ANTARTICA CASE STUDY

• southern continent in world
• area of 14 million km
• coldest place on Earth , average temp = -40 degress
• 58 times bigger than the UK
• has 6 months of darkness and 6 months of constant sunlight (at South Pole)
• ecosystem = not diverse

  • only mosses and lichen grow
• Southern Ocean = diverse in marine life , lots of fish , krill , penguins , seals and whales
• rich in natural resources like fossil fuels and minerals
• concerns about overfishing as commercial fishing is on the rise

  • Antarctic cod has been caught in high as quantities of 400,000 tons. 
• Antarctic Krill has a huge population (estimated to be about 400 million in the Southern Ocean)
• Krill feed on phytoplankton - abundant in Antarctica waters due to upwellings of water at Antarctica convergence
• Krill hunted

  • By the 1980s the harvesting of them had increased to 500,000 tons
• Overharvesting Krill has lead to environmental concerns

  • Krill are a ‘keystone species’ meaning that any creature that ate Krill would also die too.
• Large reserves of oil are located in the Southern Ocean, and iron ore deposits are rich in the Transantarctic Mountains.
• Antartica is vulnerable due to the demand for resources e.g fossil fuels , minerals and fish
• major threats to Antartica

  • climate change
  • fishing and whaling
  • mineral/resource exploitation
  • tourism and scientific research
• why is climate change a threat to Antartica?

  • ice sheets melt = sea levels rise
  • invasive species that are adapted to higher temperatures could grow and colonise environment
  • migration patterns of animals changed - decline in Adelie penguins due to temperatures
• why are fishing and whaling a threat?

  • overfishing of krill disrupts food chain
  • reports of illegal , unreported , unregulated fishing - unsustainable , cause wide scale marine damage
• CO2 is stored in ice sheets , whne melted release CO2
• Albedo effect - ice reflects solar radiation back into atmosphere , happens less due to fewer ice sheets. More heat absorbed into oceans
• how is whaling and sealing a threat to the Antartica ecosystem?

  • whaling started back in 18th century
  • whales endangered
  • whales are slow-breeders = damaged ecosystem long term
• how is mineral and resource exploitation a threat?

  • fossil fuel crisis means more demand for resources
  • oil exploitation disrupts habitat via drilling + pipelines
  • oil spills = catastrophic , can't remove oil quickly
• All mining is banned in Antartica
• 37,000 tourists visited from 2009-2010 , majority on cruises
• 97% of Antartica covered in ice
• example of a polar desert - recieves less than 166mm of rain per year
• climate change causes what around Antartica?

  Ocean acidification

  • when carbon dioxide in the air reacts with saltwater , it creates carbonic acid - depletes amount of calcuim carbonate in the water
  • can be devasting to plankton , they use calcium carbonate to form their shells
• what other species other than krill will be affected by overfishing?

  ablatroses and petrels , get caught in fishing lines and drown
• why is tourism a threat to Antartica?

  • increases shipping and air travel to Antartica , leading to water and air pollution , risk of boats grounding or hitting icebergs , cause fuel spill
  • can disturb breeding colonies of birds , littler and waste disposal damages habitats and can harm wildlife , decomposition rates in cold environments are slow
• Antartica Treaty - 1959
• what is the Antartica treaty?

  international agreement by 53 countries

  • aims to sustainabilty manage Antartica's ecoysystem
• aims of Antartica Treaty

  • Antartica should only be used for peaceful reasons- no army bases or weapons are allowed on Antartica
  • countries should cooperate on scientific research in Antartica by sharing plans , research and results
  • Antartica - remain global common
• what was added to the Antartica Treaty in 1991 and what did it do?

  Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antartica Treaty

  • focuses on protecting Antartica's fragile enviroment by banning all mining
  • EIA required for any new activities
• there is no system in place to ensure that countries follow the Antartica Treaty
• issues with the Antartica Treaty

  • countries involved must reach a consensus over all choices regarding Antartica
  • tackling issues can be slow and difficult e.g plans for Antartic marine reserves failed from 2012 - 2016 due to opposition from Russia and Ukraine
• IWC (International Whaling Commision)

  • responsible for regulating whaling and ensuring it's at an sustainable population
  • 1994 - set up Whale Sanctuary in Southern Ocean to protect whales
  • IWC criticised for not properly monitoring number of whales in the sanctuary
• UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme)

  • UN agency , responsible for reporting activity in Antartica to UN
  • programme in Antartica run by CCAMLR - aims to stop illegal fishing and conserve ecosystem e.g setting up protected areas
  • limited by individual countries protecting their own interests
• issues with the CCAMLR (Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources)

  • took 5 years for CCAMLR to negotiate creation of marine protected area in Ross Sea
  • hasn't reduced fishing quotas in Ross Sea
• In 1982 the IWC introduced what?

  Whaling Moratorium - banned all commerical whaling around world - increase whale population

  • western South Atlantic stock of humpback whales has increased from 1,000 to 25,000
• how is the success of the Whaling Moratoruim measured?

  estimating whale populations based on sightings and modelling

  • US and Australia believe they should have better monitoring system including registering all whaling boats with the IWC and placing independant observers on all whaling boats
  • Japan and Norway say they don't have the authority to do this