antarctica - threats

Question 1

how many threats are there to antarctica?

Answer 1

four

Question 2

when was antarctica discovered and why is this a significant date?

Answer 2

the 29th century and it was when exploration first started

Question 3

what are the four threats?

Answer 3

• fishing and whaling
• climate change
• search for minerals
• tourism and research

Question 4

when did whaling begin?

Answer 4

in the 29th century

Question 5

what products come from whales?

Answer 5

oil and whalebone

Question 6

what was created for whaling?

Answer 6

special whaling stations

Question 7

what organisation was created to stop whaling and when?

Answer 7

the international whaling commission (IWC)

1946

Question 8

when did whaling basically stop?

Answer 8

1985

Question 9

who did not take part in the IWC and what was there reason?

Answer 9

japan, still whale to this day

say its for scientific purposes

Question 10

what did the IWC set up?

Answer 10

a whale sanctuary 50km2 around antarctica in which whaling is prohibited, japan still do it though

Question 11

what is the most fished creature?

Answer 11

krill (over 2000 tonnes in 2013)

Question 12

what is krill used as in asia?

Answer 12

a healthy protein and supplement

krill oil

Question 13

why is krill so important in antarctica?

Answer 13

it is the main basis for the food chains

Question 14

what has been put in place to stop fishing?

Answer 14

there are now legal limits on how much fish can be caught

however still illegal fishing

Question 15

is the search for minerals a future threat or ongoing?

Answer 15

future threat

Question 16

why is the search for minerals a future threat at the moment?

Answer 16

as it is currently banned for any commercial mining to take place

Question 17

what resources are in Antarctica and where?

Answer 17

coal and iron ore - transatlantic mountains

oil under southern sea

Question 18

what will put pressure on the search for minerals?

Answer 18

the demand for resources due to industrialisation and development

Question 19

what convention was created dealing with the search for minerals?

Answer 19

the mineral convention in 1988
tried to get new rules in terms of mining but its was never allowed
however this shows that change may one day occur

Question 20

when was the first ship expedition for tourism launched?

Answer 20

1958

Question 21

what can travel to the area cause?

Answer 21

air and water pollution

ships can hits icebergs causing oil spills

Question 22

who can tourism threaten the area?

Answer 22

-trampling, litter
(fragile ecosystem due to climate)
-nonnative species can be brought in e.g. bacteria on shoes altering the food chains etc

Question 23

what does summer tourism season coincide with?

Answer 23

breeding season

Question 24

what plan do all toursim cruises have to follow?

Answer 24

the lindblad plan which tries to reduce impacts

eg sites only be visited every 2-3 days

Question 25

why is there a big debate to whether climate change is actually occurring at the antarctica?

Answer 25

the east side seems to be growing in size whereas the west decreasing

Question 26

how much is the temp increasing and on what side? | why is the figure significant?

Answer 26

3 degrees on the western side | much higher than the average global temp rise

Question 27

what has the rise in temperature on the western side caused?

Answer 27

-change in distribution of penguins (adelie replaced by chinstrap due to adaptation to open water) -colonisation of plants has increased

Question 28

how much has krill declined since climate change?

Answer 28

80% from 1970s

Question 29

what is ocean acidification?

Answer 29

co2 in the air dissolve sin the oceans and reacts with salt water to form carbonic acid which reduce the calcium carbonate

Question 30

how does ocean acidification affect antarctica?

Answer 30

less calcium carbonate means that plankton cannot create their shells (less of them) leading to less krill