Drawing upon her expertise in Antarctic climate data, Susan
Solomon reevaluates the 1911-1912 South Pole expedition led by Captain Robert
Falcon Scott in the book, The Coldest March.
Captain Scott, accompanied by a crew of four, hiked and skied
nearly 900 miles across Antarctica in an attempt to be the first team to reach
the South Pole as part of the Terra Nova Expedition. However, they made it to
the pole only to realize that a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundson made the
journey a month prior. All five men in the Terra Nova party lost their lives
during the trek. Scott and the last two remaining men made their final camp
just eleven miles from the nearest depot with supplies and food, but were not
able to complete the rest of the journey and perished from exhaustion,
exposure, and lack of supplies. As a result, the legacy of the Scott Expedition
was an example of the consequences of being woefully
unprepared for the brutality of Antarctic, especially in contrast to the
Amundson expedition.
Solomon sought to investigate the meteorological conditions during
Scott’s journey under a critical lens in order to challenge previous
examinations on the contributing factors for the unsuccessful expedition. Using
modern longitudinal Antarctic temperature measurements and comparing them with
the conditions recorded by the party in 1911, she concluded that the recorded
temperatures of the Scott expedition were unusually cold — 10 to 20 degrees
below average. The significantly lower temperatures contributed to difficulties
in moving the sleds across the ice and accelerated the use of oil for cooking
and warmth, stalling the men during the most brutal part of the journey. According
to Solomon, there were other contributing factors, including Scott’s decision
to include four companions, lack of proper nutrition, and the decision to use
ponies instead of dogs to pull the sleds.
In her argument, Solomon demonstrates that the weather
conditions in March 1912 were particularly and unexpectedly harsh, removing
some of the onus of ill-preparedness from Scott and restoring his legacy.
Solomon’s subject area knowledge and interpretation of the events based on
Antarctic climate data sets collected over the last century from Antarctic
weather stations set this book apart from other examinations of Scott’s
expedition.
For more information on Soloman’s research for the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LoWsLqcizA.
Available from the UW Library catalog: http://search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/ocm45661501