Trumpian chaos has infected the planet's most remote research outpost: Antarctica

The United States Antarctic Program ( USAP ) operates three permanent stations in Antarctica .

At these stations, more than 1,000 people each year come to the continent to live and work.

Last week , a number of NSF program managers staffed on Antarctic projects were fired as part of a wider purge at the agency.

Sources tell WIRED that Germany , Canada , Spain , and China have already started taking advantage of that uncertainty by recruiting US scientists focused on Antarctica .

“The damage caused by gutting the [Antarctic] science budget like this is going to last generations,” says one Antarctic scientist.