Antarctica 2010

Antarctica, one of the world's last great wildernesses, presents special challenges for international law. Fears that Antarctica would become a front in the Cold War catalysed agreement on the 1959 Antarctic Treaty which neither legitimised nor challenged the existing sovereign claims to the continent. The unique Antarctic Treaty System has provided the foundation for peaceful, harmonious and effective governance. There are, however, new anxieties about the frozen continent and the Southern Ocean. Antarctica already feels the effects of climate change and ocean acidification. Claimant states assert rights to the Antarctic continental shelf and interest in Antarctic resources grows. Tourism brings new environmental and safety risks. China and other powers are increasing their activities, with some questioning the consensus of the 'Antarctic club'. Security concerns are increasingly discussed, despite Antarctica's dedication to peaceful purposes. This book brings together the main primary international materials concerning the regulation and governance of Antarctica, including multilateral and bilateral treaties, United Nations materials, 'soft laws' and judicial decisions. It covers the spectrum of Antarctic issues from environmental protection to scientific cooperation to tourism. As it shows, Antarctic law has constantly adapted to meet new challenges and is a sophisticated, inclusive, dynamic and responsive regime.

This book examines the post-Cold War challenges facing Antarctic governance. It seeks to understand the interests of new players in Antarctic affairs such as China, India, Korea and Malaysia, and how other key players such as Russia and the USA or claimant states such as New Zealand or France are coping in the new global order. Antarctica is the world's fifth largest continent and its territories are claimed by seven different states. Since 1961 Antarctica has been managed under the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), a regime which, according to its critics, by the terms of its membership effectively excludes most of the nations of the world. This book examines the post-Cold War challenges facing Antarctic governance, and is organized thematically into three sections: Part 1considers the role of Antarctic politics in the current post-Cold War, post-colonial era and the impact this new political environment is having on the ATS. Part 2looks at the competing foreign policy objectives of a representative range of countries with Antarctic activities. Part 3examines issues that have the potential to destabilise the order of the Antarctic Treaty System, such as unrestricted tourism and new advances in science and technology. The Emerging Politics of Antarcticawill be of interest to students and scholars of international politics, polar studies and foreign policy studies.

The author spent one and half years as head of the country's first research station in Antarctica, Dakshin Gangotri. He discusses in details the frozen continent's unique environmental aspects, the international presence, world governance and the Indian Antarctic Programme (IAP). The book throws light on how perspectives and positions of leading countries represented in Antarctica, such as the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, US, Russia, China, Japan, Norway, South Africa and India have shaped over the years. Their strategic interests, including those in the Arctic, provide for an interesting kaleidoscope of factors with the potential for various global scenarios in the coming years. The world will be surely and anxiously watching the developments in Antarctica in future. According to the widely accepted geological theory of plate tectonics, the Indian subcontinent was once a part of the supercontinent Gondwana, so named after one of the tribes of central India, along with Antarctica, Africa, Australia and South America. However, the general awareness about the continent in India is very poor. The book in details traces the history of India's involvement in Antarctica, its three permanent stations conducting valuable scientific research and efforts to make a presence among other nations in the continent. It points out the country's total dependence on all its logistics needs by outsourcing which may prove to be detrimental to its influence and interests. It would be interesting to see how India reacts to the positions of other nations in the changing global kaleidoscope and how it will gear itself, to establish a truly influential Antarctic presence for safeguarding its own strategic interests. India may do well to lay down a polar doctrine at the earliest.

This is the first book whose subject is the music, sounds and silences of Antarctica. From 2011 until 2014, Australia marked its long-standing connection with Antarctica by celebrating the centenary of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. The icy continent, with its extremes of climate and environment and unique soundscapes, offers great potential for creative achievements in the world of music and sound. This book demonstrates the intellectual and creative engagement of artists, musicians, scientists and writers. Consciousness of sounds — in particular, musical ones — has not been at the forefront of our aims in polar endeavours, but listening to and appreciating them has been as important there as elsewhere.

Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean remains one of the world's last frontiers. Covering nearly 14 million km² (an area approximately 1.4 times the size of the United States), Antarctica is the coldest, driest, highest, and windiest continent on Earth. While it is challenging to live and work in this extreme environment, this region offers many opportunities for scientific research. Ever since the first humans set foot on Antarctica a little more than a century ago, the discoveries made there have advanced our scientific knowledge of the region, the world, and the Universe-but there is still much more to learn. However, conducting scientific research in the harsh environmental conditions of Antarctica is profoundly challenging. Substantial resources are needed to establish and maintain the infrastructure needed to provide heat, light, transportation, and drinking water, while at the same time minimizing pollution of the environment and ensuring the safety of researchers. Future Science Opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean suggests actions for the United States to achieve success for the next generation of Antarctic and Southern Ocean science. The report highlights important areas of research by encapsulating each into a single, overarching question. The questions fall into two broad themes: (1) those related to global change, and (2) those related to fundamental discoveries. In addition, the report identified key science questions that will drive research in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in coming decades, and highlighted opportunities to be leveraged to sustain and improve the U.S. research efforts in the region.

Studying Antarctica has never been for the fainthearted. "Hereabouts died a very gallant gentleman, Captain L. E. G. Oates of the Inniskilling Dragoons. In March 1912, returning from the Pole, he walked willingly to his death in a blizzard to try to save his comrades, beset by hardship." —Inscription on a cross placed near presumed final resting place of Antarctic explorer Lawrence “Titus” Oates, The Terra Nova Expedition, 1910-1913 “We have one survival bag for every two people.” —Antarctic paleontologist William Hammer, Transantarctic Vertebrate Paleontology Project, 2004 “When the ice cracks, it can sound like massive thunder rolls that seem to go on forever. If it is a serious cracking in the ice, it literally sounds like canon shots.” —Eighth-grade science teacher and Antarctic diver Robin Ellwood, Lake Ecosystems in Antarctica Project, 2008-2009 Humanity’s fascination with the land at the bottom of the globe dates back at least to the ancient Romans, who imagined Terra Australis Incognita—the “unknown southern land”—and drew it on their maps even though no one had ever seen it. It took a thousand years for this unknown land to become known. Despite the many people who have since visited it, conquering the Antarctic frontier is a never-ending challenge that calls scientists and explorers to risk their lives in the pursuit of knowledge. Frozen Secrets is the tale of a continent, the inside story of the critical, cutting-edge research that brave men and women from around the world have done and still do in Antarctica. Sally M. Walker traces expeditions from the earliest explorers to today’s research stations, where contemporary scientists work in some of the harshest conditions on Earth. Whether they study the formation of polar ice or the stratigraphy of ancient rock or the fossils of newly discovered dinosaurs or the chemistry of air trapped in miniscule frozen bubbles, the scientists working in Antarctica are building a body of knowledge that will influence future generations as they make choices that could affect the course of the whole planet.

This book discusses the expansion of new activities carried out in Antarctica and the focus among treaty parties on the perceived challenges posed by adventure tourism in the region. Shedding light on the latest trends and the modus operandi of all parties involved, it draws attention to new elements in the debate on how tourism and environmental protection can best be reconciled, with tourism in Antarctica rapidly increasing in recent decades. As far as technical practice and visitor guidance are concerned, the challenge facing tour operators lies in determining whether tourism has a negative or positive impact on the environment. The individual chapters address the development of polar tourism in terms of numbers, types and activities. The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, which advocates and promotes the practice of safe and environmentally responsible travel to the Antarctic, is also part of this study. In this context, special attention is paid to its strategies relating to adventure tourism – including both deep-field activities and those additional or new activities launched from traditional ship or yacht-based platforms. The analysis includes aspects of risk management and environmental considerations, as well as views on the cultural perspectives of Antarctica.