Shelter
Though their tent walls were so thin that wind blew right
through and agitated cigarette smoke within,
Shackleton
and his crew were fortunate in having tents, for there is no
shelter to be found on the sea ice. There is neither wood to
build structures nor sufficient snow to erect igloos or dig
snow caves.
Even if you have a decent shelter, dangers exist. Six weeks
into his 1934 attempt to overwinter alone in the Antarctic in
a prefab hut buried up to its roof in the snowpack, Admiral
Richard Byrd began suffering headaches and loss of
concentration. His condition grew so serious that those in
radio contact with him realized he was not himself and
airlifted him out. Turns out he was suffering from carbon
monoxide poisoning (see
Survival Stories). A colorless, odorless gas that is the product of
incomplete combustion, carbon monoxide was leaking from Byrd's
generator-powered stove.
Ironically for a frozen environment, fire is one of the
biggest threats in Antarctica, even within tents. In 1984, a
scientist in a remote field camp tried to refuel a stove
inside his tent, where another stove was already burning. He
thought that fuel could only ignite if it came in direct
contact with flame, but fumes already accumulating in the tent
and from a few spilled drops suddenly ignited. Before he
managed to escape, the scientist was severely burned on the
hands and face, and had to be airlifted to New Zealand for
treatment.
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