What are we studying today?

Visiting Antarctica LO: to understand why people visit Antarctica and suggest how to limit their negative impact All of you will describe at least three reasons why people visit Antarctica – L4 Most of you will explain two positive and two negative effects of this tourism on Antarctica – L5 Some of you will be able to create a sustainable Antarctic tourism plan – L6

If you throw a mug of boiling hot water, it would freeze before it reached the ground!

98% of Antarctica is covered in ice, the other 2% is barren rock. As a result very few plants grow. Those that do, grow very slowly, around the coast e.g. moss, lichen, grass. Antarctica is a fragile environment and due to the climate any damage takes a long time to recover. A footprint in the ice can still be seen 10 years later.

Look at the next 6 slides and see if you can come up with any reasons why people might like to visit Antarctica. Want to travel to Antarctica? Antarctica in five minutes &gs_l=youtube-reduced j ac.1.m- x4fcbHmdM&safe=active

The South Pole!!

The Northern Lights

Albatross Nests and chicks

Killer Whales

Pendulum Cove - thermally heated water

Ice Climbing – Queen Maud Land

Tourists?

1.a. Think of 6 reasons why people might want to visit Antarctica? b. Do you want to visit Antarctica? What would you like to see or do there?

YES NO Do you think tourists should visit Antarctica? Why?

There are lots of effects of people visiting Antarctica. Some of these are good and some are bad. The cards give you some of these effects. Read through the cards. Which do you think are for tourism, which are against? Should Tourists be allowed to visit Antarctica?

2. What would each of these groups think about Antarctic tourism? a. Scientists b. Tourists c. Travel agents d. Antarctic wildlife

YES NO Do you agree with your previous decision? Do you think tourists should visit Antarctica?

Your task is to write a leaflet that a. Describes the current situation How many people visit and why? (is it a common place to visit?), How do they get there? And what do they do when they are there? b. Describes and explains the positive effects of Antarctic Tourism What good things happen as a result of tourists visiting? Don’t just describe the effect EXPLAIN how it links to tourism c. What the negative effects of Antarctic Tourism are What bad things happen as a result of tourists visiting? Don’t just describe the effect EXPLAIN how it links to tourism. d. What should happen in the future and why? Suggest ways that tourism could be managed so that the bad effects are reduced but the good effects still happen e.g. The number of tourists on the continent should be limited to 50 at a time. This would limit the noise they could create so wildlife would be less likely to move away from nesting sites.

1. Tourists who visit wear thick outdoor clothes. Often these can have pollen or seed on. In the past decade dandelions have been found in Antarctica. These are not natural to the area and could affect the food chain. 2. In ,000 people visited Antarctica. Of these 11,000 stayed on their cruise ship, the rest all either sailed small ships along the edge of the land or stepped on to the continent 3. If anything goes wrong it is incredibly difficult for people to be rescued. This can make a relatively simple issue e.g. appendicitis, very dangerous and life threatening. 4. Antarctica is a very good place to see the effects of climate change. If people see the effects of our lifestyle they might work harder to stop climate change. 5. Tourists want to visit the most beautiful, unspoilt areas with as much wildlife as possible. As a result the places they visit are the easiest to damage. 6. Studies have shown that penguin colonies that are visited by tourists have had a decline in their breeding rates. 7. The Antarctic is not as well mapped as much of the world and there have been quite a few cases of ships being grounded while visiting the area. In 2007 a tourist ship hit an iceberg and sank (all those on board escaped). 8. Many of the visitors to the region don’t set foot on the continent; they sail past on large cruise liners. These cruise ships use a lot of fuel and have a create a large risk of fuel leaks 9. In 1990 there were 2,500 recorded tourists in Antarctica, by 2000 the number had grown to 14,000 and in ,000 people visited. 10. Antarctic plants are rare. Lichen in the Antarctic can take up to 1000 years to grow. If people step on them they can be damaged or killed having a big effect on the continents food web tours each year visit Palmer Station, an Antarctic research base. These tours help fund the stations research into global warming and the Antarctic ecosystem. 12. Antarctic cruises can cost up to £15,000 and at any point during the tourist season (November to March) there can be up to ten ships on the Antarctic Peninsular. The industry creates a huge number of jobs across the world in the tourism industry.