Antarctica

Question 1

What is the size of Antarctica?

Answer 1

14 million square km

Question 2

How much of the Earth’s ice does Antarctica contain?

Answer 2

90%

Question 3

How much of the Earth’s freshwater does Antarctica contain?

Answer 3

70%

Question 4

Why is Antarctica classified as a desert?

Answer 4

It receives less than 166mm of rainfall per year

Question 5

What is the average temperature of Antarctica?

Answer 5

-49 degrees Celsius

Question 6

The ecosystem is very ………… .

Answer 6

fragile

Question 7

What do krill feed off in the Antarctic Convergence Zone?

Answer 7

Microsccopic phytoplankton

Question 8

What are the four main threats to Antarctica?

Answer 8

• climate change
• fishing and whaling
• search for minerals
• tourism and research

Question 9

By how much have temperatures risen on the western coast of Antarctica over the past five decades?

Answer 9

3 degrees Celsius

Question 10

What have rising temperatures caused?

Answer 10

Ice shelves melting around the Ross Sea and Weddell Sea

Question 11

Why has the population of Adelie penguins decreased?

Answer 11

They are adapted to live in icy conditions - they cannot survive with the melting ice

Question 12

By how much have the Antarctic krill declined since 1970s?

Answer 12

80%

Question 13

What is the effect of a declining krill population?

Answer 13

Decline in whale, penguin and seal populations as they depend on the krill as a food source

Question 14

How much have global sea levels risen since the 1990s as a result of melting sea ice?

Answer 14

3mm per year

Question 15

Why can climate change cause ocean acidification?

Answer 15

Carbon dioxide in teh air reacts with saltwater, it creates carbonic acid, which depletes the amount of calcium carbonate in the water/

Question 16

How many tonnes of krill were fished in 2013?

Answer 16

200 000

Question 17

What do legal limits aim to do?

Answer 17

Keep stocks at a sustainable level (although illegal fishing is difficult to monitor)

Question 18

When was commercial whaling banned?

Answer 18

1982

Question 19

The whale population is now slowly …………., even though whales are slow breeders.

Answer 19

recovering

Question 20

There are believed to be a lot of ………… in Antarctica.

Answer 20

minerals

Question 21

There are large reserves of …………. underneath the Southern Ocean.

Answer 21

oil

Question 22

There hasn’t been any ………… - it is currently banned.

Answer 22

mining

Question 23

What is a reason for the lack of mining in Antarctica?

Answer 23

It is too far to transport machinery

Question 24

Why might mining occur in Antarctica in the future?

Answer 24

Demand for oil and minerals will increase as supplies deplete elsewhere.

Question 25

What can tourism cause?

Answer 25

- air pollution from air travel - fuel spills from ships

Question 26

Tourists can disturb colonies of ............ .

Answer 26

birds

Question 26

............ can damage vegetation.

Answer 26

Trampling

Question 26

............ ............. can harm wildlife.

Answer 26

Waste disposal

Question 27

............ ............ may be introduced on tourists' clothing.

Answer 27

Non-native species

Question 28

Scientific and environmental research requires lots of ............ .

Answer 28

facilities

Question 29

When was the Antarctic Treaty signed?

Answer 29

1959

Question 30

What does the Antarctic Treaty set out?

Answer 30

- Antarctica should only be used for peaceful reasons - Countries should cooperate on scientific research - Antarctica should remain in the global commons

Question 31

What was signed in 1991?

Answer 31

The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty

Question 32

International Whaling Commission (IWC)

Answer 32

- responsible for regulating whaling so that populations stay at a sustainable level - in 1994, the IWC set up a whale sanctuary in the Southern Ocean - however, campaigners have criticised the IWC for not monitoring the number of whales in the sanctuary

Question 33

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Answer 33

- UNEP is a UN agency and is the main institution that governs the world's environment - reports activity in Antarctica to the UN - programme in Antarctica is run by CCAMLR which aims to stop illegal fishing and conserve the ecosystem - however, its effectiveness is limited by individual countries protecting their own interests

Question 34

Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC)

Answer 34

- NGO formed in 1978 - campaigned to make Antarctic Treaty meetings more transparent - interested in protecting the environment - monitors environmental change - monitors effects of climate change by checking melting ice and sea levels - ASOC campaigns with other NGOs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions