Nigel Roberts, author of Te Ara's Antarctic entry, stands at the geographic South Pole in front of the flags of the Antarctic Treaty countries. In the background is the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. The area is exceptionally dry, cold and windy. Its isolation, environmental purity and seismic stability allow research into regional and global climate systems, upper-atmosphere physics, earth movement and geomagnetic phenomena (such as auroras, induced electrical currents, and radio wave communication interference). Much of the research is done collaboratively.