Antarctic

The Antarctic is the polar region of Earth around the South Pole. It is opposite the Arctic around the North Pole. This area includes the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau, and other island territories.

The Antarctic covers part of the Southern Hemisphere. The continent of Antarctica is a large, icy land. All land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude are managed under the Antarctic Treaty System.

The environment of the Antarctic is important for our planet. When climate change in Antarctica causes ice to melt, it can raise global sea level rise. This melting also affects ocean currents and the marine ecosystem. There are no permanent countries living in Antarctica.

Geography

An October 2006 NASA satellite image of the Antarctic without its periphery of unattached sea ice

The Antarctic region is everything south of the 60°S latitude. This area includes Antarctica and islands such as the Balleny Islands, Peter I Island, Scott Island, the South Orkney Islands, and the South Shetland Islands.

Some islands between 60°S latitude and the Antarctic Convergence are controlled by the countries that own them. These include South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (United Kingdom), Bouvet Island (Norway), and Heard and McDonald Islands (Australia). Other islands, like the Kerguelen Islands (France), are found in the area of the Antarctic Convergence.

Ecology

Antarctic krill.

Many animals live in Antarctica at least part of the year. Some of these are:

Seals
Penguins
South Georgia pipits
Albatrosses
Antarctic petrels
Whales
Fish, such as Antarctic icefish and Antarctic toothfish
Squid, including the colossal squid
Antarctic krill

Chinstrap penguin.

Most of Antarctica is covered in ice and snow, with very little land to see. Only two types of flowering plants grow there, Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort. But there are many types of mosses, liverworts, lichens, and macrofungi.

The islands near Antarctica also have wildlife, but the climate is tough, so there are fewer types of plants and animals. There are not many insects because there are not many plants for them to eat. Birds on these islands often depend on insects for food.

Some of these islands are:

Conservation

Moubray Bay and Mount Herschel in Eastern Antarctica

The Antarctic has the world's largest protected area. This area is very big and helps keep the region safe. Ships that travel there must follow special rules to protect the environment. These rules are part of the Polar Code.

Climate change

Since the 1970s, the upper cell of the Southern Ocean overturning circulation has strengthened, while the lower cell weakened. These changes have been linked to the melting of the Antarctic ice sheet.

Climate change affects the whole world, including Antarctica. As the Earth warms, ice in Antarctica melts. This melting ice adds water to the oceans, which can cause sea levels to rise. Many animals and plants in Antarctica are also feeling the effects of climate change. It is important for everyone to help protect our planet and its special places like Antarctica.

Society

People

The first recorded sighting of Antarctica was by the Spaniard Gabriel de Castilla in 1603. He saw distant southern snow-capped mountains. The first Antarctic land found was the island of South Georgia, visited by the English merchant Anthony de la Roché in 1675.

People have long imagined a Terra Australis ("Southern Land"). The first confirmed sighting of the continent of Antarctica happened in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev on Vostok and Mirny.

The Antarctic region had no original people when first found, and today it has only a few thousand visitors who work temporarily at research stations. However, over 40,000 tourists visit every year, especially the Antarctic Peninsula area and South Georgia Island.

Ushuaia in Argentina is the most active gateway to Antarctica.

Emilio Marcos Palma, born in 1978, is the first documented person born on the continent of Antarctica at the Esperanza Base. His parents were both Argentine citizens, and he was born in the area claimed by Argentine Antarctica. Since then, ten more people have been born in Antarctica, but Palma's birthplace remains the southernmost.

The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, the geographic South Pole, with its signpost in the background

Time zones

Main article: Time in Antarctica

Because Antarctica surrounds the South Pole, it is theoretically located in all time zones. For practical reasons, time zones are usually based on territorial claims or the time zone of a station's owner country or supply base.