scholarly journals Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for Antarctica

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 426-439
Author(s):  
Kevin A. Hughes ◽  
Peter Convey
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Summer Season ◽  
Fishing Industry ◽  
Global Challenge ◽  
Rapid Action ◽  
Temporary Decrease ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Early Phases

AbstractTo date, Antarctica is the only continent to have escaped the COVID-19 pandemic. This was facilitated by the continent's isolation and low human presence, combined with the global emergence of the pandemic at the end of the Antarctic summer season and the rapid action of those national governmental operators and other actors still active on and around the continent during the early phases of the outbreak. Here, we consider the implications of the pandemic for Antarctic governance, national operator logistics, science, tourism and the fishing industry, as well as for Antarctic environmental protection. Global disruption will result in a temporary decrease in human activity in Antarctica, in turn leading to a reduction in environmental impacts for a period, but also a reduced capacity to respond to environmental incidents. Given the diversity of transmission routes and vectors, preventing the introduction of the virus will be difficult, even with stringent quarantine procedures in place, and the risks and implications of virus transmission to Antarctic wildlife are largely unknown. With control of the pandemic a major global challenge, international cooperation will be essential if Antarctica is to remain free of coronavirus.

scholarly journals Human Activity in Antarctica: Effects on Metallic Trace Elements (MTEs) in Plants and Soils

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2593
Author(s):  
Jaime Tapia ◽  
Marco Molina-Montenegro ◽  
Camila Sandoval ◽  
Natalia Rivas ◽  
Jessica Espinoza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Tissue Samples ◽  
Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy ◽  
Flame Atomic Absorption ◽  
Sampling Locations ◽  
Metallic Trace Elements ◽  
Metallic Trace Element ◽  
The Antarctic

Colobanthus quitensis (Kunt) is one of the two vascular plant species present in Antarctica and develops under severe environmental conditions, being found in both pristine and human-threatened environments. We determined the Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn levels in C. quitensis roots, leaves, and soils of origin using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. In January 2017, we collected samples from four geographical zones on the longitudinal gradient along which C. quitensis is distributed, starting from Punta Arenas (PAR) at the extreme south of mainland Chile and moving southwards to the Antarctic territory from King George Island (KGI) to Hannah Point Peninsula (PHA) and finally Lagotellerie Island (LAT). We used certified reference material to validate the plant tissues and soil samples we collected. The highest concentrations of metals that we measured in the soils and in the C. quitensis roots and leaves were in samples we collected at the KGI station, the zone with the greatest human activity. The lowest concentrations we measured were at the LAT station, an island with little human intervention and scarce fauna. The mean concentrations of metals in the roots and leaves of C. quitensis followed a similar order at all sampling locations: Mn > Zn > Cu > Ni > Pb > Cr > Cd. In contrast, in soil, they followed the following order: Mn > Zn > Cu > Cr > Pb > Ni > Cd. The concentration levels obtained for the different metals in the soil and plants tissue samples in this region of Antarctica indicated that the area was non-polluted. However, the metallic trace element (MTE) concentrations may be at an early stage of contamination, as described in other areas of the Antarctic, being a new threat to this continent.

The Déjà vu System of International Trusteeship in Continental Antarctica: A Textual Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-131
Author(s):  
Xueping Li
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Intrinsic Values ◽  
Continental Antarctica ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Deja Vu ◽  
Déjà Vu ◽  
The Antarctic

In the name of environmental protection, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting seems to have borrowed the paradigm of international trusteeship of the United Nations for managing the Antarctic land-based protected areas. By comparing and analysing the critical questions highly concerned, this paper offers preliminary thoughts on the development and refinement of the conception of land-based protected areas as a déjà vu system of international trusteeship and its surrounding legal applications and implications in continental Antarctica, and challenges the direction followed by this system in protecting Antarctic intrinsic values in legal discourse.

scholarly journals Antarctica's wilderness has declined to the exclusion of biodiversity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel I. Leihy ◽  
Bernard W.T. Coetzee ◽  
Fraser Morgan ◽  
Ben Raymond ◽  
Justine D. Shaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Area ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Natural Reserve ◽  
Wilderness Areas ◽  
Biogeographic Regions ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Specially Protected Areas

Recent assessments of the biodiversity value of Earth's dwindling wilderness areas have emphasized the whole of Antarctica as a crucial wilderness in need of urgent protection. Whole-of-continent designations for Antarctic conservation remain controversial, however, because of widespread human impacts and frequently used provisions in Antarctic law for the designation of specially protected areas to conserve wilderness values, species and ecosystems. Here we investigate the extent to which Antarctica's wilderness encompasses its biodiversity. We assembled a comprehensive record of human activity on the continent (~ 2.7 million localities) and used it to identify unvisited areas ≥ 10 000 km2 (i.e. Antarctica's wilderness areas) and their representation of biodiversity. We show that, at best, 7 770 000 km2 of wilderness remains, covering 56.9% of the continent's surface area, however it captures few important biodiversity features. Important Bird Areas, ice-free Antarctic Conservation Biogeographic Regions crucial for biodiversity and areas with verified biodiversity records are largely excluded. Our results demonstrate that Antarcticas wilderness has already declined to the exclusion of much of its biodiversity. But that on a continent set aside as a natural reserve, increased regulation of human activity and urgent expansion of the Antarctic specially protected area network could feasibly reverse this trend.

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