Antarctica

1. The World’s Last Great Wilderness
(Antarctica)
Dr Julian Paren
Schools Liaison Officer
British Antarctic Survey
Talk at RGS 8 February 2001

2. The Antarctic continent
• Coldest, driest, windiest, highest, and least accessible
continent
• Winter population 1000 people, 10,000 in summer
• 10,000 tourists visit for a few days in summer
• Ice covered for the last 25 million years
• Less than 1% of continent is ice free
• Once the home of dinosaurs, trees and plants
• An insect is the “lion” of the Antarctic

3. The Southern Ocean
• Fifty million seals & 15 million penguins
• Regional fishery of global economic value
• History of over-exploitation. Seals, whales. penguins
and fish
• Fishery for krill and fish regulated by science-backed
international body under Antarctic Treaty
• Pirate fishing due to lack of effective policing
• Decline of albatross due to mortality on long lines of tuna
fishermen in sub-Tropics

4. The Antarctic Treaty
• Antarctica is “a natural reserve devoted to peace and
science”
• The Antarctic Treaty manages the region’s wildlife
• Mining is forbidden
• The Treaty runs indefinitely
• Forty-four countries have acceded to the Antarctic Treaty
(80% of the world population)
• All 44 countries have to agree to Treaty revisions

5. “Green” fallacies about the Antarctic
• The Antarctic Treaty expires in 50 years
• Mining is only banned for 50 years
• Antarctica is under threat from developers
• People working in the Antarctic have polluted the
continent
• Antarctica still has to be saved
• Penguins fall over backwards when planes fly overhead!

6. Home truths from the Antarctic
• The Antarctic is the most rigorously protected region of
the world
• The protection is legally backed
• International inspection teams monitor compliance with
the Antarctic Treaty
• Man’s footprint on Antarctica is practically invisible
• More “pollution” enters the region through the
atmosphere than is generated there (DDT, CFCs )

7. Antarctic discoveries
• The destruction of the ozone layer
• A 400,000 year demonstration of the link between
greenhouse gases and climate
• The global impact of the Industrial Revolution
• A reduction of the height of the ionosphere consistent
with “global warming”
• Lakes beneath the Antarctic ice sheet believed to contain
life forms possibly millions of years old

8. Antarctica is part of the world
• The Earth system involves the whole Earth
• Antarctic studies are essential
• There can be no weak link in understanding the Earth
system
• Climate feedbacks involving ice, snow, sea ice and ocean
currents provide the greatest challenges in predicting the
future

9. The Arctic
• Contains cities, towns and universities
• Indigenous population share the region with new settlers
• All Arctic land is under the jurisdiction of a sovereign
state
• UK scientists regularly work in the Arctic
• There is far more science activity in the Arctic compared
to the Antarctic

10. The Antarctic ice sheet
• Ice up to three miles (4500 m) thick
• Coldest surface temperature -89 degrees C
• Enough ice for each person in the world to have a block
180 m by 180 m by 180 m
• If all melted, sea level could rise 65 metres
• If all the glaciers doubled their speed of flow it would
take 12,000 years for the ice to float into the Southern
Ocean

11. Antarctic ice and sea level rise
• A small change in the size of the
Antarctic ice sheet would be serious
for sea level
• One small part of Antarctica is
above freezing in the summer - the
Antarctic Peninsula.
• The Antarctic Peninsula is warming
and its coastline is changing
• Maps of Antarctica need updating
regularly because of the changes to
the coastline
• The disintegration of ice shelves
from the Antarctic Peninsula has
had no effect on sea level
• Most of Antarctica is not warming
• In a warmer world more snow will
fall over the Antarctic
• Enhanced Antarctic snowfall is
possibly the only natural way that
sea level rise can be slowed

12. Future developments in Antarctica
• Exploring the largest lake under the ice sheet
• Obtaining a reliable climate record over half a million
years
• Exploiting natural “antifreeze” in Antarctic organisms
• Studying the effects of increased UV-radiation and
“global warming” on Antarctic life
• Celebrating the centenaries of the historic expeditions of
Scott, Shackleton and Bruce

13. Antarctic Schools Pack
• Fifteen sections : each with worksheet and tasks and
resources for multiple photocopying
• Teachers notes
• Sent free to every UK secondary school
• Aimed at A-level standard
• Written by British Antarctic Survey scientists and an
educational advisor
• Published by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

14. Antarctic Schools Pack
• The nature of Antarctica
• Discovery of Antarctica
• Living and working in Antarctica
• Science in Antarctica
• The Antarctic Treaty System
• Geology in Antarctica
• Antarctic ice
• The Antarctic climate
• The ozone hole
• Geospace
• Terrestrial and freshwater lake
ecosystems
• Marine ecosystems
• Management and conservation of
marine species
• Environmental protection of
Antarctica
• Tourism in Antarctica

15. Feedback on Antarctic Schools Pack
• “An essential resource for school or college”
• “Packed with a variety of up-to-date and relevant
information that can be used flexibly in the classroom”
• “Mori” poll voted it one of the best four resources
available for study of environmental change
• Received Gold Award of Geographical Association in
Spring 2000

16. Future teaching resources on Antarctica
• BAS has signed a partnership agreement with the
Geographical Association
• First priority is to develop a Work Package at GCSE
level on Antarctica
• Propose to develop materials for Primary Schools
• BAS welcomes feedback on the Schools Pack
• BAS will develop www.antarctica.ac.uk

17. Resources on the web
• www.antarctica ac.uk (British Antarctic Survey)
• www.asoc.org (The Antarctica Project)
• www.antarctic.com.au (Antarctic Adventure)
• www.aad.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/news (tourism)
• http://files.fco.gov.uk/info/briefs/antarctic.pdf
(Britain and Antarctica briefing document)
• news.bbc.co.uk (search for “Antarctic”)

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