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Antarctica News, Antarctica Continent News, Antarctic News

HavenWorks Antarctica: continent mostly south of the Antarctic Circle. Antarctic Circle: area approximately south of latitude 66°32'  south of the Equator. The Antarctic Circle is the southern area of Earth which experiences at least one day when the Sun does not rise or set. Antarctic Treaty: area of the world south of 60 degrees south latitude to 90 degrees south latitude. 90 degrees south latitude is the "South Pole," the southern end of Earth's rotational axis. Antarctica Continent: "Fifth-largest continent, following Asia, Africa, North America, and South America, but larger than Australia and the subcontinent of Europe." -Factbook

Antarctica, Antarctic ANTARCTICA News: 20080403 Global - Climate - Atmosphere - Science - Antarctic - Ice - History - UN - San Diego - California - Iowa - US - "Dust plays huge role in climate change: Tiny particles heat up the atmosphere faster than scientist once believed. The good news is this dust can be cleaned up fairly quickly." ... "Scientists know that dust affects climate. Tiny particles create veils that reflect sunlight and cool the atmosphere. Dark particles absorb sunshine and warm things up. But as scientists look deeper into the dust-climate connection, they find that they have underestimated its importance." ... "Research published April 3 in Nature reveals the tight linkage between atmospheric dust flows and Antarctic temperatures during ice ages over the past 800,000 years. A research review published March 23 in Nature Geoscience online shows that black carbon particles in the atmosphere have a more powerful global-warming effect than any of the greenhouse gases except carbon dioxide. And these particles are 60 percent as effective as CO2 itself. That's far more powerful than the estimate in last year's report of the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)." ... "The good news is that black carbon particles such as diesel soot or wood-stove smoke only stay airborne for weeks. (It takes a century to get rid of today's CO2 emissions.) This fact offers an opportunity for instant payback, say study authors V. Ramanathan at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego [California] and Gregory Carmichael at the University of Iowa in Iowa City [Iowa]. In an announcement from Scripps, the authors note that commercially available technologies exist to cut back soot emissions substantially. Using them would rapidly reduce black-carbon warming. " -By Robert C. Cowen -CSMonitor  20080326 Antarctic - Ice - History - Global - Climate - Science - Space - Cameras - "Chunk of Antarctic ice shelf collapses, putting larger area at risk: Rapid melting on Wilkins Shelf is attributed to global warming." ... "A chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan [island borough of New York City, New York] has collapsed, scientists said Tuesday, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk." ... "Satellite images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western Antarctica that started Feb. 28. It was the edge of the Wilkins Ice Shelf and had been there for perhaps 1,500 years." ... "British Antarctic Survey scientist David Vaughan attributed the melting to rising sea temperature due to global warming." ... "Because scientists noticed satellite images of the event within hours of its start, they diverted satellite cameras and flew an airplane over the ongoing collapse to capture rare photos and video." -AP via -LAtimes 20080114 Global - Climate - Wind - Earth's - Ice - Science - "Escalating Ice Loss Found in Antarctica: Sheets Melting in an Area Once Thought to Be Unaffected by Global Warming." ... "Climatic changes appear to be destabilizing vast ice sheets of western Antarctica that had previously seemed relatively protected from global warming, researchers reported yesterday, raising the prospect of faster sea-level rise than current estimates." ... "While the overall loss is a tiny fraction of the miles-deep ice that covers much of Antarctica, scientists said the new finding is important because the continent holds about 90 percent of Earth's ice, and until now, large-scale ice loss there had been limited to the peninsula that juts out toward the tip of South America. In addition, researchers found that the rate of ice loss in the affected areas has accelerated over the past 10 years -- as it has on most glaciers and ice sheets around the world." ... ""Without doubt, Antarctica as a whole is now losing ice yearly, and each year it's losing more," said Eric Rignot, lead author of a paper published online in the journal Nature Geoscience." ... "The Antarctic ice sheet is shrinking despite land temperatures for the continent remaining essentially unchanged, except for the fast-warming peninsula." ... "The cause, Rignot said, may be changes in the flow of the warmer water of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that circles much of the continent. Because of changed wind patterns and less-well-understood dynamics of the submerged current, its water is coming closer to land in some sectors and melting the edges of glaciers deep underwater." (1, 2) -By Marc Kaufman -WashingtonPost 20060727 Global - Climate - Science - Earth - Ecosystem - History - "Cold, Hard Facts." ... "My research colleagues and I found that from 1986 to 2000, one small, ice-free area of the Antarctic mainland had actually cooled. Our report also analyzed temperatures for the mainland in such a way as to remove the influence of the peninsula warming and found that, from 1966 to 2000, more of the continent had cooled than had warmed. Our summary statement pointed out how the cooling trend posed challenges to models of Antarctic climate and ecosystem change." ... "Newspaper and television reports focused on this part of the paper. And many news and opinion writers linked our study with another bit of polar research published that month, in Science, showing that part of Antarctica’s ice sheet had been thickening — and erroneously concluded that the earth was not warming at all. “Scientific findings run counter to theory of global warming,” said a headline on an editorial in The San Diego Union-Tribune. One conservative commentator wrote, “It’s ironic that two studies suggesting that a new Ice Age may be under way may end the global warming debate.”" ... "In a rebuttal in The Providence Journal, in Rhode Island, the lead author of the Science paper and I explained that our studies offered no evidence that the earth was cooling. But the misinterpretation had already become legend, and in the four and half years since, it has only grown." ... "In the meantime, I would like to remove my name from the list of scientists who dispute global warming. I know my coauthors would as well." -By Peter Doran ["Peter Doran is an associate professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago."] -NYTimes 20060319 Government - Climate - Fuel -Air - Ice - Environment - Science - Politics - "Rewriting The Science." ... "As a government scientist, James Hansen is taking a risk. He says there are things the White House doesn't want you to hear but he's going to say them anyway." ... "Hansen is arguably the world's leading researcher on global warming. He's the head of NASA's top institute studying the climate. But this imminent scientist tells correspondent Scott Pelley that the Bush administration is restricting who he can talk to and editing what he can say. Politicians, he says, are rewriting the science." ... "Asked if he believes the administration is censoring what he can say to the public, Hansen says: "Or they're censoring whether or not I can say it. I mean, I say what I believe if I'm allowed to say it."" ... "What James Hansen believes is that global warming is accelerating. He points to the melting arctic and to Antarctica, where new data show massive losses of ice to the sea." ... "Those human changes, he says, are driven by burning fossil fuels that pump out greenhouse gases like CO2, carbon dioxide. Hansen says his research shows that man has just 10 years to reduce greenhouse gases before global warming reaches what he calls a tipping point and becomes unstoppable. He says the White House is blocking that message." (1, 2, 3) -Produced By Catherine Herrick and Bill Owens-60 Minutes -CBSNews 20051124 World - Climate - Air - Ice - Science - History - "Greenhouse-gas levels highest for 650,000 years: Climate record highlights extent of man-made change." ... "Current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are higher than at any time in the past 650,000 years, say researchers who have finished cataloguing air bubbles trapped for millennia inside Antarctic ice. The record, which extends back over the past eight ice ages, shows that today's concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane far outstrip those in the past." ... "The researchers studied air bubbles preserved in ice drilled from the Antarctic ice sheet as part of the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA). The ice core represents a logbook of the state of the world's climate [...] and goes back 210,000 years further than previous records." -By Michael Hopkin -Nature 20030214 -  -  - "World Starts Marching Against War in Iraq." ... "Millions of people are expected to take to the streets of towns and cities across the globe at the weekend to demonstrate against a looming U.S.-led war on Iraq in the biggest peace protests since the Vietnam war." ... "In the Australian city of Melbourne 100,000 people kicked off the global series of demonstrations which will spread to some 600 towns and cities stretching from Antarctica to Iceland." -By Jeremy Lovell -Reuters via  -ABCNEWS.com 20020124 "Scientists discover Antarctic lakes warming faster than air." -By Lauran Neergaard -AP via  -NandoTimes

Antarctica Websites CIA World Factbook: "Antarctica." usarc.usgs.gov USAP.gov >Photo Library UTLOL / PCL Maps "Antarctic Region Maps" Lonely Planet "Antarctica Map."  <Antarctica> in: <Answers.com> <Bartleby.com> <Britannica.com> <Columbia> <Encyclopedia.com> <Infoplease.com> <Antarctic> in: <Answers.com> <Bartleby.com> <Britannica.com> <Columbia> <Encyclopedia.com> <Infoplease.com> "Destination Antarctica." -Lonely Planet  Antarctic Circle Solstice: During the winter solstice (in the Southern Hemisphere either June 21st or 22nd) the Sun does not rise for at least one day in the Antarctic Circle. During the summer solstice (in the Southern Hemisphere either December 21st or 22nd) the Sun does not set for at least one day in the Antarctic Circle.

Antarctica News Sources: Economist.com   Search Antarctica News: News Search <Antarctica> in: <AllTheWeb-[News]> <AltaVista-[News]> <Google-[News]> <MSN-[News]> <RocketNews> Specialty search: <Google's U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil>  Search: <Antarctica News> in: <Google> <MSN> <Yahoo> Search Antarctic News: News Search <Antarctic> in: <AllTheWeb-[News]> <AltaVista-[News]> <Google-[News]> <MSN-[News]> <RocketNews> Specialty search: <Google's U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil>  Search: <Antarctic News> in: <Google> <MSN> <Yahoo> Antarctic & Antarctica Brought to you by the alphabet letter A A ;-)

HavenWorks.com/world/antarctica/#weblog - # Antarctic Treaty

•  http://nsidc.org/agdc - The National Snow and Ice Data Center / Antarctic Glaciological Data Center\
•  http://nsidc.org/data/agdc_investigators.html
•  http://www.Antarctica.ac.uk - British Antarctic Survey (BAS) -> http://www.BAS.ac.uk
•  http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/press_releases.php

• usarc.usgs.gov - United States Antarctic Resource Center - United States Geological Survey - GOV - US Government website
• USAP.gov - United States Antarctic Program

From the World Factbook (2008):
• Country name:
• conventional long form: none
• conventional short form: Antarctica
History
• Antarctica Background: "Speculation over the existence of a "southern land" was not confirmed until the early 1820s when British and American commercial operators and British and Russian national expeditions began exploring the Antarctic Peninsula region and other areas south of the Antarctic Circle. Not until 1840 was it established that Antarctica was indeed a continent and not just a group of islands. Several exploration "firsts" were achieved in the early 20th century. Following World War II, there was an upsurge in scientific research on the continent. A number of countries have set up year-round research stations on Antarctica. Seven have made territorial claims, but not all countries recognize these claims. In order to form a legal framework for the activities of nations on the continent, an Antarctic Treaty was negotiated that neither denies nor gives recognition to existing territorial claims; signed in 1959, it entered into force in 1961."

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  People
• Antarctica Population: "no indigenous inhabitants, but there are both permanent and summer-only staffed research stations." ... "note: 28 nations, all signatory to the Antarctic Treaty, operate through their National Antarctic Program a number of seasonal-only (summer) and year-round research stations on the continent and its nearby islands south of 60 degrees south latitude (the region covered by the Antarctic Treaty); these stations' population of persons doing and supporting science or engaged in the management and protection of the Antarctic region varies from approximately 4,000 in summer to 1,000 in winter; in addition, approximately 1,000 personnel, including ship's crew and scientists doing onboard research, are present in the waters of the treaty region; peak summer (December-February) population - 3,944 total; Argentina 417, Australia 200, Brazil 40, Bulgaria 15, Chile 224, China 70, Czech Republic 20, Ecuador 26, Finland 20, France 122, Germany 78, India 65, Italy 113, Japan 125, South Korea 60, NZ 85, Norway 44, Peru 28, Poland 40, Romania 13, Russia 429, South Africa 80, Spain 28, Sweden 20, Ukraine 24, UK 205, US 1,293, Uruguay 60 (2006-2007); winter (June-August) station population - 1,077 total; Argentina 176, Australia 62, Brazil 12, Chile 88, China 29, France 37, Germany 9, India 25, Italy 2, Japan 40, South Korea 15, NZ 10, Norway 7, Poland 12, Russia 148, South Africa 10, Ukraine 12, UK 37, US 337, Uruguay 9 (2006); research stations operated within the Antarctic Treaty area (south of 60 degrees south latitude) by National Antarctic Programs: year-round stations - 37 total; Argentina 6, Australia 3, Brazil 1, Chile 3, China 2, France 1, Germany 1, India 1, Japan 1, South Korea 1, NZ 1, Norway 1, Poland 1, Russia 5, South Africa 1, Ukraine 1, UK 2, US 3, Uruguay 1, Italy and France jointly 1 (2005); seasonal-only (summer) stations - 16 total; Bulgaria 1, Chile 1, Czech Republic 1, Ecuador 1, Finland 1, Germany 1, Italy 1, Japan 1, Norway 1, Peru 1, Romania 1, Russia 1, Spain 2, Sweden 1, UK 1 (2006-2007); in addition, during the austral summer some nations have numerous occupied locations such as tent camps, summer-long temporary facilities, and mobile traverses in support of research (July 2007 est.) 

