The Coldest March

Abstract

On January 12, 1912, Capt Robert Falcon Scott and 4 companions stood despondently at the South Pole, beaten in their race for fame by Roald Amundsen. Since that disappointing day, the Scott expedition, which ended with the deaths of all the team, has come under the scrutiny of numerous authors. Some have lauded Scott as a national hero, whereas others have described him as a bumbling, arrogant British naval officer with neither the skills nor the experience to lead such an expedition. Susan Solomon, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who has served in Antarctica on several occasions, has, in The Coldest March, written a new account of the expedition, coming to new conclusions based on scientific weather data. Scott and his associates had strong scientific interests and kept meticulous weather measurements, sometimes under appalling environmental conditions. These records, later analyzed by George Simpson, the meteorologist of the expedition, have been compared by Dr Solomon with modern data collected over a 15-year period from weather stations that record measurements every 15 minutes. Using this massive volume of data, Dr Solomon has been able to show that during the final stages of the return from the Pole, Scott's group encountered unusually cold weather. From February 27 to March 19, 1912, the temperatures encountered were −30°F to −40°F, which is 10°F to 20°F lower than the average for that time of year. These temperatures had a devastating effect on the abilities of the men to pull their sleds. (Unlike Amundsen, they did not use dogs on the final push to the Pole.) The runner of a sled or a ski runs on a microlayer of melted ice that lubricates the surface. If the temperature is lower than −20°F, the snow does not melt, and the sled runs as though on desert sand. These were the conditions that Scott's men fought, gaining only 6 miles per day rather than the expected 12 to 15 miles per day. There were other problems. Their food was running low, and the cans of kerosene necessary for cooking and melting ice had leaked. Their intakes, therefore, of both calories and fluids were dangerously inadequate. For those of us brought up on the dangers of wind chill, it is hard to believe that wind can actually raise the temperature. In Antarctica, the layer of air close to the snow is colder than the layers higher in the atmosphere. A wind stirs up the warmer, higher air, bringing it down to raise the temperature. During the period of extreme and unusual cold that affected Scott, there was very little wind, which kept the temperature bitterly low. Oates’ and Scott's feet froze. Oates’ frostbite was so severe that one night he walked out into a storm, knowing that he would not return. Scott's feet soon became as bad as those of Oates and, during the last week, when they all lay in their tent waiting for the weather to improve, Scott became so weak that he could not walk. They were 11 miles from the nearest food depot, and the diary of one of the men suggests that 2 of them were going to try and reach the supplies. The dash for the depot was never made, and all the men died, leaving behind tragic and heroic messages for their families. No one will ever know why an attempt was not made to reach the food (although even if they had reached the depot, they still would have had 170 miles to travel), but one possibility suggested by Dr Solomon is that Scott was too sick to travel and that Wilson and Bowers made the decision, out of loyalty, to stay with him to the end. This book is not just a bare-bones scientific comparison of the weather and conditions that prevailed in 1912 with those of modern times but is a well-written account that grips the reader, bringing the harshness of Antarctica to life. As a recounting of the Scott expedition, it is objective and praises where praise is due and acknowledges the mistakes that led to the final disaster. If you think you know all about the Scott expedition, read the book to be reeducated. If you know nothing about the expedition, read the book and come away filled with awe for the trials, courage, and endurance of the explorers.