Antarctica Flashcards
Where is Antarctica located?
Southwards from other continents
5th largest continent
What is Antarctica in terms of continent? Climate - 2 things
Driest continent and largest desert
Why does Antarctica have very little snow or rain?
Temperature
How thick can the ice be ?
Up to 4km thick in some places
How do floating ice shelves form?
By ice flowing off the continent and these shelves break to make icebergs
How much of the world’s oceans would rise if Antarctica’s ice sheets melted?
60-65 meters
Who is Antarctic governed by?
Antarctic Treaty
What is the sea called that surrounds Antarctica?
Antarctica sea
Why do no one own Antarctica?
Cold War
What does ATS mean?
Antarctica Treaty system
What does the ATS regulate?
International relations
When was ATS introduced?
1961
How many countries signed the ATS?
53 countries
What are 2 agreements about ATS?
No nuclear testing
Freedom of scientific research
When do the ATS group meet and why?
Annually and discuss territory issues
What else does the ATS designate?
Protected Areas through schemes
What is an example of a scheme that protects areas?
Antarctica Specially Protected Areas - ASPA
What does the ocean support?
Marine life
When did whaling and fishing start in Antarctica?
19th century
What has whaling resulted in?
Whale population declining dye to massive exploitation
Give us a fact about whaling population in 1960?
Population declined by 90%
Why do certain countries want to hunt whales?
Because they provide a range of products
What are the 2 fish species that were sought after?
Krill and Antarctica Toothfish
What are 3 risks to Antarctica linking to fishing?
Overfishing
Destruction of marine habitats
Contamination
What is the global body called that is responsible for conservation of whales?
International Whaling Commission - IWC
Where are the 2 main whaling stations?
South Shetlands and South Georgia
What do Krill feed on?
Phytoplankton
What is phytoplankton?
Single celled, microscopic plants that drift near the ocean’s surface
Why is scientific research and tourism a threat to Antarctica?
Some degree of disturbance to wildlife and environment
How is there some degree of disturbance to wildlife and environment? 2 points
Oil spills
Tourism season coincides with peak breeding season
What is seaborne tourism?
Cruises with opportunities to transfer to smaller boats for landing or cruising close to shore
What is airborne tourism?
Flying - scenic flights over continent or in some cases landing
What are fly cruises?
Visitors land on King George Island from flights and onto a cruise boat
How many tourists were there landing in Antarctica in 2018?
56000
What about in the past year, how many tourists?
105000
What is the body responsible for regulating tourists?
International Association of Antarctic Tour Operations - IAATO
When was Greenpeace founded?
1971
What does Greenpeace do?
Investigate, exposes and confronts the causes of environmental destruction and they work to bring about change by lobbying, consumer pressure etc
What does Antarctica treaty mean?
Off-limits to military activity and exploitation
Where is Greenpeace present?
Over 40 countries
What is an example of a victory for GP?
1982 - Commercial whaling banned worldwide
What is a negative of GP?
That it is strictly bureaucratic structure - control
When was Sea Shepherd founded?
1977
What is Sea Shepherd?
Their mission is to protect and conserve the world’s oceans and marine wildlife
What is the notable action Sea Shepherd has done?
Operation Antarctica
What is an example of a positive impact that SS has done?
Serve local communities most at risk from climate change
What is an example of a negative impact that SS has done?
People say that they have a practice of attacking and sinking other ships
When was WWF founded?
1961
What does WWF do?
Works to help local communities conserve the natural resources they depend upon
What is an example of a positive impact that WWF has done?
Successful snow leopard survey
