Antarctica

Question 1

Location

Answer 1

• The Antarctic continent, located in the Earth’s southern hemisphere, is centered around the South Pole and largely south of the Antarctic Circle
• the worlds largest desert

Question 2

Climate data from American McMurdo station

Answer 2

• Hot season from November to February
• cold season from march to October
• rainfall highest in June (25mm)
• rainfall lowest in October (9mm)

Question 3

Key climate terms meanings (ablation, nunatak)

Answer 3

• ablation: the opposite of accumulation; refers to all processes that remove snow, ice, or water from a glacier or snowfield: the melting of snow/evaporation/ice that runs off the glacier/calving/erosive removal by wind
  -> very few areas are free from ice or glacier. They are also called glacial islands
• nunatak: an exposed, often rocky element of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within (or at the edge of) an ice field or glacier. They are also called glacial islands

Question 4

What is the ACZ (Antarctic convergence zone) and what happens here

Answer 4

• Antarctica convergence zone (ACZ) - a natural boundary segregating: two distinct hydrological regions (hot and cold water)
• What happens here?
  > sea water that has cooled dramatically around the Antarctic continent and so becoming heavier, starts to flow northwards along the sea bed
  > it meets deep, warmer water south - flowing from equatorial regions at the ACZ which results in an upwelling of the deep water to the surface
  > this upwelling brings a great many dissolved nutrients with it which acts like fertiliser for the southern ocean and is the reason that the seas around Antarctica are so surprisingly productive despite the cold temperatures

Question 5

What are the 5 main threats to Antarctica

Answer 5

• climate change (ENV)
• fishing and hailing (ECON)
• the search for minerals (ECON)
• tourism (ENV/ECON)
• scientific research

Question 6

Threats to antarctica: scientific research (infrastructure + ships)

Answer 6

• scientific research has been carried out in Antarctica since 1898 when the first permanent base was established
• at its peak there are 10,000 bases, in the depths of winter this can reduce down to 1000
• This has caused a threat the the environment:
  > 40 permanent bases - occupy the limited breeding space of wildlife (penguins) -> 26 airports, 53 heliports
  > re supply ships have oil spills -> worst released 250,000 gallons of oil into the sea resulting in population animals decreasing by 20%
  > 21,000 gallons of oil spilt from a fuel storage system at Marimbo’s base (Argentinas)
  > French build a runway in 1987 through breeding area of a diverse bird species
  > in 2008, a commercial jet landed and Australia’s environment minister said there is no reason why this runway could not be used down the track for a tourism operation

Question 7

Threats to Antarctica: climate change (info + ice caps)

Answer 7

• the Antarctica peninsula (west Antarctica) is witnessing some of the most rapid warming on earth. In the last 50 years, the peninsular warmed almost 3 degrees Celsius, 3x higher than the global average of 0.9 degrees Celsius
• this has lead to:
  > distribution of penguin colonies has changed as the sea ice conditions alter
  > melting of perennial snow and ice cover has resulted in increased colonisation by plants
  > long-term decline in the abundance of Antarctic krill in the SW Atlantic sector of the southern ocean may be associated with reduced sea ice cover
  > many glaciers have retreated and ice shelves that formerly fringed the peninsular have been observed to retreat in recent years and some have collapsed completely
• ice caps
  > since 2009, almost 278 billion tons of ice has melted away from Antarctica per year -> in the 1980’s it was losing 44 billion tons a year
  1. Ice shelves are mainly melting in the Antarctica peninsular at 278 billion tons a year
  2. The climate on Antarctic peninsular has warmed by 3oc over last 50 years
  3. Likely impact on sea level change is That glaciers draining ice from grounded ice will accelerate -> overall, leading to the northern Antarctic peninsular to contribute 0.16mm per year to global sea level rise
  4. Future: although stable through most of the 20th century, Wilkins ice shelf has been in events occurred in 1998 and 2008, and now only the southern portion of the ice shelf remains. To date, Wilkins ice shelf was the largest and most southerly ice shelf to retreat, in future Larsen C, which is currently stable, may also begin to retreat

Question 8

Threats to Antarctica: fishing and wailing (KRILL)

Answer 8

• Krill
  > krill are the lifeblood of the food web in Antarctica however, they have been fished on an unpredicidented scale in recent years (100,000 tonnes in 1999, 210,000 tonnes by 2012)
  > krill Is a rich source of protein and omega - 3 fatty acids which are under development in early 21st century as human food, dietary supplements as oil capsules
  > krill fishing vessels are in the immediate view of penguin colonies and whale feeding grounds
  > penguin community could drop by 1/3 by the end of century due to changes in krill biomass
  > krill industry predicted a growth by 12% in the next 3 years
  > population of krill has decreased by 80% by 1970s

