Colonization of Antarctica refers to establishment of civilian settlements in Antarctica having humans, including families, living on the continent of Antarctica. Currently, the continent hosts only two civilian colonies, [1] [2] the Argentinian-administered Esperanza Base and Chilean-administered Villa Las Estrellas, as well as about 70 scientific and military bases with a transient population of scientists and support staff. Antarctica is the only continent on Earth without indigenous human inhabitants, despite its proximity to Argentina and Chile at the Antarctic Peninsula.
At present scientists and staff from 30 countries live on about 70 bases (40 year-round and 30 summer-only), with an approximate population of 4,000 in summer and 1,000 in winter. There have been at least eleven human births in Antarctica, starting with one in 1978 at an Argentine settlement, with seven more at that base and three at a Chilean settlement.
The Antarctic Treaty System, a series of international agreements, presently limit claims and activities on Antarctica. It would need to be modified or abandoned before additional large-scale colonization (coincident with national territorial claims) could legally occur, in particular with respect to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. [3]
An idea common in the 1950s was to have Antarctic cities enclosed under glass domes. Power and temperature regulation of the domes would come from atomic driven generators outside of these domes. While the Soviets used radioisotope thermal generators in some of their remote Arctic and Antarctic locations, [4] the Americans experimented with nuclear fission, building on their Army nuclear power plant program. The PM-3A nuclear power reactor at McMurdo Station was plagued with reliability issues (achieving an availability factor of only 74%) [5] and was eventually deemed a pollution hazard and consequently shut down and dismantled. [6]
Buckminster Fuller, the developer of the geodesic dome, had raised the possibility of Antarctic domed cities that would allow a controlled climate and buildings erected under the dome. [7] His first specific published proposal for a domed city in 1965 discussed the Antarctic as a likely first location for such a project. [8] The second base at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station (operated 1975–2003) resembles a reduced version of this idea; it is large enough to cover only a few scientific buildings.
In 1971, a team led by German architect Frei Otto made a feasibility study for an air-supported city dome two kilometers across that could house 40,000 residents. [9] Some authors have recently tried to update the idea. [10]
Although today Antarctica's environment is very harsh, conditions may become better in the future. It has been suggested that, as a result of long-term effects of global warming, the beginning of the 22nd century will see parts of West Antarctica experiencing similar climate conditions to those found today in Alaska and Northern Scandinavia. [11] Even farming and crop growing could be possible in some of the most northerly areas of Antarctica.
It is suggested that plants and fungi find a favorable environment around Antarctica's volcanoes to grow, a hint as to where the first agricultural efforts could be led. [12] There are about 110 native species of moss in Antarctica, and two angiosperms ( Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis ). It is believed those native species will disappear with warmer weather and the arrival of stronger species. Humans are responsible for the introduction of 200 to 300 outside species on the continent. [13]
Recently scientific surveys of an area near the South Pole have revealed high geothermal heat seeping up to the surface from below. [14] [15]
Emilio Marcos Palma (born January 7, 1978) is an Argentine citizen who is the first person known to be born on the continent of Antarctica. He was born in Fortín Sargento Cabral at the Esperanza Base near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and weighed 3.4 kg (7 lb 8 oz). Since his birth, about ten others have been born on the continent.[ citation needed ]
Transport in Antarctica has transformed from explorers crossing the isolated remote area of Antarctica by foot to a more open era due to human technologies enabling more convenient and faster transport, predominantly by air and water, but also by land as well. Transportation technologies on a remote area like Antarctica need to be able to deal with extremely low temperatures and continuous winds to ensure the travelers' safety. Due to the fragility of the Antarctic environment, only a limited amount of transport movements can take place and sustainable transportation technologies have to be used to reduce the ecological footprint. The infrastructure of land, water and air transport needs to be safe and sustainable. Currently thousands of tourists and hundreds of scientists a year depend on the Antarctic transportation system.
The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. The term Antarctic, referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle, was coined by Marinus of Tyre in the 2nd century AD.
The climate of Antarctica is the coldest on Earth. The continent is also extremely dry, averaging 166 mm (6.5 in) of precipitation per year. Snow rarely melts on most parts of the continent, and, after being compressed, becomes the glacier ice that makes up the ice sheet. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, because of the katabatic winds. Most of Antarctica has an ice-cap climate with extremely cold and dry weather.
McMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research station on the southern tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand–claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is the largest community in Antarctica, capable of supporting up to 1,500 residents, and serves as one of three year-round United States Antarctic science facilities. All personnel and cargo going to or coming from Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station first pass through McMurdo. McMurdo Station continues to operate as the hub for American activities on the Antarctic continent. By road, McMurdo is 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from New Zealand's smaller Scott Base.
