No, this is not a homeless encampment at the South Pole.
The problem of homelessness has not yet reached the South Pole. These tents were set up by research scientists, studying climate change.
Why a seemingly intelligent scientist would pick Antarctica, as a place to study anything, I cannot explain. Although considering the difficulty finding affordable housing in 2021, maybe this was the best they could do.
Or maybe… being scientists… they onto something the rest of us haven’t yet figured out?
I’ve often thought about investing in real estate, but until I ran across this photo, above, I hadn’t really considered Antarctica.
But then, on a whim, I started Googling “the South Pole” and I discovered a few things.
Apparently, the South Pole was discovered in 1911 by a group of Norwegians who were training for the Nordic Ski event at the 1912 Olympics. It had been a warm and dry winter in Norway, so the athletes had gone looking for some good snow — preferably some reasonably flat terrain without too many trees. Antarctica seems to offer that, in spades.
Once they got started, they just kept going, until one of them said, “Hey, guys, isn’t this, like, the South Pole?” (Except he said it in Norwegian.)
When they looked around and realized where they were, they stuck a few Norwegian flags in the snow and posed for a photograph.
Fortunately for the rest of us, they were athletes and not real estate investors. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
As I continued learning about Antarctica, I learned that the Antarctic Ice Sheet contains about 70 percent of the world’s fresh water. Except it’s all frozen. So that’s not real helpful, in terms of our ongoing “mega-drought” taking place here in the American West, and the declining water levels in our reservoirs.
In fact, at the moment, Antarctica is one of the “driest” places on earth, if you don’t count the frozen water.
That situation is going to change, however, thanks to climate change. Which is why I will be purchasing real estate in Antarctica, as soon as it comes on the market.
My online research brought up this painting by a talented artist named James McKay. The painting was inspired by recent scientific research at the South Pole, where ice-core samples showed evidence of a temperate forest — with balmy summer temperatures of about 66º. A lot like Pagosa Springs, in other words, except without all the tourists.
Okay, I’m not real fond of volcanoes. But they seem a long way off, in this painting, so it’s probably safe.
My realtor friends have often advised me to buy real estate when the market is cold. Which is why I haven’t bought property in Colorado. The market here is not just hot; it’s literally scorching.
The market in Antarctica is cold. Really, really cold. So I’m getting in, before it heats up. And friends, there’s no question about it — it’s going to heat up. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change put out a report this year, written by scientists (maybe, scientists living in tents at the South Pole?) that summarizes the situation pretty simply:
It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred.
I realize there are going to be challenges at first, living in Antarctica. The neighborhood will start off small, and isolated. There will probably be only one church in town. (I am hoping it’s a Methodist church.) We probably won’t have a Walmart, at first. Or a McDonalds. A good snow shovel will be a necessity.
But change is inevitable. Didn’t some really intelligent person once say, “The only constant, is change?”
So don’t fight it. Embrace change. Make your own future. (I said that.) The scientists have paved the way for us, by finding ancient trees under two miles of snow. I’m hoping some of the trees were apple trees.
Incidentally, I also learned that, once the sun sets at the South Pole, it doesn’t rise again for about six months. Speaking as a person who loves to “sleep in”, the thought of spending six months in bed doesn’t sound so terrible.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.