Antartica as a Global Common

What is the latitude of Antarctica and how does the average elevation compare to other continents?

• Highest elevation on average of any continent

• Antarctica sits below the Antartica Circle which is 60 degrees south

What are the oceans around Antarctica and size of the biggest?

• Surrounded by the southern ocean

• This is 36 million kilometres squared

• Smaller seas like the Weddel sea also present

What is the size of Antartica?

• 5th largest continent

• About 2 Australias

What is the terrain of Antarctica like, what is average height and how much of land does ice cover?

• The mountainous and rocky terrain is almost entirely covered by glacial ice

• Average height is 2300m above sea level and ice covers 98% of land

What percent of world ice is in Antarctica?

• 90% of the worlds land ice

What is the largest ice shelf around Antarctica?

The Ross Ice Shelf

What mountain range is in Antarctica?

• The Transantartic range has many peaks over 4000m .

What are moisture levels and why?

• Less than 25mm per year and the worlds driest continent

• This is because strong winds remove moisture and prevent cloud formation and air too cold to hold significant water vapour

What are temperatures like in Antarctica on average in winter and summer and what are the highest average temperatures and lowest average temperatures different regions reach?

• Winters around -27 degrees Celsius and summers peak around -3 degrees Celsius

• Some regions can reach average temps of -5 while some have average temps if -55 showing the large disparities

What is the cause of Antarctica being dry and how dry is it?

• Driest continent in the world

• Located in a high pressure area

How did whaling impact blue whale numbers and what was the percentage decrease?

• Large scale whaling operations occurred moving from one species to the next

• Blue Whales where driven to near extinction but now recovering slowly with long reproductive cycles

• They fell 98.5%

Is fishing major in Antarctica?

• Lots of coastal upwelling occurs leading to nutrient rich water and large fish stocks for fishing

• Also large krill stocks

When was Antartica first discovers and when was South Pole reached?

• First sighted in 1820

• Explorers reached the South Pole in 1911

Is there tourism in Antarctica and how many a year?

• A major growing industry

• Around 100,000 annually mainly to see penguins and whales

What areas does the Antartica treaty apply to?

All land and ice shelves south of 60 degrees latitude

What were the 4 conditions of the Antartic Treaty and when was it established?

1959

1/ Antartica shall be used for peaceful purposes only no military activity or nuclear tests

2/ Freedom of scientific investigation for all nations

3/ All territorial claims and frozen and not recognised

4/ Regular consultative meetings are held between members to manage governance

How is the Antartic Treaty enforced?

• The treaty grants all Consultative Parties the right to carry out inspections of any station, ship or aircraft in Antartica at any time without prior notice

• Each nation is responsible for prosecuting its own nationals who breach treaty rules meaning enforcement is reliant on states will to act

What did the Madrid Protocol establish and when was it?

• 1991

• The protocol designated Antartica as a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science

• All mineral resource activity, including exploration and extraction is comprehensively prohibited

What was the UN role in the Madrid Protocol?

The UN Environment Programme helped build the political momentum for the Protocol by raising global awareness of environmental threats. This alongside NGOs pressured away from a CRAMRA agreement allowing regulated mining.

Who were the International Whaling Comission?

The IWC were set up to regulate the global whaling industry by setting catch limits, designating whale sanctuaries and funding conservation research

What was the Whaling Moratorium and when was it established?

• 1982

• This imposed a complete halt to commercial whaling globally due to the rapid decline of numbers

• Whaling was allowed for scientific research only

What happened with whale sancturies in 1994?

• In 1994, a Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was set up, banning all commercial whaling in the area. Sanctuaries focus on the protection of calves and females.

• The area it covered was largely anything under 40 degrees south with all animals below this latitude protected

What is the ASOC?

Antartic and Southern Ocean Coalition

What did the Antartic and Southern Ocean Coalition do and why was it formed?

• Formed in 1979 after it was found out sercet negoitations of resource exploitation were being discussed on the continent

• ASOC’s purpose was to convince governments to prevent this mineral exploitation, as well as allowing NGOs to participate in the governance of Antarctica. ASOC did this by bringing these secret negotiations into the public eye.

What did the ASOC get in 1991?

• ASOC was granted observer status in 1991, meaning the organisation can go to annual meetings for the Antarctic Treaty System

• It acts a strong voice advocating for the protection of the ecosystems in Antartica conducting campagins and projects to ensure the continent is protected

What are the main goals of the ASOC?

● Overall environmental protection in Antarctica

● Monitoring and extending marine protected areas

● Wildlife conservation

● Krill conservation

● Climate change and the Antarctic

● Antarctic governance

How much oil is in Antarctica?

Estimated 300 billion barrels of oil beneath ice

How many nations signed Antarctic treaty and when was it established?

1959 and 54 nations have signed

How much ice lost each year?

150 billion tonnes

How is the Montreal Protocol of 1997 linked to Antarctica?

It was a direct result of Antarctic science discovering the hole in the ozone layer

What will the increase in ice free land be in the next three centuries?

550%

Since 1993 to today how has the level of krill catch changed?

It has increased four times

How many large whales did whalers kill?

Around 2 million

What was the ASOC granted?

The Antarctic Southern Ocean Coalition was granted observer status on the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources meetings allowing it to influence decisions and push for environmental protection

What happened with the Ross Sea in 2017?

In 2017 NGOs contributed to efforts that saw the Ross Sea becoming the third largest Marine Protected Area in the world but is often considered the largest due to 80% of the area having a strict no take policy