Year 7 Geography Homework

Antarctica

Weather

The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was −89.2°C at the Russian station Vostok in 1983. Around the coasts of Antarctica, temperatures are generally close to freezing in the summer (December–February) months. During winter, monthly temperatures at coastal stations are between −10°C and −30°C . Conditions inland are much colder as a result of its higher height, higher latitude and greater distance from the ocean. Here, summer temperatures struggle to get above −20°C and monthly means fall below −60°C in winter. Several metres of snow fall each year near the coast but inland areas only get an annual snowfall of a few centimetres, thus officially making much of the continent a desert. Winds at the South Pole are usually about 6 ms-1. Strong katabatic winds, caused by the flow of cold air off the highest areas, make some coastal sites around Antarctica the windiest places in the world. When mountains provide an obstruction to the flow of winds there is strong turbulence and uplift and lenticular clouds frequently form. Atmospheric conditions in Antarctica mean that many unusual weather phenomena can be seen. In particular halo displays are often exceptionally brilliant and mirages are frequent. The southern lights, or aurora australis, are one of nature’s light-shows in the night sky. Antarctica occupies a privileged position from which to observe and measure all parts of our atmosphere. Knowledge of how it works is becoming increasingly important to how we live our lives today, both in weather forecasting and in communications via satellites. The stratosphere, the lowest part of the atmosphere, is from the ground to about 12 km altitude. This is where the weather takes place, where there is moisture and where there are living things.

Wildlife

The majority of the Antarctic continent is covered by permanent ice and snow leaving less than 1% available for colonization by plants. Most of this ice and snow-free land is found along the Antarctic Peninsula, its associated islands and in coastal regions around the edge of the rest of the Antarctic continent. As there is not a wide range of plants and animals in Antarctica, the food web is particularly fragile.

Krill (Euphausia superba) are small, shrimp-like animals that grow up to about 6 cm in length and live for up to 5 years. These are some of the largest members of the plankton, in fact because they swim so well some people think that they are more like little fish than drifting plankton. The Antarctic fish group contains the unique vertebrate group the Channichyidae or icefish (so called because of their pale colouration). These fish are the only group of vertebrates which have no red blood pigment (haemoglobin). Oxygen is transported instead in solution in the blood plasma. The mackerel icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari) is important food source for Antarctic fur seals. There are two natural groups of whales — toothed and baleen. The baleen whales, such as the blue and humpback whale , have rubbery plates of baleen instead of teeth, which they use to strain plankton and small fish from seawater. The largest toothed whale is the killer whale (Orcinus orca). Southern Ocean whales are migratory, heading to warmer waters during the Antarctic winter. Calves are born here as they would struggle to survive in polar waters during their first few months. The whales return south in the spring.

Penguins are the most common birds in the Antarctic. Living in colonies with populations larger than some cities, and surviving in the harshest of conditions, it is no wonder that penguins are seen as the emblem of Antarctica. No one knows where the name “penguin” comes from. It could come from the Welsh “pen gwyn”, which means “white head”, or from the Latin “pinguis”, referring to the fat or blubber of the bird. The name penguin was first given to another type of bird, the auk (also a large, flightless, black and white bird). Penguins cope well in the cold — some breed in the coldest conditions in the world. Their short outer feathers overlap, like tiles on a roof, to form a thick waterproof layer, and underneath are fluffier feathers for warmth. Like seals and whales, a thick layer of fat under the skin provides insulation (and extra reserves for when food is scarce).

Environment

The only permanent structures of any size in Antarctica are scientific research stations. There are currently over 70 stations with about 4000 scientists and support staff in summer, falling to about 1000 in winter. The largest UK research station is Rothera, which currently has a complement of around 130 people in summer and 20 in winter. Minimising waste, preventing pollution and cleaning up historic sites are important parts of BAS’s operations. BAS’s Environment Office is responsible for the safe disposal of waste from BAS’s five research stations, two Royal Research Ships and five aircraft. All the waste that BAS generates – other than sewage and food waste – is removed from the Antarctic. Antarctica is important for science because of its profound effect on the Earth's climate and ocean systems. And the Antarctic has a crucial role to play in our understanding of global climate change. Locked in its four kilometre-thick ice sheet is a unique record of what our planet's climate was like over the past one million years.

Politics

The Antarctic Treaty came into force on 23 June 1961 after ratification by the twelve countries then active in Antarctic science. The Treaty covers the area south of 60°S latitude. Its objectives are simple yet unique in international relations. They are:

·  to demilitarize Antarctica, to establish it as a zone free of nuclear tests and the disposal of radioactive waste, and to ensure that it is used for peaceful purposes only;

·  to promote international scientific cooperation in Antarctica;

·  to set aside disputes over territorial sovereignty.

The UK was one of the first countries to sign the Antarctic Treaty. To protect specific areas on the continent over seventy Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs), Antarctic Specially Managed Areas (ASMAs) and 85 Historic Sites and Monuments (HSMs) have so far been designated. The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (1980) protects the sea life around Antarctica and the Antarctic environment is specifically protected by the Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty.