Latest news with #RRS
ITV News
3 hours ago
- Science
- ITV News
Seasickness, spotting icebergs and keeping the crew fed: Life on board an Antarctic expedition
ITV News Science Correspondent shows what life is like on board the RRS Sir David Attenborough on an expedition deep within the Antarctic Circle The British research ship the RRS Sir David Attenborough has travelled through an area of Antarctica that would have been impassable 30 years ago at this time of year. That's because the area the ship navigates with ease would have been solid ice. No other British ship has made the journey since the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated Endurance expedition, when his ship became trapped in the pack ice and sank in 1915. Fast forward 110 years - after global warming has caused the ice to melt - and ITV News Science Correspondent Martin Stew is the only journalist on board the British ship. From the chef keeping crew members fed to the captain keeping a lookout for icebergs, he speaks to those on board about what life is like on an Antarctic expedition.
ITV News
18 hours ago
- Science
- ITV News
Antarctica: A journey to the end of the earth to find answers about our planet's future
ITV News Science Correspondent Martin Stew reports from deep within the Antarctic Circle. I'm the only journalist on board the RRS Sir David Attenborough, deep within the Antarctic Circle. No British research ship has ventured this far south, this late in the winter, since Shackleton's ill-fated Endurance expedition. History buffs will know that story didn't end well. Shackleton's ship was crushed by ice in the Weddell Sea, leaving his crew stranded for nearly two years, surviving on the ice and living off seal meat. The fact that our journey south has been plain sailing through waters that, by rights, should be frozen solid is a stark warning of how rapidly our climate is changing. Staring out into this frozen wilderness feels a world away from the UK's summer, but the scientists I'm travelling with insist we're far more connected than you might think. The Southern Ocean captures vast quantities of carbon and heat, and it helps drive global currents, including the Gulf Stream. Meanwhile, the sea ice surrounding Antarctica acts like a giant mirror, reflecting the sun's heat. And then there's the very real issue of rising sea levels. Antarctica holds two-thirds of the world's fresh water. For years, it was considered relatively stable — a vast, ancient ice sheet that wouldn't melt for millennia. But in recent decades, both landscapes and scientific opinions have shifted dramatically. The Antarctic Peninsula, which stretches towards Chile, is now warming faster than anywhere else in the Southern Hemisphere. The fear is that this alarming trend will spread across the entire continent — a land mass nearly twice the size of Europe. You might know the RRS Sir David Attenborough better by its famously suggested nickname, Boaty McBoatface — the humorous moniker voted for by the public. But this £200 million icebreaker is no joke. It's a serious piece of engineering, carrying some of the world's leading scientists aboard the UK's largest floating research lab. Their mission: to better understand how Antarctica's climate is changing, and what it means for the rest of the planet. Six years ago, British Antarctic Survey scientists Professor Mike Meredith and Dr Rhiannon Jones watched as three million tonnes of ice broke away from a glacier before their eyes. Now, they've returned to study how underwater tidal waves — triggered by collapses on that scale — alter the ocean and accelerate warming. Incredibly, while monitoring the same glacier, it happens again. This time, the collapse isn't as massive, but the fact it's happening in the depths of winter is even more alarming. "To stand there and see it directly in front of us was incredible," said Dr Rhiannon Jones. "It was all really unexpected, it really hit home that we're seeing some rapid changes to the region and we don't know what the consequences will be." Professor Mike Meredith said humans are to blame. "The retreat in sea ice is linked to the warming of the ocean and that's something that we know us humans are doing," he said. "The implications of this are climatic in that it effects how reflective the surface of the planet is, so the planet's now absorbing more heat from the sun than it used to. "It also removes a protective barrier from around Antarctica that can actually contribute to the destabilisation of the ice sheets." Releasing vast quantities of ice into the ocean on this scale can directly impact global sea levels. The latest models from researchers at the University of Durham suggest the amount of ice lost from polar ice sheets has quadrupled since the 1990s. We're currently losing around 270 billion tonnes of ice every year. Even if we managed to limit global warming to 1.5°C — which, at present, we're not on track to do — sea levels will still be rising at a rate that will be difficult to manage by the end of the century. According to Professor Chris Stokes: 'People need to be aware that sea level rise is likely to accelerate to rates that will be very difficult to adapt to — rates of one centimetre per year are not out of the question within the lifetime of our young people.' Over the next fortnight, I'll be reporting live from Antarctica — bringing you not just the latest discoveries from the world of climate science, but also the personal stories of those who endure the cold, the darkness, and the isolation to study this remote, frozen continent. From the wildlife to the wilderness, I'll do my best to share with you the stark beauty of this extraordinary place. Please join me on the journey if you can.
