What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Antarctica? Scenes of white snow sheets covering every inch your eye can view, penguins shuffling up and down, and a peaceful silence. What you don’t imagine is human beings. However, despite what our imagination tells us, human beings have worked hard to make Antarctica another place for tourism, with approximately 170,000 visitors just from affluent countries each season.
The Attractions
When we discuss tourism in Antarctica, the question of ‘What could you even do in the snow desert?’ arises. The answer might astound you but there are quite a lot of scenic beauties that you can indulge in. Of course, these do not include the luxuries of a five-star resort, but Antarctica offers discovering a plethora of animals such as penguins, dolphins, whales, etc in their natural habitats. Along with this, there is the active volcano of Neptune Bellow, sheer cliffs of Kodak Gap, and heritage sites such as Port Lockroy- none of which would have a parallel in the habited world.
Antarctica, the Mystique
Antarctica might be a beautiful, intriguing and exciting place to be in, but that’s only because of the mystery it holds. If we remove the thrill of the “unknown” from it, the only thing that makes Antarctica oh, so special would be its mineral resources. This ‘no-man’s land’ is home to some of the biggest mineral reservoirs in the world, including those of manganese, coal, natural gas and petroleum. It also provides us with a number of glaciers and pure water sources. However, due to our curiosity of visiting Antarctica, we are losing many of these riches to pollution and global warming.
Climate Change
Travellers like Stephen Kohn, who is also a reporter with a travel magazine, say that visiting Antarctica gives them a new perspective on the environment and climate change. They feel further aware of the situation around them and how they are contributing to it. Although visiting Antarctica will not open your eyes instantly to the rapidly melting glaciers, or the dying wildlife, as none of that happens in the short time you are there, yet you understand the ecosystem and come to appreciate it.
Irony of the Scientists
In 1991 and 1995, the Antarctic Treaty and Protocol of Environmental Protection were established respectively. Through these, it was made clear that Antarctica would belong to no government, and would not be used for military or mining purposes. However, a scientific preserve was established to continue research. There is no doubt that this research plays a huge role in furthering our knowledge of penguins, whales, glaciers, the South Pole, and climate change. However, it is ironic that the people working to protect Antarctica are themselves ruining it by spewing toxic materials in the pure water, usage of plastics, and emission of greenhouse gases due to the use of heaters, machinery and many more research equipment.
All this really makes it impossible to ignore the fact that this unparalleled feat of exploring Antarctica does not hold enough substantial purpose. In fact, it shall ruin the one part of the globe that was away from human exploitation. The white sheets of snow, the waddling penguins and the ubiquitous silence- it is high time that we stopped and thought- In the guise of unearthing the wonders of the world, are we robbing the earth of them?
Writer : Kriti Gupta
Grade : 11 (Year 2023)
Place : Ambala, India
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