All these in the cave in this far flung part of the world is being affected by Climate Change. Scientists here are searching for solutions to one of the greatest environmental threats of our time. To do that theyre prepared to forgo Natural Light for months on end. Estimate seeing the sun again was amazing everyone went out to take a look see off. For this report we traveled to germany southern most Scientific Research facility. Were taking a direct flight from cape town south africa to antarctica. Theres just time for a quick farewell photo that we board a russian built transport aircraft. Along with scientists and technicians from 10 different countries. Technician halakhah shubert is heading for the new Maya Research station the hardly a new comer hes looking forward to the visit. Once in a somewhat water you can see the normal station when we fly over the gray and the icebergs its all fantastic. Ive been doing this for 19 years now so its a bit like coming home through my music. Hall go and the rest of the passengers change into the cold weather gear. The planes russian crew took off from an asphalt runway now theyre getting ready to land on a sheet of ice. A religious icon just to be on the safe side. The landing is perfect. For going the other german experts had originally planned to travel straight on to the new maya station about 700 kilometers away but theyll have to wait. Very. Well on though the equipment check everything here and then stay here for a few days. You cant go now you know the weather ignore miles really bad we cant get there because. Its not exactly clear how long theyll be stuck here. They dont need bussy like i was driving to new arrivals to a Russian Research station called noble outside scotia its also known as the oasis the station opened in 1961. Relics from the early days of a dark research. The rush. Station is located on one of the few parts of antarctica not completely covered with ice. Inside its pretty cozy you can also watch russian state t. V. Says. The station staff are happy to welcome stranded guests. And. There you go i spent most of his adult life working in the arctic and antarctic. Back in the 1980 s. My had to spend the winter at the north pole. My wife was pregnant at the time my daughter was born while i was away i held her in my arms for the 1st time when she was 8 months old. The antarctic contains about 90 percent of the earths supply of fresh water much of it in the form of glaciers. Antarctica also has the worlds coldest climate. One of the russians take some of the german visitors to visit a beautiful ice cave. The only way to get inside is to crawl on all fours. The ice here is thousands of years old this part of the white cotton it appears blue. Temperatures can on rare occasions even drop to minus 50 here on the coast of antarctica. The cold doesnt bother these Adelie Penguins which are common along the entire antarctic coast. Theyre not used to seeing strangers and they come over to investigate. These and see and or your dailies in particular are very curious theyll come right up to you and theyre lots of fun to have around some of the look which was. Now 3 days later were finally on our way to the neumeyer station located on the extreme ice shelf in eastern tarka. And then all of a sudden there it is the German Research station. And. The staff who spent the winter here give the new arrivals a warm welcome. The equipment has to be unloaded quickly the pilots want to take off when the weather is still good. The station has been cut off from the outside world for 8 months. From the facility it looks like a space ship on stilts. For many of the staff this is the 1st time on the continent including dr begich tecla back. Moments and they say when you 1st arrive youll sort of overwhelmed by the fact that youre in antarctica but this place has been made is german is this possible for better or for worse or not. And you can help yourself to typical german candy for instance. And in the well stocked pantry you can find Food Products that are available in any german supermarket. Dr be a good checker bag is used to carrying out complex operations but up to now shes only had to carry out routine checks. Yeah yeah we dont have any insects. Or any flu viruses we just have contact with the same people. Contact but in some cases when these people return home and encounter normal circumstances theyll find that their stay here has affected their immune system lets you know to kempton had. To get worked as a surgeon at a hospital and one off for more than 20 years but was intrigued by a newspaper ad about a job offer at the new miner station. She took the position after her 4 grown children gave their approval. I asked myself whether i wanted to spend the rest of my career until my retirement doing the same morning rounds at the hospital. Perhaps it was time for something new i still want to know where i got. The outdoor working conditions are extreme. Every day scientists. And most of our set off to do their research on penguins. To although we always take a long emergency supplies including a tent. The ice here extends 200 meters beneath the surface. A few kilometers away we see the 1st ice floes large expanses of white that float on the sea surface theres nothing here but ice. And emperor penguins. These birds thrive in this harsh habitat. And osama are studying this penguin colony on behalf of the german governments environment. Agency. The birds breed in the extreme cold of the dark took winter the scientists are monitoring the chicks feed. And using it is one of. The things from at this point theyve grown quite a bit. And the parents often leave them alone while they go to look for food. From the now the chicks are slowly starting to form groups amongst themselves and that will give them some protections that. Are going to launch a drone to help them count how many penguins are in the colony. Because the camera takes photographs at specific intervals ideally