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, only brave adventurers dared to visit Antarctica. However, it is now becoming a fashionable tourist destination. 78,000 tourists travelling on luxury cruise ships are expected to visit the icy continent between March and November.

This new holiday trend appears a confused choice as each tourist is responsible for creating 5 tonnes of CO2 on their journey. However, Antarctica is already suffering from the effects of global warming.

Karin Strand is a vice-president of the Norwegian company that owns this ship. She is responsible for the expeditions.

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."

It's a very comfortable and luxurious environment, but these passengers are also explorers. Employees offer every possible support to these 'explorers' on 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."

Entertainment on board also includes an ecological theme. There are libraries, microscopes and lectures, along with boat trips which are 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 organises scientific excursions.

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."

However, a vital question still remains. Should high levels of tourism be allowed?