Antarctica Flashcards
antarctica is split into the following three zones:
each zone covers………….of the antarctic continent:
the area is either land or marine ice
- East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) covers 2/3 of the continent and is on land
- West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is a marine ice sheet making up 1/3 of the continent. it is 97% covered in ice
- Antarctic Peninsula extends for 1300km north
the antarctic peninsula has seen temperatures rise to …….°C in……..20….
and its average temperature reaching…°C
17.5°C in March 2015
average is now: 3°C
the antarctic has lost……….tones of ice since the industrial revolution
2.71 trillion tons
if the entire antarctic melted, global sea levels could rise by …..m
58m
in 19…. an argentine oil ship spilt……………gallons of oil, resulting in mortality rates of antarctic wildlife increasing by…..%
1989
250,000 gallons
20%
in 19……. a french airbase built a runway that carved straight through………………..
1987
through the breeding grounds of many sea bird colonies
blue whale populations used to number around ………….individuals. now, there are only……………whales left
239,000 individuals
now only 10,000
the only country which still carries whaling in the antarctic is
Japan
krill has become a target for fishermen because one can catch up………….organism per cubic metre
30,000 per m3
around………visitors go to the ant. every year.
however, an extra……….unaccounted visitors who come on private yachts also damage the coastal environemnt
12,000
extra 1,000 estimated
the Weddel and Ross Sea areas alone contain ……………..barrels of oil
50 billion barrels of oil
the temperature of the southern ocean west of the peninsula has risen by…..°C since………..
1°C since 1995
in the EAIS, te ice expanse has actually increased in size to a record…………..km2 in 20…..
2 milion km2 in 2013
the ozone layer over the antarctic has been damaged due to CFCs which have created a hole………..km2 in size
29 million km2
