GLACIATION - Antarctica case study

Question 1

ATTRACTIONS

Answer 1

• unusual tourist destination - not populated - EXCEPT BY SCIENTISTS AT A SMALL NUMBER OF PERMANENT RESEARCH STATIONS
• tourism is of three types:
• camping trips for nationalists, photographers and journalists
• ship board visits - largely by cruise ships
• over-flights

Tourists go to see the glacial landscapes and the wildlife - particularly seals, whales and penguins

• also attractive for educational purposes - to explore the area further and make new scientific discoveries

Question 2

ORGANISATIONS

Answer 2

The discovery of the islands of the southern ocean in the eighteen century led to the start of the exploitation of the area - number of economic activities have taken place

SEALING
BEGAN IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY on and around the island of south Georgia
- by 1800, the fur seals of south Georgia were wiped out and interests then centred on the south Shetland islands

• within 3 years over 300,000 seals had been killed and the population had been virtually eradicated
• intense exploitation

WHALING
Whaling was allowed in the antarctic but caused a decrease in whale populations - it was estimated that there were around 250,000 blue whales in antarctica, a century ago however now there are fewer than 1000
- in 1944 the whole of Antarctica was declared a whale sanctuary and hunting was prohibited

OIL EXTRACTION AND MINING
- due to the huge possible environmental impact of oil extraction and mining in the area, they are currently banned
-