Environmental Protection Concerns and Scientific Research in Antarctica: the No Man’s Land

Antarctic, the remotest and least understood part of the globe, and last of the lands to be known to the mankind (as late as in 1770s) is the southernmost continent around the South Pole. Covering an area of about 14 million km , it is the fifth largest continent with more than 97% area covered by ice that averages -2.4 km in thickness. The area of the ice shelf around the land almost doubles during winter and therefore it is also known as Pulsating Continent’. This icy continent and the coldest part of the Earth is also the land of extremes with harshest climatic conditions that are always a great challenge. Despite such extreme conditions it is an ideal platform for scientific research in various fields, such as Environmental Sciences, Atmospheric Sciences, Astronomy, Earth Sciences, Material Sciences, Life Sciences, Meteorology, etc that has attracted scientists from all over the world. The untouched nature and its landscape also add a lot to its potential for tourism. With zero background noise level, it also offers unique opportunity for studying interaction of cosmic electromagnetic radiations with the atmosphere. Therefore, it can be aptly be regarded as the world’s largest open laboratory. This continent is the only landmass of the world that has no natural human habitat and does not form part of any nation or government. It is governed and managed entirely by scientists and considered as a symbol of scientific fraternity and an example of utmost environmental considerations. It cannot be used for any other purpose except cooperative scientific research. The research activity is managed by the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) with a clear mandate that environmental intervention is allowed only if it is a matter of survival. Besides offering information on the supercontinent reconstructions and paleogeography a significant contribution from Antarctic is in the Climate Change studies wherein the hydrogen and oxygen isotopic data on the ice core drill hole samples have been inferred to reconstruct the past climate for several thousand years. The O and H stable isotopic ratios are sensitive to the temperature and can be linked to yearly warming or cooling trends and have been utilized in erecting the climatic patterns for the last more than 70000 years. The climate change models predicting the future climate scenario are based on this data. The most important aspect of Antarctic science is the stringent environmental protection practices that work under self motivation and the peer pressure of stake holder countries (including India) who are signatories of the Antarctic Treaty. Certain areas within the Antarctica very sensitive fauna have been identified as vulnerable and demarcated as specially managed regions, called ASMA (Antarctic Specially Managed Areas) and ASPA (Antarctic Specially Protected Areas) to protect its unique fauna and scientists need to seek prior permission to carry out scientific research in such areas. Antarctic, the No Man's Land’ can be regarded as the best example of environmental protection practices.