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  Water - Australia - Chile - Argentina
• Antarctica Maritime claims: "Australia, Chile, and Argentina claim Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) rights or similar over 200 nm [nautical miles] extensions seaward from their continental claims, but like the claims themselves, these zones are not accepted by other countries; 21 of 28 Antarctic consultative nations have made no claims to Antarctic territory (although Russia and the US have reserved the right to do so) and do not recognize the claims of the other nations."

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  Climate
• Antarctica Climate: "severe low temperatures vary with latitude, elevation, and distance from the ocean; East Antarctica is colder than West Antarctica because of its higher elevation; Antarctic Peninsula has the most moderate climate; higher temperatures occur in January along the coast and average slightly below freezing."

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  Geography
• Antarctica Terrain: "about 98% thick continental ice sheet and 2% barren rock, with average elevations between 2,000 and 4,000 meters; mountain ranges up to nearly 5,000 meters; ice-free coastal areas include parts of southern Victoria Land, Wilkes Land, the Antarctic Peninsula area, and parts of Ross Island on McMurdo Sound; glaciers form ice shelves along about half of the coastline, and floating ice shelves constitute 11% of the area of the continent."
• Antarctica Geography: "the coldest, windiest, highest (on average), and driest continent; during summer, more solar radiation reaches the surface at the South Pole than is received at the Equator in an equivalent period; mostly uninhabitable."

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  Environmental
• Antarctica Environmental Issues: "in 1998, NASA satellite data showed that the Antarctic ozone hole was the largest on record, covering 27 million square kilometers; researchers in 1997 found that increased ultraviolet light passing through the hole damages the DNA of icefish, an Antarctic fish lacking hemoglobin; ozone depletion earlier was shown to harm one-celled Antarctic marine plants; in 2002, significant areas of ice shelves disintegrated in response to regional warming."

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  Economy
• Antarctica Economy: "Fishing off the coast and tourism, both based abroad, account for Antarctica's limited economic activity. Antarctic fisheries in 2004-05 (1 July-30 June) reported landing 147,000 metric tons (estimated fishing from the area covered by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which extends slightly beyond the Antarctic Treaty area). Unregulated fishing, particularly of Patagonian toothfish, is a serious problem. The CCAMLR determines the recommended catch limits for marine species. A total of 26,245 tourists visited in the 2005-06 Antarctic summer, up from the 22,712 visitors the previous year. Nearly all of them were passengers on commercial (nongovernmental) ships and several yachts that make trips during the summer. Most tourist trips last approximately two weeks."

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  International - Land - Water - Politics - Argentina - Australia - Chile - France - NZ: New Zealand - Norway - UK: United Kingdom - US: United States - Russia
• Antarctica International Disputes: "Antarctic Treaty freezes claims (see Antarctic Treaty Summary in Government type entry); Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ [New Zealand], Norway, and UK [United Kingdom] claim land and maritime sectors (some overlapping) for a large portion of the continent; the US and many other states do not recognize these territorial claims and have made no claims themselves (the US [United States] and Russia reserve the right to do so); no claims have been made in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west."

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HavenWorks.com/world/antarctica//#Treaty