Axios
12-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Richmond paid over $550K to dead retirees
Richmond has paid over half a million dollars to dead people in the past nine years, according to a recent audit of the city's retirement system. Why it matters: It's yet another example of why many Richmonders have lost trust in the city's ability to properly handle taxpayer dollars. Driving the news: The city audit, released Friday, says the Richmond Retirement System (RRS) not only failed to prevent and detect the problem but hasn't recovered most of the money. And one retired City Hall employee received nearly $250,000 in benefit payments over seven years after his death. What they found: The payments happened because of "several control weaknesses," per the audit, including: Lack of oversight or management not knowing this was happening. Staff failing to identify when a retiree died. Inconsistent tracking of overpayments. Not acting to recover overpayments even when identified. Incomplete death reports. By the numbers: RRS paid 44 deceased retirees in that period, 32 of whom had been dead for over two months. Nine of those retirees died between January 2019 and October 2023 and received payments totaling over $110,000. Between the lines: These overpayments are a small fraction of the total benefits RRS administers. And in response to the audit, RRS — which is governed by a seven-member board — wrote to the city that privacy law changes have made getting death information increasingly difficult. What's next: Improvements at RRS are already underway, including using better death auditing services, operating procedures and tracking processes.
The Herald Scotland
11-05-2025
- The Herald Scotland
Secrets of an Antarctic garden shed frozen in time
Beside a few bunk beds sits a battered clock, its hands stuck at precisely 8.20. Blaiklock Island Refuge has been frozen in time since for decades (Image: UKAHT/Michael Duff) Time froze decades ago at Blaiklock Island Refuge, situated in one of the world's most remote and difficult to reach places, when the pioneers who used it as a shelter while they charted the first maps of the Antarctic Peninsula, moved on. Like many ordinary garden sheds across the land that have served its owners well, it bears scars of past use – old nails hammered into walls where soggy coats and equipment were once hung up to dry, hammers with their wooden handles stained with use, rusty old oil cans and pots of grease and that shed essential, an old torch. Tins of food stashed on a shelf within Blaiklock Island Refuge Hut (Image: UKAHT/Michael Duff) Now, though, it has been given a gentle makeover – so subtle that it's barely noticeable – thanks to the steady hand of a Peebleshire carpenter, some well-travelled roofing felt and a conservation effort that went to the ends of the earth. Graham Gillie, 58, a fifth-generation carpenter, has just returned from Blaiklock Island after working with the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) to repair the hut that once sheltered explorers, scientists, and their dogs as they ventured into the interior of the continent. Read more by Sandra Dick: Just like an ordinary garden sheds in need of some care and attention, the job involved nothing fancier than some roofing felt, nails and old-fashioned hammering. While the task itself may have been familiar, the logistics were anything but. Getting to Blaiklock involved a 9,000-mile journey via Port Lockroy, established during the Second World War, Port Lockroy was the setting for top secret mission Operation Tabarin, which aimed to reinforce British claims to the Falkland Islands and other locations, as pressure mounted from Argentina and Chile. The newly restored Blaiklock Island Refuge Hut (Image: UKAHT/Michael Duff) From there, Graham, along with a fellow carpenter, an archivist who planned to record the entire contents of the Blaiklock hut and a film-maker to capture their work on film, spent several days travelling through icy and mostly unchartered waters by sailing boat. Once close enough, they faced a daily commute by inflatable boat, all the time keeping a constant eye on the changing weather and the threat that sea ice might restrict their escape route to safety. Having planned their journey, the small team also had to ensure they had the materials they needed in place, from large rolls of roofing felt to the smallest nails. It was shipped separately to Blaiklock Island by British Antarctic Survey polar research vessel, RRS Sir David Attenborough. Carpenter Graham Gillie travelled 9000 miles to carry out repairs to Blaiklock Island refuge (Image: UKAHT/Michael Duff) Work to re-felt both the roof and the sides of the refuge had to be carried out under strict conservation controls, even down to keeping the old rusty nails once used to hang up wet jackets and equipment in place. The Blaiklock structure is the only British Antarctic refuge remaining from the 1950s, when it was used as a satellite base for survey and geological parties from Horseshoe Island, Detaille Island and Stonington