Throughout Antarctica, nations with economies that were dependent on whaling claimed ownership of large parts of the continent.On the Peninsula, three nations claims overlie each other. Making the Peninsula shared by Britain, Argentina, and Chile.Other countries that have claims to this area include France, New Zealand, Norway and Australia.
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.With the world pre-occupied by WWII, Antarcitica found itself alone except for the whalers who came to hunt the great animals.But, it wouldn’t be long before heavenly happenings caused a scientific stir, prompting a mass return to The Ice.
The celestial event was the peak of sunspot activity in 1957-1958. This International Geophysical Year is marked by increased interest by scientist and governments around the globe exploring Antarctica because of its one of a kind view of the southern hole in the Earth’s magnetic field. The wanted to be able to see how the barrage of solar radiation affected the continent.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.travel to antarctica
All of the countries possessing a key interest in Antarctica signed the treaty in 1959, setting aside this continent to be used for peaceful purposes only.This treaty protects the land physically by banning nuclear testing or explosions, as well as any dumping of radioactive waste.The only reason military activities were to be allowed on the continent was in the logistic support of science.The conflicting territorial claims between countries were set aside in the interest of preserving the continent.
The superpowers of this era did not step forward to assert claims or otherwise interfere, although they did reservce the right to make claims in the future.In one fell swoop, no country could stake any more claims to the continent.trips to antarctica
The minerals, gas, and oil that was thought to lie in and off the shores of Antarctica became attractive during the 1960’s and ’70’s.There was a flurry of national bases erected, mainly on the peninsula and surrounding islands. Antarctica’s summer population of approximately 5,000, largely due to the fact that it’s only a three day cruise, dozens of science posts are home to most of these visitors.
King George Island became home to bases for Poland, Argentina, Chile, Italy, Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and in the 1980’s South Korea, Brazil, China, Uruguay, and Peru followed suit.Not only were these bases the site of scientific experiments, but they also served as political markers, similar to the swastika stakes dropped by Nazi Germany in 1940.In other words the bases also allowed each country to create “squatters rights.”
Things began to change in the late 80’s though. More people became aware of the exploitation of the area and tried to preserve what was left.Antarctica is in the process of becoming the jointly-owned property of the entire planet, similar to the political definitions of ocean ownership.At this time, a hole in the Earth’s atmosphere was discovered. British scientists at the Halley Bay Antarctic base found that due to the industrial advances most super powers had made caused a hole in the Earth’s atmosphere which allowed harmful UV rays in.
In 1987, this discovery spurred an international decree that the end of the 20th century would see the end of chemical usage that damaged the ozone.It also showed how important Antarctic science bases were. The bases are still used for measuring how carbon emissions are causing the “greenhouse” effect which began with the start of the Industrial Age.The Green movement was largely responsible for rejection of whaling in the 1980’s and protection of the continent.
The Antarctic Treaty nations came to an agreement by 1991 to stop all gas and oil exploration, along with mining and irreversible exploitation of the continent for 50 years or so, as well as bringing environmental concerns to scientific levels of importance.Antarctica is important today as it was during it’s hey-day because instead of being exploited and ruined in the name of wealth and greed, it’s teaching us how those very things that marked progress are creating a very unstable world. Hopefully, through the studies conducted we will be able to learn how to reverse some of those issues and challenges we will face in the future.
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