The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station is a United States scientific research station at the South Pole of the Earth. It is the southernmost point under the jurisdiction of the United States. The station is located on the high plateau of Antarctica at 9,301 feet (2,835 m) above sea level. It is administered by the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation, specifically the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). It is named in honor of Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Briton Robert F. Scott, who led separate teams that raced to become the first to the pole in the early 1900s.
The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles, lying within the polar circles. These high latitudes are dominated by floating sea ice covering much of the Arctic Ocean in the north, and by the Antarctic ice sheet on the continent of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the south.
Emilio Marcos Des Palma Morella is an Argentine man who was the first documented person born on the continent of Antarctica.
The United States Antarctic Program is an organization of the United States government which has a presence in the Antarctica continent. Founded in 1959, the USAP manages all U.S. scientific research and related logistics in Antarctica as well as aboard ships in the Southern Ocean.
Argentine Antarctica is an area on Antarctica claimed by Argentina as part of its national territory. It consists of the Antarctic Peninsula and a triangular section extending to the South Pole, delimited by the 25° West and 74° West meridians and the 60° South parallel. This region overlaps with British and Chilean claims in Antarctica. None of these claims have widespread international recognition.
Multiple governments have set up permanent research stations in Antarctica and these bases are widely distributed. Unlike the drifting ice stations set up in the Arctic, the current research stations of the Antarctic are constructed either on rocks or on ice that are fixed in place.
The Chilean Antarctic Territory, or Chilean Antarctica, is a part of West Antarctica and nearby islands claimed by Chile. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes 53°W and 90°W, partially overlapping the Antarctic claims of Argentina and of the United Kingdom. It constitutes the Antártica commune of Chile.
The Antarctica Marathon® may have been the first for-profit sporting event held in Antarctica, on January 28, 1995. The event is now held every year in late February or early March. The 42.195-kilometre race is held on King George Island, one of the largest Antarctic Islands just off the Antarctic Peninsula. There is also a half-marathon held at the same time. The start and finish is at Bellingshausen Station, and the course passes the Artigas Base (Uruguayan), the Frei Base (Chilean) and the Great Wall Base (Chinese). The course follows a gravel road that connects the bases and changes each year based on the base operations as well as road and weather conditions.
As Antarctica has never been permanently settled by humans, there has historically been little military activity in the Antarctic. The Antarctic Treaty, which came into effect on June 23, 1961, bans military activity in Antarctica. Military personnel and equipment may only be used for scientific research or any other peaceful purpose on the continent.
Religion in Antarctica is largely dominated by Christianity, with churches being the only religious buildings on the continent. Although used regularly for Christian worship, the Chapel of the Snows has also been used for Buddhist and Baháʼí Faith ceremonies. Some of the early religious buildings are now protected as important historical monuments.
Seven sovereign states – Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom – have made eight territorial claims in Antarctica. These countries have tended to place their Antarctic scientific observation and study facilities within their respective claimed territories; however, a number of such facilities are located outside of the area claimed by their respective countries of operation, and countries without claims such as China, India, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa (SANAE), Poland, and the United States have constructed research facilities within the areas claimed by other countries. There are overlaps among the territories claimed by Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom.
Telecommunications in Antarctica is provided by the organizations that have established research stations on the continent. Antarctica is not formally designated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in any of the world zones.
Antarctica contains research stations and field camps that are staffed seasonally or year-round, and former whaling settlements. Approximately 12 nations, all signatory to the Antarctic Treaty, send personnel to perform seasonal (summer) or year-round research on the continent and in its surrounding oceans. There are also two official civilian settlements: Villa Las Estrellas in Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva operated by Chile, and Fortín Sargento Cabral in Esperanza Base operated by Argentina.
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14,200,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq mi). Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).
There may have been women in Antarctica, exploring the regions around Antarctica for many centuries. The most celebrated "first" for women was in 1935 when Caroline Mikkelsen became the first woman to set foot on one of Antarctica's islands. Early male explorers, such as Richard Byrd, named areas of Antarctica after wives and female heads of state. As Antarctica moved from a place of exploration and conquest to a scientific frontier, women worked to be included in the sciences. The first countries to have female scientists working in Antarctica were the Soviet Union, South Africa and Argentina.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Antarctica is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Due to its remoteness and sparse population, Antarctica was the last continent to have confirmed cases of COVID-19 and was one of the last regions of the world affected directly by the pandemic. The first cases were reported in December 2020, almost a year after the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in China. At least 36 people are confirmed to have been infected. Even before the first cases on the continent were reported, human activity in Antarctica was indirectly impacted.