Longest day for us, midwinter for Antarctica

As the world turns, our summer solstice and longest day of the year yesterday in the Northern Hemisphere was a true turning point -- and cause for celebration -- at the South Pole and other stations around Antarctica: midwinter, the day in which the sun is at its lowest point on the horizon (either way, it's still dark!). Only three more months until the sun rises.

Midwinter is a true accomplishment for those spending six months in darkness, and a unifying event at a time when they are otherwise isolated from each other by a cold, vast desert of ice. South Pole meteorology manager Tim Markle recently said in an email to me: "Well, we are quickly approaching mid-winter. Soon sunlight will appear on the horizon and we will have light at the end of the tunnel."

The image above is a midwinter greeting from U.S. McMurdo Station. The two below are from Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and Palmer Station, respectively.





Best of luck on the remainder of the season, everyone.

Photos courtesy of the U.S. Antarctic Program, National Science Foundation.

More information about midwinter in Antarctica.

The arugula salad and chili were the best!

Some of you may be wondering how and what people eat on an continent where the only soil is buried under two miles of ice and the sun does not shine for six months out of the year. Here's a piece by fellow Antarctic journalist and friend Chaz Firestone about growing -- and eating -- food in Antarctica: Frozen Foodies. My favorites: the arugula salad at the South Pole and the AMAZING chili made by Karen Moore at Marble Point in the Dry Valleys.