those pictures should have quite a bit of overlap so that afterwards we can take the photos and piece them together. Estimates put the population of this colony at about 26000. The penguins migrate to the frozen sea ice every year to breed and raise their young. But some experts say that Climate Change could threaten the birds existence. Explains why. Do you feel included. For this particular colonies theres a real risk that the structure of the sea us that they breed on will change if the temperature rises on the ice receipts or breaks up earlier than expected the penguins breeding season will be cut short or maybe theyll have no place to breed at all. And that could threaten the future of the entire colony here. Its important to us that people in germany for example find out what is happening here and realize we need to protect these birds. Just something has to be done now not in face he is. Penguins have hardly any natural enemies in the antarctic. During the summer months emperor penguins forage the icy waters for food. After breeding the male incubates the female single and during some of the harshest winter weeks. The researchers often find the carcasses of penguin chicks that have died in the extreme cold. Alexandre of intel and ben one of alice take the birds body back to their lab to try to determine the cause and time of death. The 30th isnt the movies of by that i mean they probably died 2 or 3 months ago just see what you can tell by their size. His entire bodies are frozen so theyve been well preserved this is of a god hes a lot of the chicks die young in these extreme conditions as if its really tough here. So no hard to be doing here we found a lot of dead chicks that what the same size we suspect that they died at the same time maybe in a storm. But despite the deaths of many chicks the colonies population has remained fairly stable for years. Alexander and ben wa are looking for some penguins that they tagged years ago either with g. P. S. Devices or rings on their feet. That data will help researchers find out how far the birds traveled to find food. You know youre. Going to but today the researchers only come across more dead chicks. The. Some are taught. This one probably died recently. And maybe just a few weeks ago. Will measure the carcass be clanks a wing length no wait to determine their age at the time of death the situation said why did he just. A few other penguin colonies are studied as extensively as this one. Thermal imaging cameras and High Resolution lenses record the birds movements especially during the winter months when they huddle together. To school it seems to me is that the aim that peach bird is to use as Little Energy as possible during the winter breeding season just speaking thats why they try to optimize their position in the colony. You know whats fascinating is that the creatures manage without any hierarchy anyone telling them what to do to rotate their position in the group you know very orderly and collective way of being. The researchers are concerned about the impact of Global Warming on the Antarctic Sea ice because it could permanently damage the fragile ecological balance in the region. Then get us if we meet the 1. 502 degree target agreed in the Paris Convention so we can save these pads if not theyll be extinct by 2100 at the latest for all. The noise by a station requires year round maintenance. The snow is being moved to the facilities underground garage and storage area to help shore up the bases of the 16 hydraulic columns on which the structure stands. Every year the technical crew raises the columns by about 100. 00 centimeters to keep the structure above the surface of the snow and ice. Is mark i like the way that science and Technology Interact science Needs Technology but without science there would be no technology to take this. Every year to get to the snow grooming machines ready for the summer season. Time is of the essence there are hundreds of kilometers of snow roads that need to be leveled but 1st the machines needed to know and its minus 15 degrees out here today. As its done so because when its really cold its better to work in pairs so you can keep an eye on each others faces and look out for any signs of frostbite daughter fairbanks and. The researchers have adapted well to the extreme conditions. Electrical engineer thomas shod has to keep everything up and running. One of his most important tasks is to collect fresh snow and convert it into drinking water. The forest is where your actual come from the snow that we brought in is melting now i want to temperature is about 6 to greece. Ready in 2 hours also i think. Tomas knows the station inside and out. During the long winter months the Skeleton Crew has to be selfreliant among thomas duties the maintenance of the sewage and waste Water Treatment equipment. Was declared to use purified waste water in the flush toilets. The water so clean that you could drink it at least in theory of trying to paint ball where. This is the stations heating system which keeps the facility at Room Temperature even during the coldest days. And. The system is powered by 3 diesel generators the power plant also makes use of any waste heat thats generated outside a wind turbine brings in even more electricity. But up to now renewables only account for a quarter of the stations energy needs. As is all. From the arc of on. We working on introducing more wind energy and harnessing other sustainable resources. In building but its very difficult in these conditions. So with these extreme temperatures and storms. The wind turbine often ices up. Michael schumacher is an atmospheric chemist. He has to walk a kilometer and a half every day to reach a site where he takes no samples. But hes going to pound this plastic tube into the snow. Afterwards the sample will be carefully packed and shipped to germany for. Analysis. These tests are aimed at determining how new snow turns of the glacial ice over time. Marco