Question 9

Threats to Antarctica: the search for minerals

Question 10

Threats to Antarctica: tourism (how have tourism numbers increased)

Answer 10

• since 02-03’tourism numbers have increased from 17,500 to 55,500 in 18-19’, a 216% increase. Of the 55,500, 80% stepped foot off of transport
• IAATO’s show that in 22-23 season 105,000 visitors travelled to Antarctica with 71,250 disembarking (stepping foot) (67.7%) however, the others travelled on cruise only vessels. This major increase from 18-19 is as a result of operations shutting down temporarily due to Covid-19

Question 11

Threats to Antarctica: tourism (who are IAATO and what do they do)

Answer 11

• IAATO: the international association of Antarctica tour operations
• founded in 1991
• formed to advocate and promote the praqctiss of safe and environmentally responsible private sector travel to the Antarctic
• they adopt, develop + implement operational standards to mitigate potential environment impacts:
  > Antarctic site-specific guidelines + site selection criteria
  > passenger to staff ratios + limiting numbers of passengers ashore
  > boot washing guidelines -> prevention of transmission of non-native organisms
  > exporting procedures; marine wildlife watching guidelines; station visitation policies
  > meetings conclude annually + voting of new policies

Question 12

Threats to Antarctica: tourism (impact on wildlife - birds and invasive species)

Answer 12

• invasive species - accidental bring insects or seeds on boots, clothes, in food, cargo etc
• impact on breeding birds - being made anxious by an influx of people that may cause them to abandon their nest or vacate an area altogether -> many records of birds that previously nested around Antarctica bases no longer doing so due to the constant activity around such places
• erosion or disturbance of fragile environments - many feet walking over same piece of ground and routes will leave paths and other scars

Question 13

Threats to Antarctica: tourism (impact of passenger ships on Antarctica)

Answer 13

• in 2009 the IMO (international maritime organisation) approved on amendment to Marpol banning the use and carriage of heavy and intermediate fuel oils for all shipping in the Antarctic treaty area
• ban mainly affected large cruise ships that operate ‘cruise only’ carry 500+ passengers
• these larger ships
  Owed the biggest potential threat to Antarctica from fuel leaks as they carry so much and from the potential sinking -> as they no longer sail risk is reduced

Question 14

Threats to Antarctica: tourism (Mount Erebus air crash 1979)

Answer 14

• left Auckland, New Zealand for a sightseeing flight over Antarctica. The flight was due to take 11 hours with about 4 hours flying over Antarctica sea ice and mountains so passengers could see it through the windows
• due to a sequence of errors, the aircraft ended up flying in near atmospheric whiteout conditions where it was difficult to see clearly what lay ahead, ended up heading towards mount erebus (3794m) and crashed into the lower slopes where all 257 passengers and crew were killed instantly
• similar flights were suspended until 1994 (15 years)

Question 15

Antarctic treaty (and articles of it)

Answer 15

• Antarctic treaty was signed in 1959 and enforced from 1961. This agreement guarantees free access to Antarctica for scientific research and the exchange of ideas
• it is widely heralded as one of the most successful pieces of international legislation (legislation based its articles on 3 aspects: peaceful, scientific and cooperation)
• SOME ARTICLES (MOST IMPORTANT ONES)
  > nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal ads banned from Antarctica
  > Antarctic treaty nations will exchange plans for their scientific programs, scientific data will be freely available, and scientists will be exchanged between expeditions where practical
  > the treaty applies to all land and ice shelves south of 60 degrees, but mot to the seas
  > there will be complete freedom of scientific investigation

Question 16

The Antarctic treaty system: convention on the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources

Answer 16

• the goal Is to preserve marine life and environmental integrity in and near
• it was established in the large part to concerns in krill catches in the southern ocean
• success has been enforced since 1982
• some examples of these areas are:
  > south Orkneys MPA
  > Ross sea MPA
  > East Antarctica MPA
• needed due to species almost being hunted to near extinction

Question 17

The Antarctic treaty system: convention for the conservation of Antarctic seals 1972 (CCAS)

Answer 17

• objective to promote and achieve the protection, scientific study, and rational use of Antarctic deals
• CCAS forbids the killing or capture of Antarctic sea,s in specific circumstances
• geographical range of the agreement covers all seas south of 60 degree latitude

Question 18

The Antarctic treaty system: Antarctic environmental protocol (Madrid protocol)

