ST. LOUIS - Scientists are pushing the limits of research in the Polar regions, where the extreme cold, high winds and months of darkness make it one of the harshest environments on Earth.

Research teams study everything from climate change and glacial melting to the unique ecosystems that survive in this harsh environment.

FOX 2 sat down with Mark Seefeldt, a researcher at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Seefeldt's research focuses on the meteorology and climatology of the Antarctic and Arctic using observational studies.

This includes working with automatic weather stations, unmanned aircraft systems and precipitation measurement systems.

Seefeldt has worked eight field seasons in Antarctica.

The Antarctic receives a lot less precipitation than one might expect. Much of the region is covered by permafrost, which is permanent ice that stays frozen all year round.

Sharp winds throw snow particles around, but actual precipitation is rare and significant.

In Seefeldt’s most recent research expedition, he set up instruments that recorded snowfall in remote locations.

However, this was no easy task.

With about four months of darkness in the winter season, instruments are needed to operate on a very low power system.

During one particularly eventful journey, the helicopter dropped off the team at their drop-off point as winds began to pick up.

“If you looked straight up into the sky, you would see blue skies. But if you looked horizontally, we were not able to see much more than an eighth of a mile,” reminisces Seefeldt.

The ground blizzard rolled in quickly, forcing the researchers to halt their work.

Their survival bag, about 200 yards away, was barely visible. When they called for a helicopter pickup, they had to wait an hour and a half before it arrived.

“We were a long, long, long way away from getting in any kind of, or at least that’s what I’ve told my mom,” Seefeldt said.

Seefeldt says the most humbling thing about studying these regions is the vastness of these snow-covered lands, far beyond what humankind is used to seeing.

Although difficult work, the polar regions remain an icy wonderland largely unexplored. But the science there offers critical insight into the planet we call home.