Category: Advent Calendar Dec 2019

An outline summary of the 14 articles of the Antarctic Treaty:

1. No military use shall be made of Antarctica, though military personnel and equipment may be used for peaceful purposes.
2. There will be complete freedom of scientific investigation.
3. Antarctic Treaty Nations will exchange plans for their scientific programmes, scientific data will be freely available and scientists will be exchanged between expeditions where practical.
4. All territorial claims are put aside for the duration of the Treaty. No activities under the Treaty will affect claims to sovereignty of any part of Antarctica made by any nation.
5. Nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal are banned from Antarctica.
6. The Treaty applies to all land and ice shelves south of 60° South, but not to the seas.
7. All Antarctic stations and all ships and aircraft supplying Antarctica shall be open to inspectors from any Treaty nation.
8. Observers and exchange scientists shall be under the jurisdiction of their own country regardless of which national station they may visit. National laws do not apply to stations or areas, but only to the citizens of those countries.
9. Treaty nations will meet to consider ways of furthering the principles and objectives of the Treaty. Attendance at these meetings shall be limited to those countries that are engaged in substantial scientific research activity in Antarctica. Unanimous approval will be necessary for any new measures to become effective (i.e. everyone has to agree).
10. All Treaty Nations will try to ensure that no one carries out any activity in Antarctica that is against the Treaty.
11. Any dispute by Treaty Nations, if not settled by agreement, shall be determined by the International Court of Justice.
12. The Treaty may be modified at any time by unanimous agreement. After 30 years any consultative Party may call for a conference to review the operation of the Treaty. The Treaty may be modified at this conference by a majority decision.
13. The Treaty must be legally ratified (agreed to) by any nation wishing to join. Any member of the United Nations may join as well as any other country invited to do so by the Treaty Nations. All notices and records are deposited with the Archives of the United States of America.
14. The Treaty translated into English, French, Russian and Spanish was signed on 1st December 1959 by 12 states and entered into force on 23rd of June 1961.

(Source: https://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/science/antarctic_treaty_summary.php)

More facts about the Antarctic Treaty: http://blogs.sun.ac.za/antarcticlegacy/wp-content/blogs.dir/189/files/2015/10/Facts-about-the-Antarctic-Treaty.pdf

Twelve months of the year below zero!

At the South Pole, 2,800 meters (9,200 feet) above sea level, the average annual temperature is -49 °C (-56 °F), ranging from about -28 °C (-18 °F) in January to about -59.5 °C (-74.5 °F) in July. The lowest recorded temperature is -83 °C (-117 °F), while the highest is -12 °C (10 °F).

Here are the average temperatures of the South Pole (Amundsen–Scott Station) for the twelve months of the year…

(Source: https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/antarctica)

According to CBS news the Antarctic ice sheet is melting 6 times faster than in 1979…

The Arctic vs Antarctica: 5 differences between these two frozen lands:

https://en.ponant.com/differences-arctic-antarctica/

And an associated TED Education Video…