the ice is melting faster and faster. The seas there have warmed by 3 to 5 degrees F, causing the glaciers and the ice that edge the continent to melt more quickly than ever before. This is due to warming seas.

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Rick: How did you get involved with Antarctic exploring and specifically this expedition?

Jon: I write and make films for National Geographic and my very first assignment in 1989 was to write about a dog sled expedition crossing Antarctica. Since then I've been back many times. My upcoming expedition is the end of a ten year long project that has taken me around the world, continent by continent studying the health of the seas and the lives of people who depend on them.

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Tayyab Ajmal: Which is the most memorable expedition of yours so far?

Jon: Very difficult to answer this one, because each expedition is very different and I like them all. But, maybe French Polynesia, where I've been many times and we did a big expedition there by sea-kayak covering 1,600 KM.  Also, because French Polynesia, of course, is regarded by many as the definition of paradise.

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 Kemal Jemal Tune, Ethiopia (email): Why are you studying Antarctica, and specifically the Larsen Ice Shelf? What challenges did you face during your rescue of the passengers of the ship that struck an iceberg off of the coast of Antarctica?

Jon: My interest is in studying the oceans and you can't talk about how the oceans are doing without looking at the ocean that surrounds Antarctica and the Larsen Ice Shelf is a great example of how quickly the ice and the ocean are changing. In 2002, the Larsen Ice Shelf broke up into huge chunks. We're going back with cameras to document what it looks like today. Regarding the rescue - it was a very lucky scene. The temperatures were relatively warm. There was very little wind and the sun was out. It was late spring. In some respects it felt like a practice drill, because it went so smoothly. Next time though, people may not be so lucky. This was a ship with just 100 passengers. Now there are cruise boats visiting Antarctica each summer carrying 1500 to 3000 people. Imagine if one of those ships sinks one day. The number of tourists to visit Antarctica is rising each year and I think there should be a limit to the amount of visitors each year. The big cruise ships may have to be banned all together. Few of the ships are 'ice worthy' fewer and fewer captains have Antarctic experience and there are no Navy, Coast Guard or Police to come to the rescue. The environmental risk to this otherwise pristine place is big. This summer a record 60,000 people (including the crews of the ships) are expected to visit Antarctica.

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Compaore Tewende Michel, Burkina Faso: What was your part in the international rescue effort that saved passengers of the ship that sank off the coast of Antarctica and when will you be leaving for your trip to the ice-packed Weddell sea of Antarctica?

Jon: I was on a ship called the National Geographic Endeavour and we were the first on the scene of the accident, arriving within minutes was a much bigger, Norwegian cruise ship which had plenty of empty beds to accommodate all the passengers and crews from the sinking ship. We stood by with pumps, thinking it might be possible to pump out the sinking Explorer, but by that time it was too late. We will return to Antarctica on New Years Eve (31-Dec-07) this time by a 23-meter sailboat and we'll spend all of January exploring the peninsula by kayak.

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Marcien Fossuo, Cameroon: Antarctica is known for harsh extremes as the coldest, windiest, driest, darkest continent on earth. How has global warming affected this part of the globe?

Jon: As the seas warm around its edges the ice that covers the entire continent is melting faster than anyone predicted. If it continues at this rate it will add to the sea level rising around the world.

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Ashok Mehta, India (email): As humans are likely to damage nature wherever they go, is it not a good idea to ban all human activity from areas like the Larsen Ice Shelf to save them from destruction?

Jon: Very few visitors to Antarctica get close to the Larsen Ice Shelf. It's remote, a hard to reach. But other parts of the Antarctic Peninsula, which are visited each year by more and more tourists, are starting to show wear and tear. Even leaving behind only footprints has an impact on this pristine place.

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Rick: Any final words?

Jon: The end of my ten year long study with this Antarctic expedition gives me and my teams a very unique look at the health of the world's oceans. Three things we've found to impact them all are global climate change, over fishing and plastic pollution. That's true no matter what coastline you live on. For the moment, Antarctica is the most pristine place on earth. I hope it stays that way.

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Rick: That wraps today’s T2A webchat, our thanks to Jon Bowermaster, Explorer, writer and filmmaker.  Compaore Tewende Michel in Burkina Faso, Tayyab Ajmal and Alva - thanks for your questions in today's chat. If you would send an email to us with your full name and address, we'd like to send you a token of our appreciation for participating in today's chat - our email address is chat@voanews.com Thanks again!  

We hope you can join us on Wednesday, December 26th at 1800 hours universal time, when we discuss U.S. politics with VOA National Affairs Correspondent Jim Malone. Jim will tell us about the stakes in the Presidential election just before the important primary election cycle that could determine the candidates of the Democratic and Republican parties. That’s Wednesday, December 26th at 1800 hours universal time on voanews.com See you then!

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