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!"

Antarctica is very cold and far away. It was a place for adventurers. Now tourists are visiting. They are coming on luxury ships. 78,000 tourists are going to visit from March to November.

The holiday is a strange choice. Every tourist makes 5 tonnes of CO2 on their journey. Antarctica has lots of problems from climate change.

Karin Strand plans the holidays. She works for the ship's Norwegian owners.

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."

The ship is very comfortable, but the customers are explorers too. Workers always help them. These 'explorers' have an easy 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."

The holiday has an environment focus. There are libraries, microscopes and presentations. Scientists plan boat trips too.

Allison Cusick is a scientist.

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 plans science trips.

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 there is a big question. Are high numbers of tourists OK in Antarctica?