Chapter 645: Vikings and Inuit
In the endless flat snowfield, a pile of dry snow was suddenly thrown into the air and finally fell on the ground.
If you have never been to the north in winter, it is difficult to understand what dry snow is.
I grabbed a handful of snow and squeezed it hard, but I couldn't make it into a ball. It was like dry flour. Snowflakes fell down in large numbers, and some white dust floated up.
The drone took off and looked down, only to find that a shallow trench had been dug on the flat ice field at some point. Bifang was squatting in it, shoveling out broken ice.
He tied the two knives together at a 90-degree angle to form a vertical shovel, placed another knife in the middle to prevent the two from being close together, and wrapped the blade of the third knife with ropes to use as a shovel handle.
This is much more convenient than using a knife or chisel.
This is the snow trench, and its main purpose is to protect against cold winds.
We are still on the road, so the demand for shelters does not need to be too high, as that would only result in a waste of costs.
Bifang took a rest inside and continued, "It's easy to understand why there is a lot of snowfall. The extremely high frequency of snowfall leads to a large amount of snow accumulation on the land. The snow here will not melt, so it will remain until the beginning of next spring."
"The sea cannot hold snow. Snowflakes drift into the sea and quickly dissolve. As the sea ice gradually expands, the snow on the new sea ice will definitely be thinner than that on the old ice."
"This is a way to judge whether you are moving forward in the right direction. However, it is not very useful in other places. First, it has to be a cold area. Secondly, near the sea, seasonal land such as ice sheets will form. Finally, it has to snow frequently. This is a method that is adapted to local conditions."
[There is no other place to use it except Greenland (covering face)]
【Learning is useless. Learning is useless.】
What if you don’t know where you are?
[Catch an honest person who really wants to learn skills! ]
[Lao Fang has taught this before: a sun, a piece of paper, a pen, and a miracle]
[I can calculate the longitude and latitude for you. Brother, have you ever seen the calculation of inverse trigonometric functions by hand? ]
Many new viewers who haven’t watched the old video were shocked. How can you calculate inverse trigonometric functions without a calculator?!
There are old viewers in every video, and it is inevitable that new viewers will flock in. But it doesn’t matter, there will always be enthusiastic fans to help with popular science.
The importance of class representatives is highlighted.
At present, there are many famous representatives of professional courses in Bifang's live broadcast room. As long as there are fans asking, they can even give the precise answer of the period and minute.
[Can inverse trigonometric functions be calculated manually? ]
[In theory, all mathematical formulas can be calculated by hand...]
[In fact, what I want to say is that those who understand will understand naturally, and those who don’t understand will never understand.]
[Let's learn about this. Before becoming an adventurer, Fang Shen was also a brilliant mathematician, geographer, biologist, meteorologist, physicist, chemist, historian, naturalist, etc. Isn't it enough for him to come to the Arctic to feed polar bears? ]
[Polar bear (pushing it away with disdain): This meat is too lean, we don’t want to eat it]
[The word "wait" is very smooth]
[I am fat enough, will it eat me? ]
The snow trench does not need to be built too large. Bifang stopped when the depth reached more than 60 centimeters. He dug 30 centimeters out of the thick snow, and the remaining 30 centimeters were on the ice. Bifang's hands were sore from digging, and it was getting dark.
He himself didn't know how thick the ice was, but conservatively estimated it to be in meters. It was impossible to dig a hole to fish. The deeper the ice, the harder it was. He would have to starve today.
It was less than seven hours, and it was dark in about six hours. Everyone was really shocked. They had never seen such a short day. It was as if they had not done anything and had to go to sleep.
Bifang walked out of the pit and piled the snow he had just dug out on both sides of the trench to make it higher.
The nearby snow was compacted hard, but as it was dry snow, it was impossible to make snow bricks.
Bifang took out all his ropes, pulled them left and right as if weaving, and then dripped warm water on the folding points on both sides. The liquid quickly condensed into ice at low temperatures, freezing the ropes firmly.
"Without branches or other items as roofs, we can use ropes, leaving two three-centimeter gaps between each rope, which is enough."
When everything was pulled out, a sparser net appeared in front of them, with only enough space at the end for one person to enter.
Bifang piled all the snow on the net, which also formed an airtight roof.
Entering through the gap, Bifang breathed out hot air, blocking the cold wind, and he felt his body quickly warming up.
"Igloos and snow houses can both trap heat, but unlike houses, they turn minus 40 degrees Celsius into minus 10 or 5 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, the ice and snow won't melt, but we can clearly feel the warmth."
"Minus five degrees is not cold at all. It is a normal temperature for human activities."
Bifang huddled in a corner, chatting with the audience. It was still too early for bedtime , so he started telling the story of the Vikings again.
The audience is also very curious about what the ending of the Vikings will be.
"The Vikings stayed in Greenland for a long time, from the 10th century to the 14th century. During that period, the climate in Greenland was relatively mild, which allowed for farming and grazing, and the settled Vikings could rely on their reserves to survive the winter."
"Then the climate changed and production could no longer be maintained. The Vikings could no longer make a living like the Inuit, so they could not survive."
"It was the Little Ice Age at the time, and the route from Iceland to Greenland was blocked by floating ice. There was no wood in Greenland for shipbuilding, so even if the sea route was open, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to travel there."
"In 1408, a wedding was held in Hvalsey Church, which was the last record of Norwegians in Greenland. After that, there was no communication between Greenland and Europe, and no news came from them. It can be regarded as the 'extinction' of the Vikings in Greenland."
"You could say this was a joke nature played on Eric the Red, he just happened to arrive in Greenland on the perfect date."
"When the Vikings first arrived in Greenland, it was during the brief Medieval Warm Period, and they were kind of cheated by nature."
"Since ancient times, Greenland, like other polar regions, has experienced many climate changes, which have affected the growth of local flora and fauna and the survival of indigenous peoples. In addition to the Vikings, the Inuit also settled in Greenland during this period; the former became extinct, while the latter successfully overcame the challenges of the Little Ice Age."
Many people came to Greenland, but only the Vikings and the Inuit survived for a long time.
After the Ice Age, the Vikings declared their defeat, but the Inuit continued to prosper.
This is a race of ice and snow.
Bifang used the example of the Vikings to warn himself of the cruelty of nature, but he picked up the experience of the Inuit to arm himself.
"The former is the lesson we need to avoid, while the latter is the key to whether I can succeed in this challenge."
