Antarctica: A Narrative
Whaling nations laid claim to massive territories across the continent of Antarctica. The countries of Great Britain, Chile, and Argentina have competing territorial claims on the Antarctic Peninsula. Similarly, Norway, Australia, France, and New Zealand also see some of this territory as rightfully theirs.
The greatest example of nationalism came in 1940 when planes were sent by Nazi Germany to drop stakes with the swastika symbol carved on them over vast areas of Antarctica to allege ownership by the Third Reich. Antarctica was essentially forgotten during the time when World War II was raging, and even as the Cold War was established. The only interest came from the whaling nations. However, celestial events occurred that allowed science to come back to Antarctica for a long time. You will gain a deeper understanding about antarctica travel brochure by checking out that resource.
It was the Geophysical Year of 1957-58 that spurred scientists and world governments to converge on the continent of Antarctica, as it’s unique vantage point of the southern hole in the Earth’s magnetic field, allowed them to conduct research of the amplified solar radiation reaching the earth due to extremely high sunspot activity. The continent was soon home to a 67 country coalition of science personnel. This movement, and the cooperation among the scientists in this community were a drving factor in the Antarctic Treaty, an amazing international agreement.
This Treaty, signed in 1959 by the countries with primary interests in the continent, enacted a mandate that Antarctica’s only use would be for peaceful intentions. There would be no more nuclear testing, dumping of radioactive waste, or explosions. The only reason military activities were to be allowed on the continent was in the logistic support of science. The issues surrounding territorial claims were put to rest. As a person looking for trips to antarctica you should visit that site.
This was a unusual example of cooperation during the Cold War, as all of the superpowers made no assertions of claims, and did not acknowledge any from their allies, other than to reserve their right to restate them in the future Because of this, this prevented other smaller governments from trying to create a fuss if they didn’t get what they wanted.
During the 60’s and the decade following in the 70’s, many countries thought there was a lot of natural gas, oil deposits and mineral deposits in Antarctica. The peninsula and surrounding islands saw an extreme increase in an international presence. Antarctica’s normal population is at most 5,000 in the warmer months, and the majority of those people are jammed into the scientific communities on the peninsula or the surrounding islands.
It was during the 1960’s and 1970’s that Poland, Chile, Argentina, Britain, Italy, the United States, and the Soviet Union began setting up bases on King George Island. It was not until the1980’s that china, South Korea, Brazil, Uruguay, and Peru officially started their bases. Even though these bases are carrying out legitimate scientific work, just like the swastika stakes the Nazis were dropping via planes, they also serve as individual political markers. Essentially, they claimed territories as their own.
However, by the 1980’s the political tide was starting to change from supporting exploitation. It began being more supportive of science. Antarctica is in the process of becoming the jointly-owned property of the entire planet, similar to the political definitions of ocean ownership. It was at Britain’s Halley Bay Antarctic Base that the hole in the Earth’s ozone layer was first discovered, making it clear to man that industrial activity could cause damage to the atmosphere.
This discovery brought about the 1987 international agreement to phase out any use of chemicals that were destroying the ozone layer by the year 2000. This put Antarctica back on the map because the scientific research conducted at this location on Earth gave people a better view of how industry was changing Earth structurally and physically. It was also in the 1980’s that the disgust for whaling reached its highest point. It was also during this time that the Green movement of the world supported using Antarctica as a world park.
The nations that participated in the Antarctic Treaty put forth a decree in 1991 that all gas and oil exploration would be stopped for the next half century, as well as mining; instead, the environment would be given higher priority. Today, instead of being the Industrial Revolution crutch, Antarctica is teaching humans how much damage has been done to the atmosphere and planet by past extravagance, as well as how to avert possible coming environmental catastrophes.