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Protect Antarctica With Treaties

By: Margret Brakebill

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Antarctica and all of its emperor penguins, leopard seals, blue whales, and towering mountains have been set aside for protection under international agreements. For the past decade or so, oil drilling and mining have been banned from Antarctica in order to safeguard its natural beauty; this protection will last 40 more years. The protection focuses on conservation rather than developing the continent. Very few things that would be a danger to the wildlife here are allowed. This means that everything from pesticides to dogs are banned.

This accord is entitled the Environment Protection Protocol and is part of the Antarctica treaty. This agreement has been set by the nations of the world to keep Antarctica free of commercialism and industrial development. Approved in 1991, this treaty has the support of the leading 26 nations including the United States, Japan, India, China, Brazil, Argentina, and the majority of all European nations.

The agreement put a stop to over 15 years of political pressure applied by environmental entities by laying out stipulations. The rules banned oil drilling and mining. It requires that the nations who run Antarctica's 35 scientific research outposts clean out their garbage dumps. It keeps tourists shops and scientific stations from discharging raw sewage into the surrounding waters.

The first person to get to the South Pole was Norwegian Roald Amundsen in 1911 and he used sled dogs to get around. The accord, however, prohibits any dogs on the continent, as penguins and other native fowl have been killed by pets belonging to researchers. Also banned from being brought into Antarctica are pesticides, polystyrene packaging and non-sterile soil.

The land of the Arctic is covered by ice that is on average 1 mile in thickness and only supports the most basic plant life, like moss and grass by shorelines. Almost three-quarters of the Earth's fresh water is in the Antarctic ice. It is encircled by a rich web of whales, sea birds, fish and seals.

Antarctica is one of the most delicate locations on earth. With its air temperature continuously below zero, any growth is extremely slow. It can take years to recover from pollution in that area. You might see the same footprint you left ten years ago still around today.

The original Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959 placed a ban on all nuclear testing and military activity in and around the continent. Rules for research were established and Antarctica was declared to be owned by no nation. Antarctica isn't owned by anyone at all, but there isn't an area that doesn't have some sort of national presence.

When scientists reported the discovery of oil, coal, gold, zinc, iron, uranium, manganese, and copper, among other minerals, environmental organizations started fighting to establish laws to protect Antarctica early in the 1980's. When the world saw an energy crisis in the 1970s, many companies considered drilling in Antarctica. The interest in tapping these resources will only intesify as oil prices go up and technology advances.

Each of the 26 nations will enforce rules individually on their claims. Should one country's citizens violate any of the rules and its government will not mediate the situation, other nations will put pressure on the government to solve it. Many are in agreement that the treaty constitutes an environmental success story.

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