says its pretty solitary work. And its also. You spend a lot of time by yourself out here in the middle of nowhere. And the weather conditions are extreme. Division to the temperature can drop to minus 40 and theres the wind chill in fact its been dubbed by. Marcos works in his own building which houses the air chemistry observatory. He monitors the presence of Greenhouse Gases in the antarctic atmosphere. This is we have big pumps that feed into 4 different filtration systems. Giving. Marcos records the increase and particles for example during large fires in the amazon rain forest. But his main focus is on Carbon Dioxide and other compounds that can damage the earths atmosphere. Thats so you measure the c o 2 and then capture the molecules in a sodium hydroxide solution this milky liquid here that is its these images give you this is far. By analyzing the individual atoms marquess can determine where the Carbon Dioxide comes from. Overall he seen a significant rise in c o 2 levels known to be a major contributor to Global Warming just this short. This increase doesnt just represent a serious problem for the areas where these gases are produced the industrial regions of the northern hemisphere. Those materials have now spread around the world and weve even found them here in antarctica. And i have to say this. For years scientists like mark course have been calling attention to the increase in Greenhouse Gases but politicians have failed to take action. Its a shake and hes and its a scary situation because weve had theres an increase and we actually know what impact it will have. It was nothing good. Just not despite our best efforts no one is willing to stand up and do something to try and stop it experience 156 for scientists thats not only scary its really depressing if you take your measurements collect your data and your point your findings and those facts just ignored it until you can move it. This prostration is why ma course organized what is almost certainly the world southern most Climate Change protest. Seen his colleagues here at noise by a station wanted to show their support for young people around the world who are also taking part in demonstrations here think im asking them to. Do it as it is into the maybe at the far end of the planet but even this far flung part of the world is being affected by Climate Change. A photograph with symbolic power. Meteorologist mitchell coffee is responsible for determining what Impact Global warming might already be having on the antarctic atmosphere. For his research he collects data that include wind speed solar radiation and the Reflective Properties of the ice crust. German scientists have been taking such measurements in the antarctic since the early 1980 s. These reports are sent to the uns Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. When g. M. Is facing and when we talk about climate we have to look at data over a period of at least 30 years. One years worth of information simply isnt enough to feel i can. Hear me getting ready to launch a weather balloon. It goes up every morning at 11 oclock and measures air temperature and the density of the ozone layer to an altitude of up to 30 kilometers. Michelle says that so far his data show no evidence of Global Warming at this specific spot. And starts on. Messing me up somebody at the station we havent recorded any changes in temperature feel a feel of i dont know any other research stations in antarctica havent either. But there has been a sizable increase in temperature in the antarctic peninsula. To work. In insular as the northernmost part of the continent researcher there has shown this rise in temperatures has led to accelerate a glacial melting. If its coupled with ocean warming this could have a serious impact on the sea ice where penguins live and breathe. Ocean warming could also further accelerate the melting of the glaciers. This would contribute to rising global sea levels. The scientists at the new maya station are making a substantial contribution to the complex Research Required in these fields. But theyre also studying how to grow vegetables and other produce in this harsh environment. This is the eden i assess project a high tech greenhouse that may 1 day provide astronauts with the technology theyll need to cultivate plants during extended space missions. And i know how often youve been here for a few weeks in the darkness and youve only seen white its a wonderful experience coming in here with the smell it makes you think of being on vacation in italy when you open the window its great like tomatoes peppers and cucumber scroll without soil. The plants exposed roots are sprayed with a nutrient solution. This is. This is a real luxury for us indeed since june weve been able to serve fresh less this every evening. So we added tomatoes and cucumbers people love us through on their few florida but im. Sure if catalina known doff says that this is probably the worlds southern most vegetable garden. After the 1st tavis we celebrated. We used to have less is flown in from cape town but we hadnt had any for at least a month so this was a real event. Capito is saying finally something green. Here is even preparing a dish with fresh pesto made with babies or leaves from the greenhouse. The other ingredients come from the freezer. The researchers here are laying the groundwork for the development of plant Cultivation Technology that may be used in the future on board the International Space station. There will be a. Lot of you know enjoys her work at no maya but she does get homesick sometimes. My oldest nephew got married recently but i had to stay here. I wish i could have been there i really wanted to go so you do miss your loved ones once a month i miss the. Sport because one distraction. Regular workouts at the research stations gym help keep the staff in good physical and mental shape. Geophysicist he did call tries to get everyone involved. In this kind of mission and. I got to