"The federal shutdown is sidelining more than government workers. It's also putting years worth of climate change research in jeopardy, scientists say."
"Climate researchers are fighting the U.S. government shutdown with a petition that asks Congress to fund critical work in Antarctica before it's too late this year.
"The consequences of shutting down are devastating to advancing science and research," writes Richard Jeong, who's been working as a contractor at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, on the grassroots advocacy website, Change.org.
More than 4,000 people, including several whose research in the South Pole is in jeopardy, have signed Jeong's petition urging the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to either reopen the federal government or exempt from closure the $350 million U.S. Antarctic Program."
Wendy Koch reports for USA TODAY October 16, 2013.