Answer 18

• came into force at 1998
  1. Prioritisation of protection as a wilderness for aesthetics and specific values
  2. No mining
  3. All activities require environmental impact assessments, including tourism
  4. All member nations should be prepared for emergency responses across the area
  5. Wildlife cannot be ‘taken’,or ‘harmfully interfered with’ without permission
  6. Waste management plans required from the continent
  7. Waste from past activities to be removed
  8. Some harmful materials banned completely
  9. Discharge of waste from ships regulated
  10. Designation of some especially protected places

Question 19

Threats to Antarctica: climate change (Thwaites glacier)

Answer 19

• located in west Antarctica and is 120km squared
• western side of Antarctica is melting more than the east side because the Easter side is mostly above sea level and so melts slowly whereas west is below sea level (more than 1km below in worst places)
• melting and retreating speeding up the flow of the glacier. Then grounding point is below sea level. The further the glacier retreats the more water is melting the ice quicker. It has doubled in the last 30 -> Thwaites is collapsing would add 1/2 a metre
• amount of ice flowing from ice has doubled in the last 30 years

Question 20

Threats to Antarctica: fishing and wailing (WHAILING -> why + what)

Answer 20

• been hunted for centuries, primarily for meat -> their bones + blubber which can be turned into oil used to power camps. However no longer needed for oil
  -> in Japan a whale can fetch up to $1 million and are sold to restaurants to fuel the demand
• their value, and unregulated hunting practices led to a classic example of trade by of the commons -> whales were becoming rapidly endangered
  1. Up to 1982 there was a peak of approximately 38,000 whales killed, then from 1965 there was a decline from 35,000 to 5000, a 30,000 difference due to decreasing number of whales
  2. Between 1982 and 1986, there was an increase in number of whales caught from 5000 to 7500, this is due to announcement of new legislation where whailing was to be banned and to come into force in 1986, therefore causing the whaling spike
  3. From 1986 there has been little to no whales being caught however there has been a very steady increase from around 1990

Question 21

Threats to Antarctica: fishing and wailing (WHAILING -> International whailing commission: IWC whailing Monatorium - 1982)

Answer 21

• The threat: by 1970, the total number of blue whales had decreased to less than 6000
• the Green peace way: a photograph of a dead sperm whale under an ominous exploding harpoon mounted on the bow of a towering, steel-hulled ship circulated the world
  > Green peace kept up pressure until in 1982 the IWC finally delivered what the anti whailing in Antarctica and elsewhere for anything other than scientific purposes
• the campaign continues: a few countries, namely Japan, Norway and Iceland, continue to ignore the monatorium to the present day
  > Green peace activists known as “the Tokyo Two” were convicted after having exposed a whale meat embezzlement scandal in Japan. The case brought unprecedented public scrutiny to Japans “scientific” whaling programme and has helped build public support within Japan to end the senseless hunt. Japan hunts 300 whales each year for ‘scientific research’ -> in reality the whales fetch up to $1 million and are most commonly sold to restaurants. -> Japan says the scientific research is checking to see whether commercial whaling can be sustainable again
• SUCCESS: from 1982 to 2050 Blue whale numbers have risen from 2000 up to approximately 5000

Question 22

Threats to Antarctica: fishing and wailing (WHAILING -> Internationak whailing commission: southern ocean whale sanctuary)

Answer 22

• Sanctuary aims: (to benefit long-term whale conservation by…)
  > facilitating the recovery of seriously depleted great whale populations by protecting important areas such as feeding pt breeding grounds and migratory routes
  > providing economic benefits to range states by providing opportunities to develop non-lethal economic uses of ecotourism and whale watching
  > fostering interest and cooperation in non-lethal research into the behaviour and biology of whale species
  > providing the commission which a broad management tool to protect multiple species
  > setting aside a place where whales can play their important role in the ecosystem
  > increasing public awareness and appreciation of the value and vulnerability of marine ecosystems

Question 23

NGO’s

Answer 23

• NGO’s protecting Antarctica: SCAR
  > scientific committee on Antarctic research (SCAR) is a body of ICSU, the international council for science, and it is charged with the initiation, promotion and coordination of scientific research in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean
  > SCAR also provides international, independent scientific advice to the Antarctic treaty system and other bodies
• NGO’s protecting Antarctica: ASOC
  > since 1978, the Antarctic and southern ocean coalition has been working solely for the protection of Antarctica and surrounding southern ocean
  -> observe Antarctic treaty meetings, ASOC works at the highest levels of Antarctic governance to effect change from within. We represent the Antarctic conservation community in the halls of power where globally significant decisions about the future of Antarctica are made