Antarctica Flashcards

1
Q

Role of NGOs in the protection of Antarctica: the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC)

A

a coalition of 30 NGOs, including Friends of the Earth, the Worldwide Fund for Nature + Greenpeace
aims:
- promoting ‘ecosystem as a whole’
- prevent exploitation of oil, gas and minerals
- open up Antarctic Treaty to include NGOs
Successes:
- embedding precautionary ecosystem approach into the Antarctic Treaty
- blocking the Minerals Convention
- instrumentalism in developing of the 1991 Madrid Protocol
Campaigns:
- negotiating a Polar Code covering vessels operating in the S. Ocean
- establishing a network of marine reserves
- managing S. Ocean fisheries, (e.g krill sustainability)
- strengthening the S. Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

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2
Q

Global Common

A

A resource domain or area that lies outside of the political reach of any one nation state. An area which is owned or used jointly by the members of a community

  • Sea (UN - Law of the Sea)
  • Outer Space ( 1979 Moon Treaty)
  • Atmosphere (UN Framework Convention on CC)
  • Antarctica (Antarctic Treaty System)
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3
Q

Global common pros

A

protected
protects environments due to mutual interests
collaboration brings peace
equal access

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4
Q

Global common cons

A

causes conflict over who has the power/should have the ability to use
political disputes
destroyed due to ineffective management

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5
Q

Tragedy of the commons

A

describes a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action

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6
Q

Antarctica as global common

A
Antarctica and the Southern Ocean as far as north of the Antarctic Convergence.
Flora + Fauna
Climate
Physical Geo
Geology
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7
Q

Antarctica as global common: Flora + Fauna

A

little veg - lichens, mosses, terrestrial, algae

ocean - phytoplankton, krill, wales, leopard seals, and penguins

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8
Q

Antarctica as global common: climate

A
very dry inland as very little (frozen) rainfall (<166 mm/yr) - the largest desert globally
very cold (av -49 deg c)
low levels of sunshine in winter as sun does not rise for several months due to the Earth's tilt.
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9
Q

Antarctica as global common: physical geo

A

(older, larger, thicker) E sheet + W sheet
Trans antarctic Mts extend E-W across continent
Coastline fringed with ice shelves (largest Ross Ice Shelf + Ronne Ice Shelf)
Highest elevated continent due to ice cover (2000 m above sea level)
Nunataks - high mts protruding above ice sheet
high winds + steep slopes prevent accumulation of ice on peaks

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10
Q

Antarctica as global common: geology

A

east: igneous + metamorphic rock
west: volcanic + sedimentary (ring of fire)
Mt Erebus on Ross Island - S most active

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11
Q

Antarctica as global common: threats: Climate change

A

peninsula particularly sensitive
local
3 deg c increase - fastest on earth
melting of ice shelves around Antarctic Weddell Sea and Ross Sea
Changing environment dramatically
sea ice adapted penguin species, like Adelie penguins, declining + replaced with sea adapted, like chinstrap
Antarctic krill declined by ~80% since 1970s
food chain affected
global
rising sea levels 3 mm/year since 1990s. destabilize the edges of ice shelves - increasing melting rate (pos feedback).

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12
Q

Antarctica as global common: threats: Tourism and scientific research

A

Tourism increases shipping + air travel -water + air pollution
risk of fuel spills - boats hit icebergs
disturbance of breeding colonies
trampling on fragile vegetation + erode landscapes
careless disposal of waste damages habitats + harms wildlife - particularly with low deposition rates
risk of non-native species intros causing altering of food webs + ecosystems
scientific + environmental research requires facilities + bases for living, roads for transporting supplies + places to store fuel
waste was burnt or dumped prior 1980s,

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13
Q

Antarctica as global common: threats: Fishing and whaling

A

extinction risk: Patagonian toothfish most killed: Antarctic krill (200,000 tonnes 2013) - knock on effects on food chain
legal limits breached by illegal fishing due to poor monitoring
albatrosses + petrels caught in fishing lines + drown
Whaling declined since 1982 due to commercial whaling ban - some continue for ‘scientific’ purposes. whale breeding is slow ie difficult to recover endangered mammal

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14
Q

Antarctica as global common: threats: Mineral extraction and exploitation

A

widely believed…
minerals e.g coal + iron ore in underground deposits in the Transantarctic Mts
oil reserves underneath S. Ocean
currently no mining due to ban, unfavorable conditions (too far, landscape and climate)
risk: rising demand

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