Polar Adjustments

After about three months at the pole, one can notice several changes the body makes to adapt to the environment here. The main environmental factors are cold, altitude, dryness, sunlight, and bathing schedules. While cold is a factor when working outside, most of the time one's body is influenced by the extreme dryness and low air pressure. The South Pole is located 9301 ft (2835 m) above sea level, but because of the dry, cold air, the pressure is ~682 mb, making the physio-altitude 10,587 ft (3287 m). The high altitude can cause blood oxygen levels drop below 90%. This can result in sleep apnea, and I've woken up from sleep or a nap a few times short of breath because of this. This is best combated by exercising regularly to increase your blood oxygen level.

Extreme dryness was more of a factor during the first few weeks here, but eventually the body adjusts the amount of oils it outputs, which is also related to the amount of bathing we do. To conserve water, everyone is limited to two two-minute showers a week. However, most people don't smell because it is simply so dry here that it is difficult to work up a sweat, even in the gym. In general, the dry air makes most things devoid of odor - food doesn't rot either. Two showers a week is completely sufficient (for most people..); we didn't evolve to bathe every day and the body easily adapts to less routine bathing. In fact, when we were asked to take additional showers (because they needed more water output for plumbing maintenance), it caused more drying out of the skin, making additional showers undesirable.

The lack of normal daily sunlight can also interrupt sleeping and disrupt one's circadian rhythm. It's a bit too early to notice signs of seasonal depression, but I wouldn't be surprised if they occur in the next couple months. A full spectrum light was installed in the galley if people want to get a dose of the sun. Some people also choose to read in the greenhouse.

In the movie Lawrence of Arabia, when Lawrence was asked why he loved the desert so much, he replied "because it's so clean". I agree with his sentiment, and enjoy the lack of odors and rot, absence of insects that might flock to unattended crumbs, and general purity of the snowy landscape. Although my sleep schedule is a bit off because of the altitude and dryness, it's a fair trade for the 'desert clean'.