Coincidentally these were published by the NYT today:
The scientists’ home for the next two months, the Araon, is a 360-foot-long icebreaker operated by the Korea Polar Research Institute. As researchers grew concerned about Thwaites a decade ago, the United States and Britain mounted a seven-year, $50 million research campaign involving more than 100 researchers. Many of them sailed to Thwaites aboard the Araon or an American icebreaker, the Nathaniel B. Palmer.
This year, though, the Palmer was decommissioned, a victim of President Trump’s budget cuts. That has left the United States without a dedicated Antarctic research ship and leaves South Korea as the only nation with long-term plans to sail to Thwaites regularly.
I have friends/colleagues at Scripps and other research institutions who have spent many seasons in the Antarctic, either at a base or on board a ship. I remember the celebrations when the RVIB Palmer was launched, and close friends of mine were on the maiden cruise. I made several trips myself hauling gear and supplies up to Port Hueneme, from where the US Navy would transport the stuff down to Punta Arenas where the Palmer would be provisioning. So much amazing research was made possible by having an icebreaker with the capabilities of the Palmer.
And yet: last month the Palmer returned to Louisiana (where she was built), sadly decommissioned as a result of the drastic funding cuts to the National Science Foundation (which leased the Palmer). The US now no longer has an Antarctic-capable research icebreaker. The future research projects that had been scheduled for this winter (Antarctic summer) and future years have been in limbo–if the researcher was lucky, he/she might have been able to get a berth on another country’s Antarctic research vessel, but I’m guessing the majority would not have this option. In a letter written unsuccessfully in support of maintaining the Palmer, research scientists wrote:
The early loss of the N.B. Palmer is troubling, especially at a time when other nations, including China, Korea, Japan, Britain, and Australia, among others, are increasing their marine capability for Antarctic waters. This decision forecasts the decline of an exceptional history of U.S. scientific contributions.
So while I don’t blame tourists for wanting to visit Antarctica, I find it depressing beyond words that we have come to this. There are dozens of ships that provide cruises for tourists (to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars), and NOT ONE SINGLE Antarctic research vessel remaining to support American scientists.
Of course, this is only part of the hatchet job that’s been taken to US scientific research in many fields. The latest to go on the chopping block is NCAR, a true jewel in American scientific research and key to our understanding of climate and weather, which affects everyone whether they admit it or not. Let’s hope the bipartisan support to maintain NCAR’s funding is more successful. It appears to be too late for the RVIB Palmer.