Antarctica ASSESSMENT FOR LE SOCIAL STUDIES

Focus Area 1: Why is Antarctica an important environment? 1/3  The Southern Ocean around Antarctica accounts for about 10% of the Earth’s surface. It supports a huge number of the world’s marine mammals and other important marine life. That’s partly because the nutrient-rich waters and constant summer sunlight encourage the blooming of phytoplankton – microscopic marine plants that are the foundation of the ocean food chain. The Antarctic also plays a vital role in regulating our climate. Just like the Arctic sea ice in the northern hemisphere, the white Antarctic ice cap deflects some of the sun’s rays away from the Earth. And it plays a crucial role in regulating ocean currents, as the ice-cold water meets warmer water at its surface and drops to the depths. Antarctica is one of the world's most important ‘natural laboratories’ (hence all the scientists braving the conditions there). It has revealed a lot about the impact people are having on our natural world. It was British Antarctic Survey scientists who first identified the hole in the ozone layer in the 1980s, revealing the damage done to our atmosphere by man-made chemicals. This is showing that Antarctica is important because it is protecting and preserving the life that is residing in Antarctica. This is also showing how Antarctica is important because of how it helps with the control of the climate around the world.

Focus Area 1: Why is Antarctica an important environment? 2/3  The ice sheet contains one of the most detailed records of our climate for the past several hundred thousand years. By examining how the ice sheets formed and moved, scientists can create models of how climate might be changing now— and what effect those changes could have on the rest of the world. Astronomy at the bottom of the world takes advantage of a high elevation, a thinner atmosphere, a drier climate and a virtual absence of particulate, noise, or light pollution. Astronomers can see farther, and more clearly, from Antarctica than from anywhere else on Earth. Antarctica's incredibly harsh climate is very similar to the climate on Mars. NASA tests equipment in the Dry Valleys and other harsh Antarctic settings as part of the preparation for planetary expeditions. Antarctica is one of the most extreme environments on Earth, yet scientists have discovered a vast and rich ecosystem there. Life can be found thriving even in the outer crust of rocks in the Dry Valleys and in the depths of the perennially ice- capped brine lakes. By researching how life exists there, scientists can gain clues to discover the potential for life in extreme environments beyond Earth. The summer ozone "hole" is the most extreme over Antarctica. Scientists in Antarctica are studying the effects of ozone depletion where they are most obvious in order to understand how ozone depletion will effect the rest of the world. Their work may yield critical information on tissue damage, protection, and potential adaptations to an atmosphere with less ozone. Polar organisms exhibit many adaptations for surviving the extreme environment of Antarctica. Such adaptations as the "antifreeze" manufactured by Antarctica fish and insects, may have important pharmaceutical applications. Scientists studying animals in Antarctica are adding to our knowledge in a large number of areas including evolution, the impact of global warming, and potential health advances. Resources are restricted in Antarctica; buildings must use energy efficiently and withstand the extreme environment for a prolonged period of time. Building strategies in this environment can inform building practices throughout the world, particularly as we move toward housing models with greater efficiency and smaller environmental impact. As scientists conduct research, other scientists can study those scientists! Investigations of emotional, mental, and physical responses to living and working in such an extreme environment can inform the way astronauts prepare for extended space exploration. The polar environments change dramatically throughout the year, and climate change has a tremendous effect on seasonal cycles for flora and fauna in Antarctica. By studying those changes, scientists can investigate the potential effects of climate change on ecosystems across the globe. This shows how scientists are able to analyse the environment in Antarctica in order to predict how climate change will effect us later on This shows that scientists are currently studying the organisms in Antarctica in order to gather knowledge about advances in health and prevention of global warming. Scientists are also studying the effects of global warming throughout Antarctica, learning how this could affect climate change around the world.

Focus Area 1: Why is Antarctica an important environment? 3/3 other-blog/ This picture is showing how Antarctica is a very valuable place for scientists to gather information.

