'Coal or ice?': Antarctic mariner hits out at ScoMo from icebreaker
A worker on Australia’s only icebreaker in Antarctica has refused to take down a social media post critical of Prime Minister Scott Morrison after the icy continent recorded its warmest ever temperature last month.
Madeleine Habib is a master mariner and activist who has worked on and captained a number of vessels around the world and is currently on board the Aurora Australis icebreaker.
Last week she unfurled a large banner on the deck of the ship, sending a pointed message to Australia’s leader.
“ScoMo,” it read, with an image of Australia on fire and the polar caps melting.
“Coal or ice?”
The post, however, did not go unnoticed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), which is part of the federal government’s Department of Environment.
The icebreaker is regularly chartered by the AAD for research cruises and to support Australian bases in Antarctica – where Australia lays claim to 42 per cent of the icy territory.
However after becoming aware of the post, the AAD contacted Ms Habib’s employer, P&O Maritime. On Monday she claimed she was told to remove the social media post.
“I have been instructed to remove my post,” she wrote. “I hope that you have shared it widely ... We will not be quiet Australians.”
In a statement to Yahoo News Australia, the AAD denied making any requests to P&O Maritime to remove the post.
“The Division contacted P&O Maritime to advise them of a social media post from Ms Habib, featuring a banner erected on the ship,” it said. “No specific request was made.”
As friends on social media rallied around her, urging others on social media to share the image, Ms Habib remained defiant.
“I defend my right to raise my voice against climate injustice,” she wrote. “Here in Antarctica the impact of climate change is obvious.”
Climate change is causing the Arctic and the Antarctic to warm faster than other parts of the planet and those on the front line of climate change in Australia are increasingly directing their frustration at the Federal government, with a number of the ruling Liberal party continuing to deny the science of man-made climate change.
Ms Habib, who is responsible for driving the ship and for the safety equipment on board, told The Guardian that she was willing to lose her job over her climate activism.
“In the last few years I have become overwhelmed with the climate crisis and it is my intention to dedicate myself to climate activism, even if that means losing my job,” she told the publication.
In a statement, P&O Maritime said it discourages its employees from “using our assets for personal purposes”.
“We have instructed our employee to refrain from similar activities in the future as they are not compliant with our policies on personal use of company assets,” the company said.
Record Antarctic temperatures still need to be verified
According to the United Nation’s weather agency, record high temperatures reportedly measured in Antarctica will take months to verify.
A spokesman for the World Meteorological Organisation said the measurements made by researchers from Argentina and Brazil earlier this month have to undergo a formal process to ensure that they meet international standards.
“A formal decision on whether or not this is a record is likely to be several months away,” said WMO spokesman Jonathan Fowler.
Scientists at an Argentine research base measured a temperature of 18.3 Celsius on February 6 on a peninsula that juts out from Antarctica toward the southern tip of South America.
Last week, researchers from Brazil claimed to have measured temperatures above 20C on an island off the peninsula.
Mr Fowler said both measurements would need to be transmitted to Professor Randall Cerveny, a researcher at Arizona State University who examines reported temperature records for WMO.
Prof Cerveny then shares the data with a wider group of scientists who “will carefully evaluate the available evidence (including comparisons to surrounding stations) and debate the merits and problems of the observation”, Mr Fowler said.
The evaluation normally takes six to nine months, after which Prof Cerveny would “formally either accept or reject the potential extreme”, giving official WMO approval to the new record.
with AAP
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