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The frozen continent of Antarctica, larger than the United States and Mexico, the last undisturbed wilderness on Earth, is in danger. So far the vast area of ice and rock has remained relatively untouched by our civilization. Because the continent holds 70% of the world’s fresh water supply and the Southern Pacific serves as a regulator of ocean temperatures and a balanced climate, Antarctica’s future is important for us all. Now, however, man’s never-ending desire for minerals threatens Antarctica’s ecosystem.
Greenpeace believes that the Antarctic should remain a zone of peace, free of nuclear weapons and, indeed, of all military activity. It should remain a zone of cooperation between scientists of all nations. Greenpeace wants a ban on drilling and mining. It wants Antarctica to be a “world park” and a permanent wildlife sanctuary.
In 1959 all military activity in Antarctica was banned: but how long will the continent remain peaceful if minerals are found there? In June 1988, 33 nations signed a treaty in New Zealand on how to exploit and divide up the region’s oil, gas, platinum, chromium and other metals. Several countries including the USA and Japan have already begun to carry out intensive scientific research into the area‘s mineral resources.
If oil is drilled for, it will be the beginning of the end of the last peaceful wildness on this planet. The effect of a single tanker oil spill or oil-well blowout in the Antarctic would be the disaster. If a blowout happened as winter was setting on Antarctica, the darkness and blinding winds might make any kind of help impossible for six months. Wildlife in Antarctica is more endangered that wildlife in any other area, because nearly all Antarctic animals live in or by the sea. Penguins and seal colonies would suffer badly as the oil would destroy their feather and fur.
Since 1969 fish in the southern ocean have been heavily exploited with the result that several species have nearly died out. Fishing for the shrimp-like krill has begun and over the last few years the number of krill has already dropped by 60%.
Greenpeace has hopes for a different future for Antarctica. After years of protesting Greenpeace organized its own expedition to the Antarctic. In 1985-86 the crew of the Greenpeace found a base for a team of four “over-winterers”. Then in 1986-87 the ship returned and Greenpeace built the first non-government base on the continent at Cape Evans, Rose Island. On February 1, 1987, Greenpeace raised the World Park Antarctica Flag near the point where the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen has begun his journey to the South Pole in 1911. Four volunteers then spent the six months Antarctic winter there watching the activities of nearby bases and doing research work. They studied ice condition, Antarctic biology and filmed the region. One of their tasks was to keep an eye over the waste dumped by the neighboring bases. In the Antarctic even waste that does not cause pollution remains for a long time, preserved by the low temperatures. During one of their expeditions they found rubbish – boxes, straw, glass, wire, etc. – that had been left on the ice by Sir Robert Scott and his men when they left their hut in 1912!
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