The Belgian Antarctic Expedition 1897 – 1899

Patrick De Deckker is a paleontologist who has led teams of research scientists on ships all over the world, studied the nature of the sea floor, collected sediment cores from the bottom of the ocean, and surveyed huge underwater canyons taller than the Grand Canyon, off Kangaroo Island.  
He also worked to expose patterns of climate change on land and in the oceans, and his recent conclusions are clear.  According to Professor De Deckker

“What distresses me is the level of anthropogenic changes affecting the natural world. We need to inform everyone, including managers and politicians, of the alarming level of change at all scales. This is important for future generations and all life on earth”.

On Friday, October 13th, at 7:00 pm, Professor Patrick De Deckker will speak at the Sullivan County Museum in Hurleyville, New York, on the extraordinary achievements of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897-1899). 

The Belgica was an exploratory expedition, but more importantly it was an exceptional and successful scientific voyage. A vast array of data was processed and eventually 92 scientific papers in some nine volumes were published by the Belgica Commission. 

Disappointingly, those significant results have been mostly ignored in scientific literature. Professor De Deckker has translated much of the research, and his talk will inform scientists about where to obtain the information. The climatological and oceanographic data obtained on the Belgica can then be examined in line with the changes occurring today in the Antarctic Peninsula region as a result of global warming. Parts of the Belgica data form an important resource for assessing environmental changes over the past 120 years.