Beyond Cool
Dateline: 06/26/98
Oh goody. It's a dry heat.
Here in Sacramento, California, they'll tell you that the112°F your
body is feeling is a "dry" heat. That's supposed to make it like, cool, see?
Sure, most invigorating. Sorry, hot is hot, and the only way to stay cool
year-round is to move way north, or way south.
For instance, you could work for the US Army Corps of Engineers' Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), where they always say...
"Below 32°F or 0°C, the natural world changes dramatically, and snow, ice, and frozen ground become the dominant conditions. Most materials change their properties, and many machines either don't work as designed or fail completely. Most of these problems arise because water changes into ice." -- From Mission Statement, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, United States Army Corps of Engineers
Yeah, that sounds good. Oh, by the way, those machine problems,
"...are caused by such things as falling and blowing snow, snow on the ground, ice in the air and in the ground, ice in rivers, ice on seas and lakes, and ice in manmade materials."
Ahh..., ice, snow, falling and blowing. Somebody get me a sweater.
CRREL is the Department of Defense's only laboratory dedicated to the study of technical and mechanical problems faced by people who live and work in the "cold regions" of the northern hemisphere (map). Much of CRREL's research is conducted from a very cool spot, indeed -- the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Des Groseilliers -- which, since October of 1997, has been frozen solid in the Arctic Ocean ice some 300 miles north of Alaska and 900 miles south of the North Pole.You may have heard of the Des Groseilliers and the research labs built around her by the more well known name of Ice Station SHEBA. ("Surface HEat Budget of the Arctic Ocean.") Here, cool off with some pictures of Ice Station SHEBA.
Cooler still? Fly with the Ice Pirates.
You say the Arctic isn't cool enough? It's cooler at the South Pole? Well
then, you need to spend the summer flying with the Ice Pirates of the
US
Navy's Operation Deepfreeze.
Officially known as "Antarctic Development Squadron Six (VXE-6)," the Ice Pirates fly ski-equipped LC-130 "Hercules" transport aircraft out of McMurdo Station to most parts of Antarctica. From October through February, the Ice Pirates fly cargo, personnel, and fuel to the antarctic research stations of the National Science Foundation. In addition, they provide 24-hour Search And Rescue (SAR) and Medivac services for those facilities.
The Ice Pirates of VXE-6 were also the very first US Navy Squadron to have a Web Site. Now that's cool!
Cool Weather Ahead
Here are a couple of near real-time automated weather stations located in
spots guaranteed to cool you off.
Mawson Station, Antarctica - Current Weather
From the Australian Bureau of Meteorology
Thule
AFB, Greenland - Current Weather
From NOAA
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