Antarctica Flashcards
Role of NGOs in the protection of Antarctica: the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC)
a coalition of 30 NGOs, including Friends of the Earth, the Worldwide Fund for Nature + Greenpeace
aims:
- promoting ‘ecosystem as a whole’
- prevent exploitation of oil, gas and minerals
- open up Antarctic Treaty to include NGOs
Successes:
- embedding precautionary ecosystem approach into the Antarctic Treaty
- blocking the Minerals Convention
- instrumentalism in developing of the 1991 Madrid Protocol
Campaigns:
- negotiating a Polar Code covering vessels operating in the S. Ocean
- establishing a network of marine reserves
- managing S. Ocean fisheries, (e.g krill sustainability)
- strengthening the S. Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Global Common
A resource domain or area that lies outside of the political reach of any one nation state. An area which is owned or used jointly by the members of a community
- Sea (UN - Law of the Sea)
- Outer Space ( 1979 Moon Treaty)
- Atmosphere (UN Framework Convention on CC)
- Antarctica (Antarctic Treaty System)
Global common pros
protected
protects environments due to mutual interests
collaboration brings peace
equal access
Global common cons
causes conflict over who has the power/should have the ability to use
political disputes
destroyed due to ineffective management
Tragedy of the commons
describes a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action
Antarctica as global common
Antarctica and the Southern Ocean as far as north of the Antarctic Convergence. Flora + Fauna Climate Physical Geo Geology
Antarctica as global common: Flora + Fauna
little veg - lichens, mosses, terrestrial, algae
ocean - phytoplankton, krill, wales, leopard seals, and penguins
Antarctica as global common: climate
very dry inland as very little (frozen) rainfall (<166 mm/yr) - the largest desert globally very cold (av -49 deg c) low levels of sunshine in winter as sun does not rise for several months due to the Earth's tilt.
Antarctica as global common: physical geo
(older, larger, thicker) E sheet + W sheet
Trans antarctic Mts extend E-W across continent
Coastline fringed with ice shelves (largest Ross Ice Shelf + Ronne Ice Shelf)
Highest elevated continent due to ice cover (2000 m above sea level)
Nunataks - high mts protruding above ice sheet
high winds + steep slopes prevent accumulation of ice on peaks
Antarctica as global common: geology
east: igneous + metamorphic rock
west: volcanic + sedimentary (ring of fire)
Mt Erebus on Ross Island - S most active
Antarctica as global common: threats: Climate change
peninsula particularly sensitive
local
3 deg c increase - fastest on earth
melting of ice shelves around Antarctic Weddell Sea and Ross Sea
Changing environment dramatically
sea ice adapted penguin species, like Adelie penguins, declining + replaced with sea adapted, like chinstrap
Antarctic krill declined by ~80% since 1970s
food chain affected
global
rising sea levels 3 mm/year since 1990s. destabilize the edges of ice shelves - increasing melting rate (pos feedback).
Antarctica as global common: threats: Tourism and scientific research
Tourism increases shipping + air travel -water + air pollution
risk of fuel spills - boats hit icebergs
disturbance of breeding colonies
trampling on fragile vegetation + erode landscapes
careless disposal of waste damages habitats + harms wildlife - particularly with low deposition rates
risk of non-native species intros causing altering of food webs + ecosystems
scientific + environmental research requires facilities + bases for living, roads for transporting supplies + places to store fuel
waste was burnt or dumped prior 1980s,
Antarctica as global common: threats: Fishing and whaling
extinction risk: Patagonian toothfish most killed: Antarctic krill (200,000 tonnes 2013) - knock on effects on food chain
legal limits breached by illegal fishing due to poor monitoring
albatrosses + petrels caught in fishing lines + drown
Whaling declined since 1982 due to commercial whaling ban - some continue for ‘scientific’ purposes. whale breeding is slow ie difficult to recover endangered mammal
Antarctica as global common: threats: Mineral extraction and exploitation
widely believed…
minerals e.g coal + iron ore in underground deposits in the Transantarctic Mts
oil reserves underneath S. Ocean
currently no mining due to ban, unfavorable conditions (too far, landscape and climate)
risk: rising demand
