What Is It About Antarcticas Geography That Makes It One-of-a-kind And Important?
By Advisor. Filed in Florida |
Antarctica is bigger than or Europe and comprises roughly 10% of the Earth’s land mass.Antarctica is both vast and forbidding with temperatures as low as minus 89 degrees and wind speeds up to 192 mph.This body of land is encircled by the Southern Ocean, which is comprised of the southernmost waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The seas are blessed with the richest concentration of nutrition in the universe, sufficient to feed numerous whales, fish, etc.Trapped beneath the large ice shelves, micro organisms, also more commonly known as krill, multiply.Krill is the primary diet of baleen whales, seals and penguins, and is even used in Japan as a food source for humans.antarctica travel experience
The animals residing in Antarctica are well adapted to the cold, dry and windy conditions.Antarctica’s average elevation is the highest of all the continents but has an annual precipitation of only 200mm concentrated mainly on the coastline.Seals, penguins, tundra vegetation and many types of algae are examples of plants and animals that have adapted to the cold environment of Antarctica.
However, Antarctica has a very special and very special natural feature that makes it important to each and every one of us.The greenhouse effect, however, is more advanced at the poles because the cold makes the molecules which make up our atmosphere heavier and more concentrated.Likewise, the absorption of the sun’s radiant energy is more concentrated at the poles, warming the earth’s surface.
The atmosphere contains nearly 79 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen.Lesser amounts of methane and carbon dioxide are also there.As these water vapors and other gases soak up the planet’s radiation, they are heated.This is essentially how the greenhouse effect works.antarctica vacation
Because of a phenomena known as the “slingshot effect”, carbon dioxide and methane accumulate more rapidly at the poles than they do in temperate regions.The overall temperature increase in Antarctica is 4 to 5 times greater than that of other areas which provides scientists with opportunities to study the greenhouse effect.
The ice covering Antarctica is nearly 3 miles thick.This tremendous thickness is a build up of snow accumulated over many centuries.Ancient ice preserves air bubbles that contain atomic isotopes from ages past and these can be studies by modern scientists.
The release of refrigerants and CFC’s into the air is causing the well-known hole in the atmosphere’s ozone layer.These refrigerants combine poorly with ozone.Big chunks of the ice layers have split or sever thanks to the warming effect.
These shelves, once separated, will gradually head in a northerly direction and melt away.This causes sea levels to rise. Not to mention the krill loose their food source and habitat for reproduction.
The seas will rise approximately 180 feet or more when the ice shelves from Antarctica all split off and thaw.This could send rising to the 20th floor of skyscrapers in New York City! Whole countries close enough to sea level may vanish, places like the archipelagos of the South Pacific and Bangladesh.
Those who have made the trip to Antartica testify that the continent is totally stunning to look at. The wildlife there has tiny to no fear of humans.The combination of natural magnificence and the purity of the wildlife is something to treasure.
Hope remains that current and future civilizations will value Antarctica enough to protect and conserve its perfect brilliance.In reality, this gradual deterioration has been going on for many years.Many nations have joined together and made advancements toward increasing sustainability and preserving the natural environment.
