Antarctica

Contents

• Geographical location

• Physical features and climate change

• People who live and work there

• Animals

• Exploration

• Antarctic Treaty and Madrid protocol

• How is the environment at risk?

• What is unique about Antarctic?

Geographical location

Antarctica is one of the two continents that are wholly in the southern hemisphere. 42 % of Antarctica is owned by Australia, the other 58% is spread across six other countries. All seven countries have agreed to the Antarctic Treaty, which makes laws to prevent pollution and other bad things. Antarctica’s area is approximately 13, 661,000 square kilometres.

Antarctica’s nearest neighbours:

South America, which is 1000km away Australia, which is 2500km away Africa, which is 4000km away

Latitude & Longitude

Latitude: 90 degrees, 05 South.

Longitude: 0 degrees, 00 East

Physical Features & Climate

One of Antarctica’s most iconic landform is the iceberg. Icebergs are formed when falling from falling snow over the continent, it then mixes with pure freshwater and then breaks off from the mainland and forms an iceberg.

Antarctica is the driest and coldest continent on earth. The temperature is the number one factor for it being the most inhospitable place on earth. The temperature can reach 10 degrees Celsius on the coast, to -60 degrees Celsius inland. The coldest temperature ever recorded was -89.2 degrees Celsius on 21 July 1983.

People Who Live and Work There

Antarctica contains a useful microcosm of many of society’s jobs since they operate as self-sufficient communities. Some research stations include:

Mawson Station

The temperature some days is around -21 degrees Celsius and they get 31 km winds. Its location is in the...

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...clean-up and remediation of abandoned work sites and disused tip sites. In the early days of Australia's Antarctic program waste management consisted of disposal to open tips and the practice of sea-icing which involved pushing waste onto the sea-ice. Sea-iced material would travel out with the ice as it broke up at the beginning of summer to be dispersed among the marine environment. Commitment to the Madrid Protocol confers the obligation to clean-up abandoned work sites and waste tips so long as the process of clean-up does not cause greater adverse impacts or cause the removal of historic sites or monuments. Research is currently underway by Australian scientists to develop cleanup and remediation procedures that will not cause greater impacts. Methods for detecting and monitoring impacts, particularly in the adjacent marine environment are also being developed