- Antarctic Treaty Summary

Government
• Antarctica Government type: "Antarctic Treaty Summary - the Antarctic Treaty, signed on 1 December 1959 and entered into force on 23 June 1961, establishes the legal framework for the management of Antarctica; the 29th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting was held in Edinburgh, UK in June 2006; at these periodic meetings, decisions are made by consensus (not by vote) of all consultative member nations; at the end of 2006, there were 46 treaty member nations: 28 consultative and 18 non-consultative; consultative (decision-making) members include the seven nations that claim portions of Antarctica as national territory (some claims overlap) and 21 non-claimant nations; the US and Russia have reserved the right to make claims; the US does not recognize the claims of others; Antarctica is administered through meetings of the consultative member nations; decisions from these meetings are carried out by these member nations (with respect to their own nationals and operations) in accordance with their own national laws; the years in parentheses indicate when a consultative member-nation acceded to the Treaty and when it was accepted as a consultative member, while no date indicates the country was an original 1959 treaty signatory; claimant nations are - Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and the UK. Nonclaimant consultative nations are - Belgium, Brazil (1975/1983), Bulgaria (1978/1998) China (1983/1985), Ecuador (1987/1990), Finland (1984/1989), Germany (1979/1981), India (1983/1983), Italy (1981/1987), Japan, South Korea (1986/1989), Netherlands (1967/1990), Peru (1981/1989), Poland (1961/1977), Russia, South Africa, Spain (1982/1988), Sweden (1984/1988), Ukraine (1992/2004), Uruguay (1980/1985), and the US; non-consultative members, with year of accession in parentheses, are - Austria (1987), Belarus (2006), Canada (1988), Colombia (1989), Cuba (1984), Czech Republic (1962/1993), Denmark (1965), Estonia (2001), Greece (1987), Guatemala (1991), Hungary (1984), North Korea (1987), Papua New Guinea (1981), Romania (1971), Slovakia (1962/1993), Switzerland (1990), Turkey (1996), and Venezuela (1999); note - Czechoslovakia acceded to the Treaty in 1962 and separated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993; Article 1 - area to be used for peaceful purposes only; military activity, such as weapons testing, is prohibited, but military personnel and equipment may be used for scientific research or any other peaceful purpose; Article 2 - freedom of scientific investigation and cooperation shall continue; Article 3 - free exchange of information and personnel, cooperation with the UN and other international agencies; Article 4 - does not recognize, dispute, or establish territorial claims and no new claims shall be asserted while the treaty is in force; Article 5 - prohibits nuclear explosions or disposal of radioactive wastes; Article 6 - includes under the treaty all land and ice shelves south of 60 degrees 00 minutes south and reserves high seas rights; Article 7 - treaty-state observers have free access, including aerial observation, to any area and may inspect all stations, installations, and equipment; advance notice of all expeditions and of the introduction of military personnel must be given; Article 8 - allows for jurisdiction over observers and scientists by their own states; Article 9 - frequent consultative meetings take place among member nations; Article 10 - treaty states will discourage activities by any country in Antarctica that are contrary to the treaty; Article 11 - disputes to be settled peacefully by the parties concerned or, ultimately, by the ICJ; Articles 12, 13, 14 - deal with upholding, interpreting, and amending the treaty among involved nations; other agreements - some 200 recommendations adopted at treaty consultative meetings and ratified by governments include - Agreed Measures for Fauna and Flora (1964) which were later incorporated into the Environmental Protocol; Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (1972); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (1980); a mineral resources agreement was signed in 1988 but remains unratified; the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was signed 4 October 1991 and entered into force 14 January 1998; this agreement provides for the protection of the Antarctic environment through six specific annexes: 1) environmental impact assessment, 2) conservation of Antarctic fauna and flora, 3) waste disposal and waste management, 4) prevention of marine pollution, 5) area protection and management and 6) liability arising from environmental emergencies; it prohibits all activities relating to mineral resources except scientific research; a permanent Antarctic Treaty Secretariat was established in 2004 in Buenos Aires, Argentina." -From the World Factbook (2008)

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"Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, harshest continent, and with little precipitation (roughly 2in per year) is the driest place on earth. It is roughly 14 million sq km (5.4 million sq mi), has an average elevation of more than 2,000 m (6,500 ft), and 98% of the landmass is covered by an ice sheet estimated to be 29 million cu km (7 million cu mi)." ... "The average annual temperature at South Pole Station is -56°F. During the austral summer, temperatures at McMurdo Station may reach as high as 50°F, while at South Pole Station the summer temperature may reach 0°F. Palmer Station has a milder climate, with summer temperatures reaching as high as 55°F." ... "Temperature patterns vary so widely because the continent is covered in continuous darkness during the austral winter and continuous sunlight during the austral summer, with a few weeks of sunrises and sunsets in between seasons." ... "Plant life in Antarctica is limited, consisting of mostly algae, lichens, and mosses, and there are only a few known species of flowering plants. As far as animal life, only microscopic animals (such as mites and worms) and insects exist on the land; however, the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica is full of sea life, including phytoplankton, zooplankton, fish, squid, seals, whales, and seabirds." - via: http://www.usap.gov/abouttheContinent/

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