A N TA R C T I C A

E N V I R O N M E N TA L I S S U E S

By: Molly O'Keefe

A B O U T A N TA R C T I C A
"Antarctica is certainly the most pristine place on earth

although it is not as unspoiled as may be imagined.

For more than a hundred years people have travelled
to Antarctica and most parts have now been visited.
More than just footprints have been left and more than
just photographs have been taken." Says people from
coolantarctica.com (website). Antarctica is a very
special and unique place, which is in great danger and
quite possibly being destroyed as we speak! But we
have the power to fix it, to help it, to make a change.

A N TA R C T I C
ANIMALS
In Antarctica some animals have

been taken to the verge of

extinction for economic benefit.
Others have been killed
incidentally, or from our own
actions such as the rubbish that
has been dumped into the sea,
in fact, some of the waste in the
ocean will not decompose and/
or break down for hundreds of
years. If you are interested in
travelling to Antarctica one day,
remember to take all your
rubbish back home, and never
leave any behind for animal
safety reasons.

T H E A N TA R C T I C T R E AT Y

The Antarctic Treaty was created to provide an agreement for the

future use and/ or care of Antarctica. Currently, 49 nations have

agreed to the Antarctic Treaty, but only 28 participate in the decision
making process. One issue in Antarctica is over-fishing, which takes
place in the southern ocean. This act threatens extinction of
commercially valuable fish that live in the Antarctic oceans. I wonder
what the Treaty parties can do to stop fishing by people from
countries that are not a part of the Antarctic Treaty system? If they
don't seem to be taking action anytime soon, maybe that means that
it's your turn to do something about it? You could make posters,
websites, speeches and so on to warn others about overfishing and
raise awareness for Antarctica.

GLOBAL WARMING
Global warming is a big issue in

Antarctica, as it is a place covered with

lots of beautiful icy landmarks, which
are being melted away as we speak.
Antarctica's clean air, water and ice are
all of importance to science for
understanding how the Earth's
environment is changing, which won't
be possible in a few years thanks to
global warming effects. If you would
like to help with this issue, you should
definitely try to ride a bike, or walk to
work/ school instead of driving, and
teach others about this problem. And
who knows, maybe those people will
stop driving as much too, and we can
make not just Antarctica, but the world
a better place.

Other than all these issues in Antarctica, overall, it is a

great place to visit. And who knows, maybe you could be
the one to help out with some of these environmental
issues? Any who, Antarctica is an extremely beautiful and
fun place to explore, with a few cheeky animals to play
with...

Credits/ bibliography:
C O O L A N TA R C T I C A . C O M
C L A S S R O O M . A N TA R C T I C A . G O V. A U
L O M O G R A P H Y. C O M
FLICKR.COM
COMMONS.M.WIKIMEDIA.ORG
P O L I T I C S PA . C O M
GIFSMILE.COM
GLEE.WIKIA.COM
D A I LY C A L L E R . C O M
USBORNE.COM

By: Molly O'Keefe