antarctica unveiled: a deep dive into the icy wilderness and scientific marvels of the southern continent

• Climate change is having significant impacts on Antarctica’s ice sheets, climate and life, with far-reaching global consequences. Some parts of Antarctica are experiencing significant ice retreat, including the collapse of ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula, while other areas are increasing
• Antarctica is governed by a group of nations in a unique international partnership. The Antarctic Treaty, first signed on December 1, 1959, designates Antarctica as a continent devoted to peace and science

Antarctica, the southernmost and the least-populated continent on Earth, is home to some of the world’s most spectacular natural wonders. However, it is also one of the region’s most vulnerable to climate change. As the global temperatures continue to rise, the impact on Antarctica and its surrounding oceans are profound. Antarctica, is situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean also known as the Antarctic Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14,200,000 square kilometres (5,500,000 square miles). Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi). Antarctica is approximately some 8000 km south of Sri Lanka.

The Antarctic ice sheet is one of the two polar ice caps of Earth. It covers about 98% of the Antarctic continent and is the largest single mass of ice on Earth, with an average thickness of over 2 kilometres. Separate to the Antarctic sea ice, it covers an area of almost 14 million square kilometres (5.4 million square miles) and contains 26.5 million cubic kilometres (6,400,000 cubic miles) of ice. A cubic kilometre of ice weighs approximately 0.92 metric gigatons, meaning that the ice sheet weighs about 24,380,000 gigatons. A gigaton is a billion metric tons and a metric ton equals 2,205 pounds. It holds approximately 61% of all fresh water on Earth, equivalent to about 58 metres of sea level rise if all the ice were above sea level.

In East Antarctica, the ice sheet rests on a major land mass, while in West Antarctica the bed can extend to more than 2,500m below sea level. Satellite measurements by NASA indicate a still increasing sheet thickness above the continent, outweighing the losses at the edge. The reasons for this are not fully understood, but studies include the climatic effects on ocean and atmospheric circulation of the ozone hole, and/or cooler ocean surface temperatures as the warming deep waters melt the ice shelves. The ozone hole is not technically a “hole” where no ozone is present, but is actually a region of exceptionally depleted ozone in the stratosphere over the Antarctic that happens at the beginning of Southern Hemisphere spring (August–October). Satellite instruments provide us with daily images of ozone over the Antarctic region. 

Ownership of Antarctica

There is no single country that owns Antarctica. Instead, Antarctica is governed by a group of nations in a unique international partnership. The Antarctic Treaty, first signed on December 1, 1959, designates Antarctica as a continent devoted to peace and science. In addition, there are no cities in Antarctica.

However, many countries have established research stations and bases across the Antarctic continent. Many of the stations were established for both scientific purposes as well as to attempt to stake territorial claims. Seven countries Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom maintain territorial claims in Antarctica, but, the United States and most other countries do not recognize those claims. While the United States maintains a basis to claim territory in Antarctica, it has not made a claim.

In 1821, Captain John Davis from the United States is believed to have set foot in Antarctica for the first time. Ever since then it’s been a race to get to the geographic South Pole. In 1909, the British explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton set out on an expedition to reach out to the Geographic South Pole. Unfortunately, due to safety concerns he and his team were forced to turn back 180 km from the Geographic South Pole. In 1911, a second British explorer Robert Falcon Scott set out to reach the Geographic South Pole. Unfortunately, when he and his team got there, a Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team had already got to the Geographic South Pole 34 days before, making the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen the first man to reach the Geographic South Pole on 14 December 1911.

Population of Antarctica

The continent has a population of around 5000 people but, during the winter this number is reduced to approximately a fourth with 1000 people. The inhabitants are mainly based at research stations with the McMurdo Station being the largest. The McMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research station on the south tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program, a branch of the National Science Foundation.

Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60 degrees south latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of 20,327,000 km2 (7,848,000 sq. mi), it is regarded as the second-smallest of the five principal oceanic divisions: smaller than the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans but larger than the Arctic Ocean. Since the 1980s, the Southern Ocean has been subject to rapid climate change, which has led to changes in the marine ecosystem.
The Southern Ocean, geologically the youngest of the oceans, was formed when Antarctica and South America moved apart, opening the Drake Passage, roughly 30 million years ago. The separation of the continents allowed the formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. With a northern limit at 60 degrees south latitude, the Southern Ocean differs from the other oceans in that its largest boundary, the northern boundary, does not edge a landmass. Instead, the northern limit is with the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
One reason for considering it as a separate ocean stems from the fact that much of the water of the Southern Ocean differs from the water in the other oceans. Water gets transported around the Southern Ocean fairly rapidly because of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current which circulates around Antarctica. Water in the Southern Ocean south of, for example New Zealand, resembles the water in the Southern Ocean south of South America more closely than it resembles the water in the Pacific Ocean. 

Why is Antarctica’s Ice Important?

Antarctic ice also plays a critical role in regulating the Earth’s climate. It reflects the sun’s heat, provides a habitat for microscopic plants that absorb carbon, controls global sea levels and generates cold, salty water that helps drive global ocean currents.

The Activities that Threaten the Sustainability of Antarctica

Tourism

The number of tourists has increased substantially over the last 15 years. In 1992, the number of tourists landing on Antarctica was 6,704, whereas in 2008/9, it was over 27,000. This increase in tourists may cause impacts on the environment such as trampling of vegetation, disturbing wildlife and introduction of alien species in localized sites. The vast majority of the Antarctic continent and outlying islands has not been visited by tourists but there may be pressure on commercial operators to find new sites.