Focus Area 2: What impact do people have on this environment? 1/3  Some Antarctic species have been taken to the verge of extinction for economic benefit. Others have been killed incidentally or disturbed, soils have been contaminated, untreated sewage has been discharged into the sea and rubbish that will not decompose or break down for hundreds of years has been left behind in even the remotest parts.  Recently attitudes have changed as we begin to realise that there are few untouched and unvisited places left on earth and that they are tremendously important to humanity.  Antarctica's clean air, water and ice of are of importance to science for understanding how the Earth's environment is changing both naturally and as a result of human activity. Tour operators are tapping a huge and ever increasing demand to visit the Earth's last great wilderness.  Both science and tourism have the potential to damage the very qualities that draw them to Antarctica. This is showing how people have already taken advantage of the new resources given to them, which is causing dramatic effects in Antarctica. This is showing how both scientific research and common tourism are able to cause major problems with small actions

Focus Area 2: What impact do people have on this environment? 2/3 This cartoon is pressing on the fact that people are causing the climate to fluctuate around the world, because of global warming being affected by the heat-containing gases we produce.

Focus Area 2: What impact do people have on this environment? 3/3 com/antarcticastations.asp This map shows how Antarctica has changed from untouched to a scientific research area, with nearly all of Antarctica being monitored this very second.

Focus Area 3: Is the global community doing enough to make sure that this area is sustainable? 1/3  Fishing and tourism are the only significant economic activities in the Antarctic at present. Over 27,000 tourists visited Antarctica in the 2005/06 summer and the industry is growing rapidly (IAATO, 2006). The multiple stresses of climate change and increasing human activity on the Antarctic Peninsula represent a clear vulnerability (see Section ), and have necessitated the implementation of stringent clothing decontamination guidelines for tourist landings on the Antarctic Peninsula (IAATO, 2005).Section  Fishing is, however, the only large-scale exploitation of resources in Antarctica, and since 1982 Antarctic fisheries have been regulated by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which takes climate change into account in determining allowable catches. However, before the CCAMLR came into force, heavy fishing around South Georgia led to a major decline in some stocks, which have not yet fully recovered. The illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing of the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) is of concern because it could act alongside climate change to undermine sustainable management of stocks (Bialek, 2003). Furthermore, those fishing illegally often use techniques that cause the death of by-catch species; for example, albatross and petrels, which are now under threat (Tuck et al., 2001). On the other hand this shows how people are ignoring the need to control the resource distribution and consumption, instead causing issues such as starting to press species towards extinction. This shows how communities are already making sure that the consumption of resources from Antarctica is kept under control

Focus Area 3: Is the global community doing enough to make sure that this area is sustainable? 2/3 This picture is of the Fossil Bluff waste dump before it was removed from Antarctica rg.uk/alevel_img/bas_ jpg

 Sustainability is a major concern for the future of Antarctica and for the marine life in the surrounding Southern Ocean. While the Antarctic Treaty reserves the continent for peace and science, there are many threats to the future of Antarctica. Climate change, and the introduction of non-native species, threaten to impact flora and fauna of Antarctica. (As set out in section on the Impacts of Climate Change, melting of the Antarctic ice sheets could affect other parts of the world with rising sea levels.) Numbers of tourists are increasing, for example there were approximately 7,500 visitors in and over 36,000 in The overall trend towards continued increases in tourist numbers could have localised and/or wider regional impacts on the Antarctic environment in the future.  Although exploitation of Antarctic minerals is prohibited indefinitely, could exhaustion of minerals elsewhere leave Antarctica as the only viable option in future mineral exploitation? Perhaps if mining techniques were improved to make them more environmentally friendly and future melting could increase accessibility and ease of drilling would the Antarctic Treaty Parties lift the ban on mining in the future? Mining would certainly throw into question the sustainable use of Antarctica and would change the mandate of a place for peace and science under the Antarctic Treaty. Focus Area 3: Is the global community doing enough to make sure that this area is sustainable? 3/3 This is showing how the global community is ensuring that the minerals in Antarctica are kept and not used, which is keeping Antarctica in more of an untouched state