Island. In those days, it could be reached by dog-pulled sleds driven over a glacier which attached the island to the mainland. Graham Gillie at work re-felting Blaiklock Island Refuge (Image: UKAHT/Michael Duff) The changing climate, however, has seen the glacier retreat, making the journey even more difficult. When Graham and his team arrived in February, it was the first time a specialist conservation team had been sent to carry out repairs and document the site. They found it almost as if the last occupants had just popped out, with cooking pots still neatly stacked, boxes filled with supplies, tins of food on shelves and rusty nails from the original build still embedded in the timber. Items left behind by researchers who once used the refuge hut at Blaiklock Island (Image: UKAHT/Michael Duff) Graham's key task would be familiar to anyone with a shed of a certain age in the back garden: make sure it doesn't let in water. 'It's just like re-felting the roof of a garden shed, except we were covering whole of the building,' says Graham. 'We had to strip off the old felt and redo it. 'The felt protects the building from the wind and from blowing ice that scars the building and wears it down. 'It's like it's being rubbed with sandpaper all of the time.' The hut at Blaiklock Island had to be stripped and re-felted to protect it from the Antarctic weather (Image: UKAHT/Michael Duff) One of the biggest challenges was working around the fickle Antarctic weather and the risk of becoming trapped by rapidly forming sea ice. 'You have to keep an eye on the weather and be aware in case we needed to escape quickly. 'The sea ice can blow in fast, and if it does, there's a risk the ship can't get back in to pick you up,' says Graham. 'It makes it all the more exciting.' While outside the hut was given a new protective layer, inside work was done to repair part of the roof and to document its contents. Blaiklock Island was a base for pioneers who charted the first maps of the region (Image: UKAHT/Michael Duff) 'The building is like a little bothy,' he adds. 'It's small, there's a workshop area where they stored skis, a room with six bunk beds and a little cooking area with a table. 'It's literally a garden shed without any insulation in it.' Inside was a scene of Antarctic life straight from the 1950s. 'Initially you think it's quite empty but there are boxes stuffed with all kinds of things, a lot has been left,' he says. 'It is as if someone has just been in, cooked dinner, tidied up a bit and then left. Read more by Sandra Dick: 'You feel a real connection with the people that were there before,' he adds. Blaiklock Island's refuge hut is one of five bases on the Antarctic Peninsula established in the aftermath of the war to serve British scientists based at Port Lockroy as they carried out mapping, geology and meteorology studies. They, and other sites, are looked after by the UKAHT and kept as frozen-in-time examples of scientific exploration. Items line a shelf inside Blaiklock Island Refuge, a former shelter used by Antarctic scientists (Image: UKAHT/Michael Duff) Graham is no stranger to working in the harsh conditions, often under the watch of troops of penguins and in sub-zero temperatures: he first visited Port Lockroy nearly 20 years ago as a general assistant and museum guide. He later helped build a Nissen hut for team accommodation at Port Lockroy, constructing it in two halves to avoid nesting penguins. Despite running his own carpentry business at home, the father of two returned to Antarctica to carry out urgent repairs to Base W Detaille Island, a science station dating from the 1950s, and then at Port Lockroy's Bransfield House, home to the world's remotest post office. This time around he completed important work at Port Lockroy to repair concrete foundations and replace rotten floor timbers before going traveling to Blaiklock Island Refuge. Peebleshire carpenter Graham Gillie at work restoring an Antarctic hut (Image: UKAHT/Michael Duff) Working in such isolation takes a special temperament: while Graham and the UKAHT team were busy carrying out their repair tasks, concerns were raised for the safety of researchers at South African-run research base in Vesleskarvet, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, amid "deeply disturbing behaviour" from one researcher. The grind of months away from home in a landscape that while beautiful can also be harsh and monotonous, requires a carefully selected group of people, agrees Graham. A seal basks in front of the shed at Blaiklock Island during repairs (Image: UKAHT/Michael Duff) 'It's all about sending people there who are good at adapting to situations, don't react too badly to anything that's stressful. 'You have got to get on with people,' he adds. 'You've got to be someone who can adapt, talk things through, or just take a step back. I've never had any real issues.' Antarctica, he adds, has an undeniable pull. 'The more remote, the more challenging, the more you get out of it. 'There's something about it that draws you in. It gets under your skin.'
