Antarctica Case Study PDF

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Essential Antarctica Case Study...

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Antarctica Case Study Location ● Most of Antarctica lies South of the Antarctic circle, except from parts of the East Antarctic Coastline and the Antarctic Peninsula (extends Northwards from West Antarctica 63 degrees South. It covers an area of 14 million square kilometres. The Antarctic circle is located at 66.5 degrees South of the Equator. It is the fifth largest continent on Earth, with 98% of it being covered by ice and the other 2% being rock. ● East Antarctic Ice Sheet - largest of the 2 ice sheets on Earth. It lies 45 degrees West and 168 degrees East (longitude). It holds a very large amount of ice (enough to raise the sea levels by 50m) and contains the thickest ice on Earth at 15,700ft. It contains about 90% of the mass of the whole Antarctic ice sheet. ● West Antarctic Ice Sheet - it covers the West of Antarctica, including the Transantarctic Mountains. It is classified s a marine based ice sheet, meaning its bed lies well below sea level. The volume of this sheet is estimated to be at least 2.2 million km3. ● Antarctic peninsula - the most northern part of mainland Antarctica, which is located at the base of the Southern Hemisphere. It is 70 km wide, with mountains located all along it. Physical Geography ● Commonly described as a polar desert, with temperatures spanning from -50°C to over -90°C, in some areas ● The average annual wind speed is 50mph, due to the convergent katabatic winds, gales can reach up to 200mph ● There is a low annual precipitation, especially in the interior and can be lower than 50mm per annum ● The thick ice sheets are a result of the accumulation of snow in small inputs and frost, over a long period of time. ● Much of Antarctica’s coastline is covered in ice shelves. Some of the largest include the Ross Ice Shelf, in the Ross Sea and the Ronne Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea and respectively cover an area larger than the British Isles ● The Antarctic Convergence is a natural boundary that separates 2 distinct hydrological regions, areas of climate and areas of distinctive wildlife. Its approx 32 to 48 km wide ● Virtually none of Antarctica is free of ice and these zones are due to specific local scale factors e.g. nunataks are small areas of rock that emerge above the ice sheets ● Another type of landscape is dry valleys, which are found high altitude areas with extreme aridity ● There is a diverse marine ecosystem surrounding Antarctica, due to warmer temperatures in the ocean and the rising of cool water from the bottom brings

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nutrients, which supports phytoplankton, which are the the base of the food chain. These are a food source for krill, which many species depend on. Along the Peninsula, there are coastal areas of micro-climatic and topographic conditions, so some land is free of glaciers during the summer months (due to melting ice).

Human Geography ●

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Only continent with no permanent human habitation, however some scientists live their to conduct experiments and research . There are research stations spanning across Antarctica which belong to different countries. These stations are staffed throughout the year, with a total of 40 countries in 2006. The amount of scientists span from 4,000 in the summer to 1,000 in the winter. Also, field camps are established throughout the summer, to support specific projects (approximately 30). Environmental audits are also carried out on bases, land and sea to assess the impact that the base is having on its surroundings. Many bases are now using alternative energy sources, the Australian Mawson, Belgian Princess Elizabeth and New Zealand Scott all use wind powered electricity generators. Protected areas have been set up e.g. no vehicles allowed, limits on annual visitors or no visitors at all. Codes of conduct have also been put into place to guide visitors, tourists and expeditioners. There is also tourism available, however a permit does have to be gained for sea cruises and other modes of transport. Between 2009-2010, approx 37,000 people visited Antarctica. Activities such as sightseeing, helicopter rides, skiing, sea cruises and scenic flights are also available.

