Colonization of Antarctica

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Territorial claims in Antarctica
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Colonization of Antarctica is the establishing and maintaining of control over Antarctic land for exploitation and possibly settlement. [1]

Contents

Antarctica was claimed by several states since the 16th century, culminating in a territorial competition in the first half of the 20th century when its interior was explored and the first Antarctic camps and bases were set up. [2]

Contemporarily territorial claims and activities on Antarctica have been limited since the Antarctic Treaty (1959) by the Antarctic Treaty System and its Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. [3]

At present the population of Antarctica comprises scientists and staff of approximate 4,000 people in summer and 1,000 in winter, from 30 countries staying at about 70 bases (40 year-round and 30 summer-only). Of those bases, two are civilian settlements, [4] [5] the Argentinian-administered Esperanza Base and Chilean-administered Villa Las Estrellas.

History

The first known dwelling on Antarctica, built by Carstens Borchgrevink's Southern Cross Expetition (1899). The hut (HSM 22) still stands and is located on Cape Adare, the cape where in 1895 Borchgrevnik participated in the first documented landing on Antarctica. Camp and Hut, Antarctica, Southern Cross Expedition, 1899.jpg
The first known dwelling on Antarctica, built by Carstens Borchgrevink's Southern Cross Expetition (1899). The hut (HSM 22) still stands and is located on Cape Adare, the cape where in 1895 Borchgrevnik participated in the first documented landing on Antarctica.

The Antarctic region has been a region of sovereign claims since at least the 16th century. The harsh Southern Ocean thwarted exploration of the region for hundreds of years, until the first half of the 19th century when sealers and explorers reported having found new southern lands. After whalers started hunting in the area polar explorers started venturing inland at the start of the 20th century, reaching the South Pole in 1911, European and American states increasingly made claims over Antarctic lands, supported by setting up expanding whaling stations and Antarctic research bases. [2]

Contemporarily territorial claims and activities on Antarctica have been limited since the Antarctic Treaty (1959) by the Antarctic Treaty System and its Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. [3]

Settlement concepts

Discovery Hut (1902) at Hut Point Peninsula of Ross Island, Antarctica, one of the earliest used dwellings on Antarctica. In the background McMurdo Station (1956), the largest on Antarctica today, with cargo operations of the Operation Deep Freeze supply ship MV American Tern (2007). Operation Deep Freeze 2007, McMurdo Station 070207-N-0469C-001.JPEG
Discovery Hut (1902) at Hut Point Peninsula of Ross Island, Antarctica, one of the earliest used dwellings on Antarctica. In the background McMurdo Station (1956), the largest on Antarctica today, with cargo operations of the Operation Deep Freeze supply ship MV American Tern (2007).

An idea 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, [6] 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%) [7] and was eventually deemed a pollution hazard and consequently shut down and dismantled. [8]

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. [9] His first specific published proposal for a domed city in 1965 discussed the Antarctic as a likely first location for such a project. [10] 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. [11] Some authors have recently tried to update the idea. [12]

Environmental impact

A private C-130 airplane landing onto a ice runway at Union Glacier (upper-left), which causes black carbon concentrations to increase in the surrounding snow (right), as observed through sample collection (lower-left) Cordero 2022 Antarctic runway.png
A private C-130 airplane landing onto a ice runway at Union Glacier (upper-left), which causes black carbon concentrations to increase in the surrounding snow (right), as observed through sample collection (lower-left)

In 2023 a research report from an Australian team [14] found that the pollution left by international research stations was comparable to that seen in some of the busiest ports in the world.

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. [15] 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. [16] There are about 110 known 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. [17]

Recently scientific surveys of an area near the South Pole have revealed high geothermal heat seeping up to the surface from below. [18] [19]

Births and deaths on Antarctica

The population of Antarctica

  All-year active research stations (78.61%)
  Summer-only active research stations (16.15%)
  All-civilian bases (5.24%)

The oldest known case of a person having died on Antarctic land is from the first half of the 19th century. The person was probably a South American indigenous woman, possibly travelling as a guide for early northern Sealers. Her bones were found in the 1980s on a beach on Livingston Island (South Shetlands) off the Antarctic Peninsula. [20]

Esperanza Base seen from Hope Bay at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, home to the first documented birth on Antarctica. Esperanza Station anta0060.jpg
Esperanza Base seen from Hope Bay at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, home to the first documented birth on Antarctica.

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. [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antarctic Treaty System</span> International treaties concerning Antarctica

The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, designating the continent as a scientific preserve, establishing freedom of scientific investigation, and banning military activity; for the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. Since September 2004, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, which implements the treaty system, is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Antarctica</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Dependency</span> New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica

The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south. It is claimed by New Zealand, a claim mutually accepted only by Australia, the UK, France and Norway, countries that also have territorial claims in Antarctica. Under the 1961 Antarctic Treaty, of which all territorial claimants are signatories, including New Zealand, all claims are held in abeyance. Article IV states: "No acts or activities taking place while the present Treaty is in force shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica or create any rights of sovereignty in Antarctica".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Antarctic Territory</span> British Overseas Territory

The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories, of which it is by far the largest by area. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes 20°W and 80°W, forming a wedge shape that extends to the South Pole, overlapped by the Antarctic claims of Argentina and Chile. The claim to the region has been suspended since the Antarctic Treaty came into force in 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McMurdo Station</span> American Antarctic base

