Antarctic History 1901-1999
In all parts of Antarctica, countries whose primary industry is whaling
, claimed large portions of land. The Peninsula is home to claims from Chile, Britain and Argentina. Other countries including New Zealand,, Norway and France have also staked claims on the continent.
Even Nazi Germany wanted to have a piece of the Antarctica pie when they planted stakes with 3rd Reich swastikas on them all over the frozen land. With the world pre-occupied by WWII, Antarcitica found itself alone except for the whalers who came to hunt the great animals. But, it wouldn't be long before heavenly happenings caused a scientific stir, prompting a mass return to The Ice.
Between 1957 and 1958, sunspot activity hit a peak that drove both scientists and governments around the globe to descend upond Antarctica where they could use its unique view of the southern hole in the Earth's magnetic field to study the earth as it was bombarded by solar radiation from sunspot activity. Over 60 different countries took part and set up camps all around Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty came about from the successful cooperation of all these countries for the purposes of scientific advancement.
In 1959, this treaty was ratified by nations that had specific investments in Antarctica. It made it so the Antarctica could only be used for positive ventures. The treaty specifically spelled out not allowing any destructive forces to be detonated on the continent, including banning nuke testing and exploding, as well as not allowing countries to dump their toxic waste onto it's barren landscape or waters. The only military actions allowed had to be related to science. Any claims from differing countries were set aside in the nature of cooperation.
This was a unusual example of cooperation during the Cold War, as all of the superpowers made no assertions of claims, and did not acknowledge any from their allies, other than to reserve their right to restate them in the future Because of this, this prevented other smaller governments from trying to create a fuss if they didn't get what they wanted.
By the time the 1960s and 70s rolled around, various industries and governments began expressing a desire for the possible gas, oil, and minerals that could be contained in or around Antarctica. There was a flurry of national bases erected, mainly on the peninsula and surrounding islands. Antarctica's summer population of approximately 5,000, largely due to the fact that it's only a three day cruise, dozens of science posts are home to most of these visitors.
By the end of the 1970s, bases from the US, Soviet Union, Britain, Italy and others propped up on King George Island, followed by more bases from China and South Korea in the 80's, among others. Even though these headquarters performed true scientific activities, they were also designed to establish claims in the name of those nations. They effectively gave themselves "squatter's rights" on behalf of their country.
In the 80's, however, science became the much more prevalent purpose of expeditions coming to Antarctica. In a manner similar to declaring the oceans international territory, the Antarctic has become a shared continent. It was at Britain's Halley Bay Antarctic Base that the hole in the Earth's ozone layer was first discovered, making it clear to man that industrial activity could cause damage to the atmosphere.
This discovery led to the 1987 internation agreement to eliminate ozone-destroying chemicals by the turn of the century. All of this information increased the value of having Antarctic science bases, along with discovering the "greenhouse" effects due to carbon emissions that have caused damage since the Industrial Age started. As the Greenpeace movement came into full swing in the 80's and whaling became reviled by countries worldwide, international bodies thought to ban the practice in the area. They thought to set Antarctica aside as a world-park.
The nations that participated in the Antarctic Treaty put forth a decree in 1991 that all gas and oil exploration would be stopped for the next half century, as well as mining; instead, the environment would be given higher priority. In today's world, Antarctica which once served as a staple for the Industrial Revolution, is assisting people around the world to understand how industrial developments have hurt Earth and its atmosphere. It is also helping to show the world how to prevent any environmental disasters.
by: Hazely Burns
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