Threats to Antarctica ● ● ●

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This area has been exploited since the discovery of islands in the Southern Ocean Economic activities have taken place which has been detrimental to the environment One of the damaging activities have been culling of seals for their fur. Sealing began in the 18th century on the island of South Georgia. The fur seals of South Georgia were wiped out by 1980, so the new focus was centred around the South Shetland Islands and within 3 years, over 300,000 seals had been killed, the population was virtually depleted and there was no consideration for the future. Whaling - began in the 19th century, primarily for blue whales and right whales and the main products were oil and whalebone (baleen). Due to the low population in the North Atlantic, the whalers turned their attention to the Southern Ocean, sailing from many countries in the Northern hemisphere e.g. Norway, the USA and the UK. Whaling was a very profitable business and many whale stations were established in South Georgia and the South Shetlands. In 1904, the Norwegians developed Grytviken, which employed over 300 people at its best point. The produced a range of products including: meat meal, bone meal, meat extract and, in later years frozen whale meat. It was abandoned in 1965 as whale socks were seriously depleted a dn

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whaling was no longer commercially viable. Many whale species were endangered and the population dramatically declined due to overkilling. International Whaling Commission (IWC) was established in 1964 and led to an end to most whaling in 1985. Most whaling nations agreed to halt slaughter as many species were running seriously low. In 1994, the IWC established the Southern Whale Sanctuary, an area of 50 million square kilometres surrounding Antarctica, where all types of commercial whaling was banned. The only country that opposed the agreement was Japan and along with Iceland and Norway, formed the pro-whaling lobby. Southern Ocean Sanctuary is reviewed every 10 years and commercial whaling is still prohibited, although Japan continues to hunt Whales in accordance with agreement from the IWC that states they are allowed to for scientific research, but their continuation of hunting has sparked controversy all over the globe. Fishing has now replaced whaling in this particular area. In 1960s, Russian ships began to exploit the Southern Ocean for a number of species including the Atlantic rock cod. The number of fish being taken has caused concern (primarily fishing for krill by Russia and Japan. Commercial fishing is becoming a significant threat to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, with a high risk of overfishing and destruction of marine habitats by ships and fishing gear. Waste is also dumped in the ocean, which contaminates the water, killing organisms. Krill - tiny shrimp-like crustaceans and are the basis to the entire food web, so a loss in the Krill biomass will affect most other species. They provide a healthy protein food in East Asia and as a health supplement all around the world (krill oil) They are extremely rich in Omega-3 fatty acids and can demand very high prices - £40 for 100 capsules. They are also a valuable source of astaxanthin - chemical compound used as an antioxidant health supplement. This demand for krill has caused a drastic increase in krill fishing in the Southern Ocean. If this is unsustainable it may cause a crash in the population, which would have a devastating effect on the Antarctic ecosystem. Climate change - it is argued that global warming is affecting Antarctica as its melting the polar ice caps etc, however, on the other hand, the land ice is growing so it may not be having a big effect on Antarctica. Only some land ice is increasing in the Eastern areas, but in reality, its the sea ice that is growing. The western side is losing a lot of ice and isn’t gaining any sea ice, so it’s clear to see that climate change has an impact. Minerals - there has never been any commercial mining as it has been banned by the Antarctic Treaty. However, the future demand for resources may put pressure on the mineral reserves found there as Antarctica does have mineral deposits, but currently are not economically viable to mine, due to them being covered by moving ice streams and glaciers. In 1998, the Mineral Convention was created by people who wanted to exploit and explore the area, looking for mineral and gas reserves. However, this never came into action as it wasn’t confirmed by all members. Tourism and scientific research - There has been severe impacts on the wildlife and environment, despite Antarctica only been inhabited for approximately 100 years. Some of these impacts are from: vehicle exhausts, disposal of waste, construction of buildings and many more. Over 35,000 tourists visited from 2009-2010 and many of these went to see the scenic glacial landscapes and wildlife e.g. seals and penguins. These visits usually span the summer months (November to March) as it would be too cold for regular tourists to go during the winter. Three types of tourism take place:

ship board visits, over flights and camping for naturalists, journalists and photographers. The ship-borne tourism usually occurs in the form of an expedition and can carry 50-100 people. The Lindblad Plan is normally followed by cruises, to ensure the trips aren’t causing a lot of serious impact e.g. ensuring the sites can only be visited every 3 days or so, so the impact is small. It has been discovered (by Scott Polar Research Institute) that the impact of Antarctic tourism has in fact been minimal and, this is a very well run industry. It was found that only 5% of sites had been damaged, no litter is from tourists, seals aren’t affected by human presence and stress isn’t caused to penguins when breeding colonies are visited. There are some issues that could be heightened by tourism such as: ● ● ● ● ● ●

