Another update at the bottom - a howler from The National Geographic of all people.
Anthony Watts has been following this story closely.
Turns out that it was not a tourist ship -- the ship was charted by a bunch of enviros who wanted to document the horrific loss of ice. The irony is strong in that one...
The warmistas were following the route of famed Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson and his team in their 1912 landing at Commonwealth Bay on the Antarctic continent.
The absolute joke in this story is this bit of film from Mawson's team landing at Commonwealth Bay in 1912 -- take notice of the crushing ice in the bay. The idiots on the ship didn't even bother to study their history...
Go and read all of Anthony's post -- he has a lot of information on the Antarctic Ice (more now than in recent history and growing rapidly), some more about Mawson and his men and their expedition as well as links to news articles from the people stranded on board -- the ship was carrying quite a few journalists from the BBC, the UK Guardian and our own ABC. All pushing the global warming scam on their poor readership (links to these at the site).
UPDATE The National Geographic published this puff-piece two days ago -- there is a howler in it that makes me ashamed to have ever subscribed to their magazine. If this is the quality of proofreading and editing, they have sunk very low.
Here is the link to the article: Who's on That Russian Ship Stuck on Antarctic Ice? And Why?
The howler in question:
One related question remains worth noting, however: Where is the South Pole?
Prince Harry supposedly reached the South Pole earlier this month, but debate later broke out about the multiple - three, to be exact - South Poles in the area.
Why is this the case? Let's remember, the South Pole is essentially on a huge chunk of ice, which means the continent of Antarctica is constantly shifting around and moving.
Throw in global warming and ocean currents and you've got the recipe for a South Pole that moves about 33 feet (10 meters) per year.
Then there's the idea of a magnetic South Pole, which also isn't exactly steady, as it's been shown to move northward toward Australia about six to nine miles (10 to 15 kilometers) per year.
Looking for a South Pole that doesn't move? Check out the trustworthy ceremonial South Pole. And while you're at it, you can even take a photo there.
Yes, the North Pole is on floating ice -- there is no Arctic continent but the continent of Antarctica is firmly set in the ground and no quantity of global warming and ocean currents will shift it.
For the record, the three South poles are the Magnetic Pole, the Geographic Pole and the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility.
And, just as a heads up, the trustworthy ceremonial South Pole is located at the American Amundsen-Scott Station and it rests on the Geographic South Pole.
If this is what passes for journalism and proofreading at the National Geographic, I am truly saddened.