Business Recorder
07-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
RRS implementation: FBR facing potential legal challenges
KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is facing significant internal backlash and potential legal challenges over the newly implemented Reward & Rating System (RRS), which was introduced as a replacement for the existing Performance Evaluation Report (PER) system. The officers from both Pakistan Customs and Inland Revenue Services have expressed strong resentment against what they described as a 'discriminatory system designed to gratify blue-eyed officers,' according to sources familiar with the matter. The controversy has escalated further when an advocate of the Supreme Court emailed a formal complaint to the Finance minister, FBR chairman, and other high-ranking officials, labelling the rewards as 'illegal donation of taxpayer's money' and a potential 'cognizable offence under Section 9 of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999.' FBR revises procedure for monetary reward payment The RRS, which was implemented for the period of July-December 2024, was initially presented as an initiative to objectively assess and uplift the performance of civil servants working in the FBR. However, sources claimed that the new system is 'inherently flawed, manipulative, and discriminatory.' A key concern raised by officers is that many with 'decent repute' and 'impeccable careers' were either downgraded or not considered for rewards despite performing professionally and protecting the interests of the national exchequer, sources said. One officer, in a letter addressed to the FBR chairman, expressed deep regret about participating in the multi-rater integrity and performance management feedback scheme. The officer claimed to have been directed to rate more than 45 colleagues, many of whom were 'complete strangers.' 'I have inadvertently contributed to unfair discrimination against several officers, under a forced categorization scheme, which was never my intention,' the officer stated in his letter. The discontent has reached such levels that some officers are now declining the financial rewards they have been granted. Business Recorder has obtained a copy of a letter from a customs officer, who formally declined a Category 'B' award that would have provided three additional salaries. 'As per the categorization framework, a Category 'B' rating implies a degree of inefficiency and questions an officer's integrity – a characterization I categorically reject,' the letter said. 'Throughout my service, I have upheld the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and dedication, and I find it deeply inappropriate and disturbing to be placed in a category that does not reflect my conduct or performance.' The officer further criticized the assessment mechanism, noting that it 'heavily relied on evaluations by officers – seniors and peers – who may have had little to no direct working relationship with the individuals they are rating.' The letter concluded: 'Any reward system must be grounded in transparency, impartiality, and a well-informed understanding of an officer's actual performance and professional conduct. A system lacking these foundational principles risks compromising both credibility and morale.' Meanwhile, the formal complaint by an advocate of the Supreme Court described the system as a 'daylight robbery on public money.' According to the complaint, the reward structure is based on peer rating for integrity and quality of output for a six-month period, where each officer evaluates peers and is evaluated by 45 other officers. The complaint stated: 'The reward distribution is substantial, with Grade 'A' officers reportedly receiving four months' worth of salary for each month of the evaluation period, totalling 24 salaries for six months. Grade 'B' officers receive 18 salaries, Grade 'C' officers 12 salaries, and Grade 'D' officers 6 salaries, while Grade 'E' officers receive nothing. The complaint also included a sample case where a Chief Collector of Customs in Peshawar allegedly received Rs 4.7 million in addition to regular salary. Meanwhile, sources pointed out fundamental issues with the current RRS structure, arguing that the system primarily revolves around peer assessment, which they said failed to incorporate multilayered factors related to training and professional development. The manual intervention through an 'anomaly committee' is said to severely affect objectivity, allowing 'personal likes and dislikes' to influence decisions, they added. The sources recommended that a team of well-reputed professionals, headed by the Finance minister, should be constituted to conduct a system audit and investigate the role of the anomaly committee in ensuring impartiality during manual interventions. However, the legal challenges raised by the Supreme Court advocate questioned the very authority of the FBR to implement such a system, citing the section 20 of the FBR Act as requiring approval from the policy board for establishing performance standards and criteria for rewards. According to the complaint, this approval was never obtained, rendering the entire reward distribution illegal. Further allegations include irregularities in the constitution of the 'Board in Council' that approved the FBR Transformation Plan 2024, claiming that not all members were appointed by the federal government as required by law. The complaint has also requested the Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to initiate proceedings against the FBR chairman and board members for causing loss to the public exchequer, demanding that the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) immediately stop disbursement of rewards and initiate recovery proceedings against officers who have already received payments. The complaint has also sought transparency by requesting the FBR to publish the list of officers graded A, B, C, and D on its web portal, and disclose instances where officers' grades were upgraded by the chairman or anomaly committee. When contact, the FBR officials refused to give official comment on the matter. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
