Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS); and responds to requests for information and
advice from CCAMLR as well as from the Treaty Parties.
Other SCAR WG's are concerned with Antarctic snow and ice in all its forms from the
inland ice sheet to the outer reaches of the pack ice zone; with Geology, which seeks to
discover how the continent formed, the processes that shaped its past and will continue
to shape its future, and its climatic history; with Solid-Earth Geophysics, essentially
remote-control geology making measurements of the physical properties of regions that
the geological hammer cannot reach. (Some of the techniques of Earth sciences are used
by industry to prospect for hydrocarbons and metallic minerals and some people are
claiming that all such research is a preparation for minerals exploration and should
therefore be banned. In fact the Earth Science carried out in the Antarctic rarely if ever
can be regarded as minerals exploration and is mainly concerned with targets and
regions of not the slightest minerals interest. Data are freely exchanged and published,
the only concern being to safeguard intellectual priority.
There is a WG on Physics and Chemistry of the Atmosphere encompassing research
from the surface up to 50 km. This includes the springtime "Antarctic Ozone Hole",
global airborne pollutants and their movement and dispersal. Another WG is concerned
primarily with the region of Geospace, surrounding the Earth, which includes the
magnetospheric shield that protects all life on Earth from lethal radiation from the Sun.
The Antarctic is particularly well-placed for continuous studies of deep-space
phenomena from the ground.
In the ongoing intergovernmental discussions, scientific activity is almost all that is to
be regulated in the Antarctic Treaty Area, apart from tourism, for it is clear that for
whatever reasons (particularly economic ones), imminent damage from mining is a
myth; commercial minerals-related activities will not take place in the Antarctic for a
long time, if ever. (Conservation of commercial living resources is the responsibility of
CCAMLR and is outside the Antarctic Treaty area). Although I cannot detail them here,
the achievements of international science in the Antarctic are impressive and of global
importance. In devising political and legal mechanisms to prevent or control damage to
the Antarctic environment, the possible adverse effects of such measures on scientific
research must be fully taken into account, for if the restrictions and delays imposed are
too severe research will wither and decline. (The virtual cessation of international
marine research over the continental shelves of the world, caused by such restrictions,
serves as a strong warning).
For this reason I would like to give some perspective to concerns about the concept of
ecological fragility and the significance, or otherwise, of environmental impacts due to
scientific activities. First, "fragile" is a term often applied to Antarctic life forms and
ecosystems, but is questionable. The Southern Ocean ecosystem has been subjected to
enormous perturbations due to commercial whaling, and other predator groups have
increased to substitute for former whale predation on krill. The marine ecosystem is
demonstrably robust, not fragile. On land the vegetation (and with it the associated
animals) is easily destroyed, like forests in lower latitudes, but it is primarily composed
of colonizing plants which therefore more easily renew the plant cover. Destruction is
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