Aside from being a personally edifying jaunt, doesn't seem much of profound communication. Little of climate change narative. Where's that big iceberg recently cut loose? Where's your 'ice people' interviews? Seems an ineffable task to let others relate to that experience and one that will be increasingly uncommon to know.

Because of some truly backward thinking obsessives in a few select industries, for some 40 years now, we have been pretending there is any uncertainty about what is happening before our very eyes: all the ice is melting. There is no ambiguity or uncertainty about this process. Our planet would literally have to be thrust out of its orbital path to a distance further from the sun for the melting to stop. And if such a thing were possible, we would all die anyway, because we could no longer grow food. We exist in a spectacularly narrow range of climate parameters. I graduated from high school in 1975; we were already being warned, then, about the menace of unchecked pollution and the Greenhouse Effect. Most of my classmates paid attention. But it was the powerful business interests who refused, who denied science & basic logic: a few obstructionist old men born in the 1920s doomed billions of human beings to unnecessary suffering, and human civilization to extinction. That is a bitter truth about the backwardness of our global power structures, that persists in spite of advances occurring in other areas. We passed the tipping point for irreversible climate change at the turn of the century. We have no choice but to carry on trying to do whatever we can: that is the biological imperative. But we should never forget, while we still live, who placed service to Mammon above human survival. The methane is rising through the slushing permafrost. The clock is ticking. Love!

One word: wow!

Fantastic, but where and when is the virtual reality content available?

Don Juan Pond is no longer the saltiest water on the planet - Gaet’ale a Hypersaline Pond in Danakil Depression (Ethiopia) has taken the record.

Spectacular photography about the science expedition, but 'virtually' nothing about Global Warming or any scientific results. You missed an opportunity to inform the electorate as we depart the Holocene.

Bravo! Terrific reporting, and great images to highlight the story - we allied to understand why this research is so important to the rest of the world, and shouldn't under-estimate the importance of the iceberg that recently detached itself from Antarctica - https://johnrieber.com/2017/07/12/an-iceberg-the-size-of-delaware-has-br...

If you go there, don't miss:

McMurdo Ice Caves (ultra blue)

http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/the-ice-cave/index.html

Or the seals:

https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/the-mystery-of-the-cen...

What a great story. Would love to read more stories like this with the same camera reel.

"Racing to predict..." What does the winner of that race get for a prize?

I spent a year at McMurdo in 1962-63 during the Navy's Operation Deep Freeze 63 Winter Over. We got 1 shower every 10 days, we wore the same clothes days on end, no TV, no radio, no Internet, none of the modern conveniences we have today....and NO females. It was primitive living compared to the all the conveniences they have today.

Terrific! Do give us more of the videos with the ability to see it 360 degrees while moving. I felt like I was there.

Very cool NYT!

This video allowed me to take a trip to the Antartica. I most likely will never be able to visit this beautiful, remote area, but it was nice to see a place where people could spend there days having to work together in order to survive. Most people get caught up in our busy, privileged lives today and don't realize that we could have our life so much harder. These people that go and work here have to make sure they are always properly dressed, have enough food, and are careful when crossing the ice. It is amazing to think that these people are able to live in such harsh conditions. Being in Antartica can be rewarding in seeing these epic glaciers and long sheets of ice and snow!

Thank you NYT for giving me a look at an place I will never be able to visit.
The Times is a national asset, especially during these troubling times.

Hauntingly beautiful. Would love to see more photos and stories of the people and their lives at McMurdo.

Great memories for me. I am glad that I was lucky enough (in my opinion) to have spent almost 10 years of my life working on the ice. Nice job on the photos.

I spent time during two summers in McMurdo in the '90's. This brings back great memories. Antarctica is amazing. Unreal.

Fascinating and BEAUTIFULLY filmed and photographed and put together! Where else would I see a story like this?? Thank-you.

fantastic to have this at top of front page nyt. photographed and told with great finesse. consider sending a team to east greenland's tasiilaq? the mountains and ice there look like antarctica.

Really nicely done IMO, and written in a poetic style to match the scenery. Well, maybe except for the "scientists racing to predict Antarctica's future." A racing scientist makes mistakes, and a careful scientist won't usually call a collection of data a prediction. Silly quibbles - Mr. Corum deserves praise.

Over five million square miles of unspoiled mineral wealth. Some people think of global warming at the mention of Antartica. I think of robotic mining operations and wars fought by robotic armies brought about by shortages of natural resources needed for building robots.

Another interesting story, with photos, on the continent that has stimulated my deep interest for the last 6 years. I look forward to when you can 'afford' a deeper story line with more recent photos, especially of some spectacular glaciers (and crevasses!). Some recent photos of McMurdo station- especially of the buildings interiors– would be educationally interesting
when compared to those *first* constructions of 1955, ’56. 57. [But that’s probably best left to National Geographic, no?]

An absolutely fantastic film, and voiceovers. Superb!

I can't help but wonder what President Trump, who denigrates the NYT with frequency, thinks about when he watches a stellar piece of visual journalism like this. "The work of crackpots", surely not.

Very well done. This makes me want to visit immediately. Please keep these coming

I was visually transported back to my old job as a vehicle operator at McMurdo.
So very well done here. Now I can show it to my family and friends to give them a better picture as to what I experienced there. Thanks for the 'ice' memories.

Epic!

Thank you!!!

Watching and listening to this put me into a meditative-like state, and, on reflection, reminded me of the beauty that can be seen in nature and in humankind. Thank you.

The story, the images, the sublime experience, all are enhanced by this very formal, very methodical format. I am made to slow down to engage with the story, the environment and the isolation. The framework of video, narrated ( by the author? ), with bold subtitles, makes me an active reader, listener and viewer. The form requires that I "click through" the video chapters, each one just 10 seconds long. The format is somewhere between a book, and a video. What does NYTimes call this form?
Jonathan Corum: Great work, images and text. Thank you for transporting me to Antartica.

Tell Donald Trump and the Republicans there is coal, gas and oil on the continent. The funding will be tripled overnight.

That illustration looks just like The Wall on Game of Thrones...

Thanks for transporting readers to Antarctica through your virtual reality storytelling. This is awesome!