Mining

Mining is banned indefinitely, with a provision for review in 2048 onwards in Antarctica under the Environmental Protocol. However, there are deposits of minerals on Antarctica that could be exploited including oil, coal and iron ore. In addition to the fact that such activity is prohibited, exploiting minerals on and around Antarctica would be very expensive due to the thick ice, inaccessibility due to Antarctica’s remoteness, and the very harsh climate.

Fishing

Exploitation of the marine life in the Southern Ocean is carefully managed and protected by CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources). However, despite conservation measures, Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing continues which threatens to undermine conservation efforts. Further action will probably require worldwide consumer boycotts of unsustainably caught fish in the Southern Ocean and engagement with landing ports around the Southern Ocean.

Bioprospecting

Antarctica has a unique biodiversity that has begun to interest companies and bioprospectors. Bioprospecting is the systematic search for biochemical and genetic information in nature in order to develop commercially-valuable products for pharmaceutical, agricultural, cosmetic and other applications. Antarctica is of particular interest because little is known about Antarctic biota and secondly because of the extremes of environment including temperature, aridity and salinity mean that biota will have evolved unique characteristics for survival that could be used to produce commercial products. Anti-freeze glycoproteins found in some species of Antarctic fish which stop them freezing could be used to improve fish farm production in cold climates, extend the shelf-life of frozen food and improve the preservation of transplanted tissue. It was first discussed within the Antarctic Treaty System in 2002. Since then it has been discussed by: SCAR – Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, CEP- Committee for Environmental Protection, ATCM – Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. Bioprospecting has the advantage of being quite a sustainable use of resources as generally very small samples are required for scientific research meaning that the environmental impact can remain quite small. As there are a limited number of people conducting activities in Antarctica it makes it much easier to monitor bioprospecting activities in situ, although tracking and regulating such genetic resources outside of the Antarctic is much more difficult. In addition, bioprospecting could result in increased funding for basic Antarctic research. Obviously, any bioprospecting which involved harvesting of species could have adverse environmental impacts.

Sri Lankan Dinuka Karunaratne’s experience

Sri Lankan Dinuka Karunaratne recounts his experience and insights to the arduous journey of a lifetime. Exploration of faraway places is undoubtedly an adventure. Dinuka who has recently bravely made it to the South Pole explains, “Antarctica is a truly free, unbelievable landscape that you must explore.”. Further, Dinuka recounts his experience and shares information on his expedition to Antarctica. “Those Sri Lankans who love to travel know the hassle of getting a visa. Fortunately, Antarctica is not owned by anyone or any country, meaning you do not need to get a visa to enter Antarctica. Saying that travel to Antarctica typically starts from Chile (Punta Arenas), Argentina (Ushuaia), Australia (Tasmania), New Zealand (Invergordon) or South Africa (Cape Town). Sri Lankans will need to get visa to enter any of these countries to make their way to Antarctica. One can explore Antarctica by sea, air and ground. “The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators” (www.iaato.org) has listed all the tour companies that operate in Antarctica. Based on your interests and capabilities you can sign up for a tour with a company. Typically, with a cruise you can explore the coastal area of Antarctica and see a lot of wildlife and the coast. With an air and ground tour you can visit the geographic south pole, summit mount Vinson (the tallest mountain in Antarctica), skydive, ski and many other activities in groups. If you are an advanced adventure traveller, you can also do a solo exploration in Antarctica. Antarctica is a truly free, unbelievable landscape that you must explore”. These are extracts from his interview with the Daily FT, by Medha de Alwis. 

Biggest Threat to Antarctica’s Future

Climate change is having significant impacts on Antarctica’s ice sheets, climate and life, with far-reaching global consequences. Some parts of Antarctica are experiencing significant ice retreat, including the collapse of ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula, while other areas are increasing. The vast ice sheets in Antarctica are set to undergo “rapid and unstoppable” melting in the coming decades as a result of climate change. The future of Antarctica - and much of the planet - will hang in the balance in the coming decades. Our future depends on us: Antarctic climate change and the environment. If the world warms up at a rate dictated by current policies, we will see the Antarctic system start to get away from us. In the next 50 years, melting Antarctic ice is predicted to cause rapid slowdown of deep ocean currents by 2050. Melting ice around Antarctica will cause a rapid slowdown of a major global deep ocean current by 2050 that could alter the world’s climate for centuries and accelerate sea level rise, according to scientists behind new research. 

Optimism

We need to reflect on a positive and proactive approach toward Antarctica and its significance for the global ecosystem. Optimism and collective efforts are key in addressing the challenges and opportunities associated with Antarctica. By fostering scientific research, promoting international cooperation, and implementing sustainable practices, there is hope that we cannot only preserve Antarctica’s unique environment but also contribute to a healthier and more balanced planet. As individuals, communities, and nations we need to work together, there is great potential to make a positive impact on the future of Antarctica, and by extension, the Earth’s climate system. Embracing optimism, while taking responsible and informed actions, can pave the way for a sustainable and harmonious relationship with this vital region and the broader environment.

The writer is a former Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force and Ambassador to Afghanistan.
He is the President of the Association of Retired Flag Rank Officers