Antarctica, the southernmost continent of our planet, is almost twice the size of Australia and is a polar desert. It is the coldest, driest and windiest place on earth and is almost completely covered in ice. Yet despite this harsh environment, Antarctica and its surrounding waters, the Southern Ocean, are home to an incredible diversity of wildlife. This topic is a part of geography and it has a high chance of coming in exams like UPSC, SSC, State PSC, etc. Aspirants should read this article in detail and marks the important points for exams.
Antarctica: An Introduction
- Antarctica is a vast ice-covered continent surrounded by the ocean (as opposed to the Arctic, which is an ice-covered ocean surrounded by land). Bigger than Europe and 62 times bigger than her in the UK in the summer.
- Antarctica is the highest, driest, windiest, and coldest continent in the world. Its record low temperature is -94°C. However, it doesn’t snow much. Antarctica is considered a polar desert because it is so dry. Not surprisingly, Antarctica has no settlers or natives but may be home to as many as 5,000 scientists and researchers.
- Antarctica has no land-dwelling mammals, just a few hardy, flightless insects, but is rich in marine life, including penguins, whales, seals, and seabirds such as shrimp-like krill.
Importance of Antarctica:
The vast frozen land masses at the edge of our planet are more than just ice on Earth. It can also be essential for our survival.
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Limiting Global Warming: Antarctic ice deflects some of the sun’s rays away from the Earth, keeping temperatures tolerable.
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Sea level rise: Complete melting of the massive Antarctic ice sheet is projected to be unlikely, but even a small melt could raise global sea levels and cause flooding around the world.
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Sea life support: The oceans surrounding the continent are home to many of the world’s marine life, including 15 species of whales and dolphins and 5 species of penguins. Nutrient-rich water encourages the flowering of tiny plankton, the base of the ocean food chain.
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Nature Lab: Antarctica is one of the least disturbing places on earth. Now helping us understand global climate change, our unique archive, trapped in Antarctica’s ice sheet about 4 km thick, shows what the Earth’s climate has been like for about a million years. It will tell you if it was. Antarctic ice contains its more than 800,000-year-old climate record obtained from ice cores.
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Sensitive indicators of today’s environmental change: Antarctic science has also revealed much about the impact of human activity on the natural world. The discovery of an ozone hole over Antarctica in 1985 revealed the damage man-made chemicals are doing to the Earth’s atmosphere.
- Shared resource: The continent is a no man’s land, a protected area not owned by any nation. This is governed only by global agreement. However, it is particularly vulnerable to global warming, climate change, piracy, pollution, and unsustainable mineral exploration.
What is Antarctic Treaty?
- The Antarctic Treaty entered into force on 23 June 1961 after being ratified by 12 nations involved in Antarctic exploration at the time. This covers the region to the south of the 60th parallel.
- Headquarters – Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- There are currently 54 parties running. India became a member of this agreement in 1983. Of the 54 signatories, 29 have “consultative” status and are granted voting rights.
Main Goal:
- Demilitarize Antarctica, Establish zones free from nuclear testing and radioactive waste disposal to be used only for peaceful purposes
- For the Promotion of International Scientific Cooperation in Antarctica
- To resolve disputes over territorial sovereignty. Neutralization of territorial sovereignty means that limits have been placed on new claims and the expansion of existing claims.
- The Parties meet annually for the Advisory Conference on the Antarctic Treaty. They adopted over 300 of her recommendations and negotiated individual international agreements. But a major reason the treaty was able to survive was its ability to evolve through several additional treaties and other legal protocols.
- These dealt with protecting living marine resources, prohibiting mining, and introducing comprehensive environmental protection mechanisms.
- As conflicts have erupted over the years, many have been addressed by expanding the scope of these agreements, a framework now called the Antarctic Treaty system.
- The Antarctic Treaty system is a series of agreements concluded to govern relations between the nations of Antarctica. Its purpose is to ensure that Antarctica will forever be used only for peaceful purposes and not become a stage or subject of international discord, for the benefit of all mankind.
- This is a global achievement and the hallmark of more than 50 years of international cooperation.
- These agreements are legally binding, specifically designed for Antarctica’s unique geographic, ecological and political characteristics, and provide a robust international governance framework for the region.
- Important international agreements in the treaty system:
1959 Antarctic Treaty.
1972 Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals.
1980 Antarctic Marine Living Resources Conservation Convention.
1991 Environmental Protection Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty.
India’s Role in Antarctica:
- In February 1956, At the instigation of Jawaharlal Nehru and V.K. Krishna Menon, Antarctica was to be discussed at the United Nations because its vast area and its resources (especially nuclear minerals) are to be used only for peaceful purposes (potential testing of nuclear weapons) and general welfare. However, being embroiled in near-simultaneous crises in Suez and Hungary later that year, India did not push this point further. However, 12-nation Nehru Menon Initiative, which it believed had direct stakes in Antarctica, began talks and on December 1, 1959, the Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington, DC.
12 countries include Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the UK, the US, USSR. Not surprisingly, India was neither involved nor invited, as India’s action at the UN angered several countries, including the Soviet Union.
- Antarctica has since disappeared from India’s geopolitical gaze. But the international narrative changed on the morning of January 9, 1982, when the world was shocked by the news that India’s first Antarctic expedition had reached its destination. No other Asian country, including China, was there. Its second expedition landed in Antarctica on December 10, 1982. After completing her two expeditions within 11 months, India joined the Antarctic Treaty in August 1983 and China joined in 1985. There were two other notable Indian achievements in 1984.
- The first Antarctic team he began overwintering on March 1, 1984, and a few months later an Antarctic unmanned research station called Dakshin Gangotri was established. Since then, India has established two manned research stations in Antarctica. First (Maitri) in 1988 and Second (Bharati) in 2012. Her 40 expeditions to the continent were made.
- The major focus areas of the Indo-Antarctic Program are climate processes and links to climate change, environmental processes, conservation, and polar technology. Antarctic expeditions have operating costs of between £90m and £110m per year, depending on the project and service.
- The National Center for Antarctic Ocean Research (NCPOR) is the focal point for planning, facilitating, coordinating, conducting, and related logistical activities for all scientific research in the polar and southern oceans of the country. It was founded in 1998.
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