Scientists are measuring the ice cap and looking at the what the atmosphere was like a long time ago.
There is no native or permanent population on Antarctica. People who live and work there temporarily are issued extreme cold weather gear, so that they can survive the extreme polar environment.
People who are unhealthy, either physically or mentally, are cautioned not to venture into this extreme environment.
Antarctica is about 30 degrees F. colder than the Arctic. As well, The Arctic has a food chain and has supported human life for about 10,000 years. Antarctica has no food chain and cannot support life because of the extreme cold.
Antarctica is the continent that is considered mostly uninhabitable due to its extreme cold temperatures, lack of vegetation, and harsh environment. The only people who live there are researchers in scientific research stations.
Antarctica is an extreme, cold weather, polar environment. Dangers include exposure to these extreme conditions. In the case of any accident, there are no medical facilities or rescue facilities that are easily available. An unprepared person could die from hypothermia, falling into a crevasse, or thirst.
Antarctica presents its natural environment constantly -- no disaster required -- because it is the highest, coldest, darkest, windiest and driest continent on earth. It is the most extreme cold weather on the planet.
There May have been some native peoples living on the coast, but Antarctica is a frozen desert. unlike the Canadian arctic, there is no lakes or rivers in Antarctica, there fore there is no fishing.
Humankind has a tendency to 'conquer' geography. Antarctica presents an extreme challenge to conquerers.
Depending on your tour operator, you will sail into an area close to a beach and potentially walk on the continent after a short Zodiac ferry from the tour boat to the beach. The extreme cold and wild natural environment in Antarctica is visually exotic and absorbing for humans to observe.
People wear a balaclava in Antarctica for the same reason they wear it anywhere: it protects the face from the damage of extreme cold.
The only people in Antarctica are scientists who study the environment there, so for a living they would do scientifical studies.
People working in Antarctica live an extreme cold weather life, supported by their governments, because every human there works in support of science.