Undermining Antarctica

Journal Article · Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · Technol. Rev.; (United States)

OSTI ID:7167064

Mitchell, B

Antarctica is not a global footnote. Its seas contain one of the world's richest concentrations of marine life. And the continent and adjacent shelf may harbor quantities of oil, gas, and other minerals. Many nations want to cash in on these resources. So in 1980 the member countries of the Antarctic Treaty - the agreement that sets the continent aside as a peaceful scientific reserve - signed a pact to regulate the harvesting of fish and other Antarctic life. Now the group, consisting today of 37 nations, is trying to finish a legal framework for exploiting minerals in the region. Antarctica plays a vital role in global atmospheric and oceanic systems. Its vast frozen crust, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the world's ice, greatly affects weather and sea levels and contains an invaluable record of the earth's climatic history. The continent provides precious information on increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide and global pollutants such as DDT. In other words, what happens to Antarctica is of vital importance to us all. It is essential, then, that the minerals pact now being devised heed the concerns of the many nations that don't have a say in Antarctica today, and that it does not endanger this precious continent.

• OSTI ID: 7167064
• Journal Information: Technol. Rev.; (United States), Vol. 91:2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
03 NATURAL GAS
ANTARCTICA
ECOLOGY
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
AGREEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
EXPLOITATION
EXPLORATION
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
TREATIES
ANTARCTIC REGIONS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
MINERAL RESOURCES
POLAR REGIONS
RESOURCES
020900* - Petroleum- Environmental Aspects
030800 - Natural Gas- Environmental Aspects