Fresh water is a difficult demand to meet Stress could be caused to penguins when helicopters and planes fly over The legal status of Antarctica makes it difficult to enforce a code of behaviour, therefore, humans could pose some risks Disturbances to the Antarctic environment could cause some severe long term impacts Peak wildlife breeding times coincide with the summer tourist system Only a few ice free locations remain and these are occupied by land based installations

Managing the threats and evaluation of strategies to protect Antarctica ●

Ecosystem resilience - ability of an ecosystem to recover from a severe disturbance by resting damage and returning to equilibrium position. Natural disturbances and shock events occur in Antarctica and these test the resilience of Antarctica’s systems. Species can recover as these events are rare, however, human impacts pose a more serious risk. Some of the species that were hunted e.g. seals, whales and penguins nearly became extinct, but once these activities stopped, the wildlife was able to recover.

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Climate change creates many big risks for Antarctica such as: increase in sea temperatures, ocean acidification, loss of sea and land ice and ultraviolet radiation at a high intensity

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Mitigation is taking place to reduce human impacts on Antarctica. Mitigation measures for global change, including energy conservation and reducing CO2 emissions

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The Antarctic Treaty 1959 - between 12 nations (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, UK, USA and Russia) and guaranteed free access and research rights, which meant that all countries could work together for the common cause of scientific research. It is quite effective in the area of south of 60’ south (latitude). The 14 articles include: the guarantee for the continuity of freedom to conduct scientific research, promotion of international scientific cooperation and the requirement of parties to give notice before their

expeditions. It has been recognised as one of the worlds most successful international agreements and problematic differences over territorial claims have been put aside. ●

Wider ATS - process of consensus has allowed Antarctic treaty to evolve into a system with a number of components that can meet the needs of managing activities in the Antarctic, while protecting national interests. The ATS comprises a complexity of arrangements to control each nations activities on Antarctica. The system includes the Antarctic Treaty at its core, with other arrangements e.g. Conservation of Antarctic Seals and the Conservation of Marine Living resources.

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The Antarctic Treaty 1991 - this protocol was negotiated by the UN and treaty members at Antarctic Treaty Conference in 1991. The purpose was to give extra protection to the environment, specifically against mineral exploration. The Antarctic Convention was proposed in 1998 as part if the ATS, however, wasn’t adopted, due to the fact it wanted mining to go ahead, which is very controversial. Both France and Australia opposed it and proposed the Environmental Protocol (which was ratified in 1998), which proposed that: ❏ Mining or mineral exploitation is prohibited ❏ All activities must be assessed for environmental impacts ❏ Any waste should be returned to the country of origin

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Non-governmental organisations in the Antarctic - a group of over 30 NGOs joined together to form a coalition under the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC). Groups such as Greenpeace and WWF were part of this and initial aims were: ❏ Conclude negotiations of the world’s first ‘ecosystem as a whole’ treaty on fishing ❏ Open up ATS to include other NGOs and specialist international bodies ❏ Prevent mineral and resource exploitation by blocking ratification of the Minerals Convention

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A precautionary ecosystem approach was embedded in the Antarctic Treaty, which was a major victory for the ASOC campaign. ASOC was also granted observer status in 1991, so can currently attend annual meetings and has expanded its scope of activities, so its campaign focuses on:

➔ Managing Southern Ocean fisheries ➔ Regulating Antarctic tourism ➔ Negotiating a legally binding Polar Code covering all vessels operating in the Southern Ocean

➔ Establishing a network of marine reserves ➔ Mitigating the impacts of climate change -

Currently, ASOC is the only NGO working full time to preserve Antarctica and the Southern Ocean

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Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) inter-disciplinary committee of the ICSU, whose role is to initiate, develop and co-ordinate the scientific research efforts taking place across Antarctica. It operates also on an advisory level to the ATCM and other organisations such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the IPCC. It guides and instructs on the science and conservation affecting the Southern Ocean and related issues. Some have been adopted by international agreements of the ATS, so protection for the ecology and environment of the Antarctic can be provided....