Antarctica

The earth's fifth largest continent, centered asymmetrically around the South Pole. Ninety-eight percent of this land mass, which covers approximately 5.4 million mi² (13.8 million km²), is covered by snow and ice sheets to an average depth of 1.25 mi (2 km). This continent receives very little precipitation, less than 5 in (12 cm) annually, and the world's coldest temperature was recorded here, at -128°F (-89°C). Exposed shorelines and inland mountain tops support life only in the form of lichens, two species of flowering plants, and several insect species. In sharp contrast, the ocean surrounding the Antarctic continent is one of the world's richest marine habitats. Cold water rich in oxygen and nutrients supports teeming populations of phytoplankton and shrimp-like Antarctica krill, the food source for the region's legendary numbers of whales, seals, penguins, and fish. During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, whalers and sealers severely depleted Antarctica's marine mammal populations. In recent decades the whale and seal populations have begun to recover, but interest has grown in new resources, especially oil, minerals, fish, and tourism.

The Antarctic's functional limit is a band of turbulent ocean currents and high winds that circle the continent at about 60 degrees south latitude. This ring is known as the Antarctic convergence zone. Ocean turbulence in this zone creates a barrier marked by sharp differences in salinity and water temperature. Antarctic marine habitats, including the limit of krill populations, are bounded by the convergence.

Since 1961 the Antarctic Treaty has formed a framework for international cooperation and compromise in the use of Antarctica and its resources. The treaty reserves the Antarctic continent for peaceful scientific research and bans all military activities. Nuclear explosions and radioactive waste are also banned, and the treaty neither recognizes nor establishes territorial claims in Antarctica. However, neither does the treaty deny pre-1961 claims, of which seven exist. Furthermore, some signatories to the treaty, including the United States, reserve the right to make claims at a later date. At present the United States has no territorial claims, but it does have several permanent stations, including one at the South Pole. Questions of territorial control could become significant if oil and mineral resources were to become economically recoverable. The primary resources currently exploited are fin fish and krill fisheries. Interest in oil and mineral resources has risen in recent decades, most notably during the 1973 "oil crisis." The expense and difficulty of extraction and transportation has so far made exploitation uneconomical, however.

Human activity has brought an array of environmental dangers to Antarctica. Oil and mineral extraction could seriously threaten marine habitat and onshore penguin and seal breeding grounds. A growing and largely uncontrolled fishing industry may be depleting both fish and krill populations in Antarctic waters. The parable of the Tragedy of the Commons seems ominously appropriate to Antarctica fisheries, which have already nearly eliminated many whale, seal, and penguin species. Solid waste and oil spills associated with research stations and with tourism pose an additional threat. Although Antarctica remains free of "permanent settlement," 40 year-round scientific research stations are maintained on the continent. The population of these bases numbers nearly 4,000. In 1989 the Antarctic had its first oil spill when an Argentine supply ship, carrying 81 tourists and 170,000 gal (643,500 l) of diesel fuel, ran aground. Spilled fuel destroyed a nearby breeding colony of Adele penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae). With more than 3,000 cruise ships visiting annually, more spills seem inevitable. Tourists themselves present a further threat to penguins and seals. Visitors have been accused of disturbing breeding colonies, thus endangering the survival of young penguins and seals.

Child, J. Antarctica and South American Geopolitics. New York: Praeger, 1988.

Parsons, A. Antarctica: The Next Decade. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

Shapely, D. The Seventh Continent: Antarctica in a Resource Age. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press for Resources for the Future, 1985.

Suter, K. D. World Law and the Last Wilderness. Sydney: Friends of the Earth, 1980.