Antarctica: What Everyone Needs to Know®In this addition to the What Everyone Needs to Know® series, David Day examines the most forbidding and formidably inaccessible continent on Earth. For over a century following its discovery by European explorers in 1820, Antarctica played host to competing claims by rival nations vying for access to the frozen land's vast marine resources -- namely the skins and oils of seals and whales. Though the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 was meant to end this contention, countries have found other means of extending control over the land, with scientific bases establishing at least symbolic claims. Exploration and drilling by the United States, Great Britain, Russia, Japan, and others has led to discoveries about the world's climate in centuries past -- and in the process intimations of its alarming future. Delving into all the relevant issues -- the history of the continent, its wildlife, underwater mountain ranges, arguments over governance, and the continent's effect on global climate change -- Day's work sheds new light on a territory that, despite being the coldest, driest, and windiest continent in the world, will continue to be the object of intense speculation and competition. With new evidence that Antarctica's ice is melting three times faster than it was a decade ago, the need to understand the world's southernmost region has never been more pressing. |
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Contents
Overview | 1 |
1 First Contact | 3 |
2 The Race for Antarctica in the Twentieth Century | 33 |
3 Imperial Rivalry | 67 |
4 War on the Ice | 84 |
5 Science and Discovery | 103 |
6 Commercial Activity in Postwar Antarctica | 121 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Adélie Land aircraft allowed American Antarctic ice Antarctic Peninsula Antarctic Treaty Antarctic waters Arctic Argentina Argentinians ashore Australia Bellingshausen Britain Byrd Byrd’s caused CCAMLR century Chile coast coastline colonies continent continent’s decades Deception Island discovered discovery dogs Dumont d’Urville early East Antarctica empire ensured established expedition exploitation explorers factory ships fishing flag flight geographical German glaciers global warming ice cap ice sheet icebergs increased Japan killing krill Larsen Laurie Island maps marine Mawson melting meters million names nations North Pole Norwegian numbers ozone Pacific penguins photographs polar reach the South rivals Ross Ice Shelf Ross Sea Russian sailed satellites scientific scientists sea ice sea level sealers seals sector principle Shackleton shelves signatories sledges South Pole Southern Ocean square kilometers square miles station summer temperatures territorial claims tion toothfish tourists United vessel voyage Weddell Sea whale oil whaling fleet whaling ships Wilkes Wilkins Zealand
Bibliographic information
| Title | Antarctica: What Everyone Needs to Know® What Everyone Needs to Know |
| Author | David Day |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, 2019 |
| ISBN | 0190641320, 9780190641320 |
| Length | 216 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Expeditions & Discoveries History / Polar Regions SCIENCE / Earth Sciences / Geography Travel / Polar Regions |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |