1. The World’s Great Scientific Wilderness (Antarctica)

2. General Knowledge: Antarctic continent
Coldest, driest, windiest, highest, and least accessible continent
Winter population 1000 people, 10,000 in summer
10,000 tourists visit for a few days in summer
Ice covered for the last 25 million years
Less than 1% of continent is ice free
Once the home of dinosaurs, trees and plants

3. General Antarctic Info
The Antarctic is the most rigorously protected region of the world
The protection is legally backed
International inspection teams monitor compliance with the Antarctic Treaty
Man’s footprint on Antarctica is practically invisible
More “pollution” enters the region through the atmosphere than is generated there

4. Misconceptions about the Antarctic
The Antarctic Treaty will expire
Mining is only banned for 50 years
Developers are working on plans for Antarctica
The Antarctic has been polluted by workers and scientists
Penguins fall over backwards when planes fly overhead!

5. Antarctica: surrounded by ocean
50 million seals & 15 million penguins call this ocean home
Regional fishery: Many countries commercially fish the Southern Ocean
History of over-exploitation by the commercial fisheries
Fishery for krill and fish regulated by science-backed international body under Antarctic Treaty
Pirate fishing is common

6. Imortant Antarctic discoveries
Destruction of the ozone layer was first observed at the South Pole
Ice cores show a 400,000 year link between greenhouse gases and climate
Ice cores record the global impact of the Industrial Revolution
Lakes discovered beneath the Antarctic ice sheet are believed to contain life forms millions of years old

7. Antarctic Impacts Antarctic is interconnected with the whole Earth
Antarctic studies are essential to understanding global weather, climate,
Climate feedbacks involving ice, snow, sea ice and ocean currents provide the greatest challenges in predicting the future

8. The Antarctic Treaty
Antarctica is “a natural reserve devoted to peace and science”
The Antarctic Treaty manages the region’s wildlife
Mining is forbidden
The Treaty runs indefinitely
Forty-four countries have acceded to the Antarctic Treaty (80% of the world population)
All 44 countries have to agree to Treaty revisions

9. Polar Differences - The Arctic
The Arctic has cities, towns and universities
Indigenous poeples share the region with new settlers
Arctic land is under the jurisdiction of a sovereign nations
Scientists regularly work in the Arctic
There is far more science activity in the Arctic as compared to the Antarctic