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polar regions of Earth</span> Regions around the Earths geographical poles

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McMurdo Sound</span> Geographic location

The McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica, known as the southernmost passable body of water in the world, located approximately 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) from the South Pole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Antarctic Program</span> American government initiative

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argentine Antarctica</span> Department in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Research stations in Antarctica</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilean Antarctic Territory</span> Place in Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica, Chile

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 the United Kingdom. It constitutes the Antártica commune of Chile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military activity in the Antarctic</span>

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 from the continent. Military personnel and equipment may only be used for scientific research or any other peaceful purposes, such as delivering supplies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Machu Picchu Base</span> Peruvian research facility in Antarctica

The Machu Picchu Scientific Base is a Peruvian polar scientific research facility in Antarctica, established to conduct Antarctic research on geology, climatology and biology. More specifically, its purpose is to study the continent's geological past, potential sea resources, wind strengths, air pollution, and the animal adaptation in a freezing environment. The base is named after the World Heritage Site Machu Picchu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Territorial claims in Antarctica</span> Land claims of the continent

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Antarctica</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antarctica</span> Earths southernmost continent

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Pole</span> Southernmost point on Earth

The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipodally on the opposite side of Earth from the North Pole, at a distance of 20,004 km in all directions. It is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen Maud Land</span> Norways territorial claim in Antarctica

Queen Maud Land is a roughly 2.7-million-square-kilometre (1.0-million-square-mile) region of Antarctica claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20° west and the Australian Antarctic Territory 45° east. In addition, a small unclaimed area from 1939 was annexed in June 2015. Positioned in East Antarctica, it makes out about one-fifth of the continent, and is named after the Norwegian Queen Maud (1869–1938).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Antarctica</span>

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.

References

  1. ↑ Mancilla, Alejandra (2019). "A continent of and for whiteness?: "White" colonialism and the 1959 Antarctic Treaty". Polar Record. 55 (5). Cambridge University Press (CUP): 317–319. doi:10.1017/s003224741900069x. ISSN   0032-2474.
  2. 1 2 "Antarctica: A "European Invention"". Encyclopédie d’histoire numérique de l’Europe. 1924-03-27. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  3. 1 2 Joyner, Christopher C. (1992). Antarctica and the Law of the Sea, p. 49. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN   0-7923-1823-4.
  4. ↑ Esperanza Base — Antarctica — Atlas Obscura
  5. ↑ Esperanza Base: Antarctic Hospitality
  6. ↑ Grigoriev, Alexander. The Status of Work on RTGs Decommissioning and Activity of the International Coordination Group to Perform the Work (PDF) (Report). International Atomic Energy Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-02-20.
  7. ↑ "Nuclear Power at McMurdo Station, Antarctica".
  8. ↑ Elzinga, Aant (1993). "Antarctica: The Construction of a Continent by and For Science". In Elisabeth Crawford, Terry Shinn, & Sverker Sörlin (Eds.), Denationalizing Science: The Contexts of International Scientific Practice, pp. 73-106. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
  9. ↑ Marks, Robert W. (Aug. 23, 1959). "The Breakthrough of Buckminster Fuller". The New York Times, pp. SM14, SM15, SM42, SM44.
  10. ↑ Fuller, Buckminster (Sep. 26, 1965). "The Case for Domed Cities Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine ". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  11. ↑ Walker, Derek (1998). Happold: The Confidence to Build, p. 63. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   0-419-24070-5.
  12. ↑ Alexander Bolonkin and Cathcart, Richard B. (May 2007). "Inflatable ‘Evergreen’ dome settlements for Earth’s Polar Regions". Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy9 (2), 125–132.
  13. ↑ Cordero, Raúl R.; Sepúlveda, Edgardo; Feron, Sarah; Damiani, Alessandro; Fernandoy, Francisco; Neshyba, Steven; Rowe, Penny M.; Asencio, Valentina; Carrasco, Jorge; Alfonso, Juan A.; Llanillo, Pedro (22 February 2022). "Black carbon footprint of human presence in Antarctica". Nature Communications. 13 (1): 984. Bibcode:2022NatCo..13..984C. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-28560-w. ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   8863810 . PMID   35194040.
  14. ↑ Antarctic pollution by researchers surfaces in new report Green Prophet, 10 September 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2024
  15. ↑ "How to survive the coming century". NewScientist.
  16. ↑ "An ice age can make your home pretty inhospitable..." Science.org.au. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  17. ↑ Tom Hart (15 September 2015). "Polar invasion: how plants and animals would colonise an ice-free Antarctica". Theconversation.com. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  18. ↑ Dinar, Athena. "Discovery of high geothermal heat at South Pole". www.phys.org/news. British Antarctic Survey. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  19. ↑ Fox, Douglas. "High Heat Measured under Antarctica Could Support Substantial Life". www.scientificamerican.com/article. Scientific American. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  20. ↑ Henriques, Martha (2020-06-12). "A frozen graveyard: The sad tales of Antarctica's deaths". BBC Home. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  21. ↑ New Zealand Herald: "Antarctica secret baby race" 10 Jan 2022
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