High carbon holidays in Antarctica - 13th December 2019

Announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, have a wonderful first day here in Antarctica, be sure to dress up warmly and enjoy!"

Once reserved for fearless adventurers, Antarctica is now the latest destination for curious tourists. Thanks to luxury cruise ships, 78,000 tourists are expected to visit the ice-covered continent between March and November.

This growing trend is also a paradox as each tourist is responsible for 5 tonnes of CO2 emissions on their journey to visit a continent that is already suffering the effects of global warming.

Karin Strand is the vice-president in charge of expeditions for the Norwegian company that owns this ship.

Karin Strand: "It's a hybrid-powered expedition ship which is the first of its kind. It is a comfortable bubble in a very, very inhospitable environment."

A very comfortable and luxurious bubble, but here the passengers are explorers and not just holidaymakers. Every effort is made to facilitate their trip.

Paul Ranheim: "As you see, we have made a zigzag set for the route up so that it's easy to walk. You don't walk straight ahead. You can say that we are preparing the adventure."

Onboard entertainment also comes with an ecological twist. There are libraries, microscopes and lectures, as well as, expeditions on the sea led by scientists. Allison Cusick is one of the biologists.

Allison Cusick: "You have passengers coming down, which provides a great opportunity for them to be involved in actual science that's going on, in a region of the world where we don't have a lot of data."

Verena Meraldi is a scientific expedition organiser.

Verena Meraldi: "We are also increasing the awareness of our guests on the problems of climate change, for example, and the

many changes that are taking place."

But it still raises the question, should such high levels of tourism be allowed?