Throughout Antarctica, nations with economies that were dependent on whaling claimed ownership of large parts of the continent.Britain, Argentina and Chile all laid claim to large sections of Antarctica, and some of those claims overlap.There are also claims from Australia, New Zealand, France, and Norway.

The greatest example of nationalism came in 1940 when planes were sent by Nazi Germany to drop stakes with the swastika symbol carved on them over vast areas of Antarctica to allege ownership by the Third Reich.With the world pre-occupied by WWII, Antarcitica found itself alone except for the whalers who came to hunt the great animals.The occurrence of celestial phenomena precipitated renewed interest in the continent, this time by scientists.

In 1957, there was evidence of increased frequency of sunspots on our star, so the International Geophysical Year was begun then, allowing multinational efforts to look at the effects of solar radiation on the planet through Antarctica’s special place on the planet.The scientific brain power from sixty-seven countries established bases for their operations on the continent.The cooperation between the scientists and countries sparked the negotiations for the Antarctic Treaty, which is one of the most extraordinary International agreements ever made.exciting travel to antarctica

This Treaty, signed in 1959 by the countries with primary interests in the continent, enacted a mandate that Antarctica’s only use would be for peaceful intentions.The treaty specifically spelled out not allowing any destructive forces to be detonated on the continent, including banning nuke testing and exploding, as well as not allowing countries to dump their toxic waste onto it’s barren landscape or waters.The same went for military presence on the continent. Any military forces on Antarctica are only allowed to support scientific research.Any claims from differing countries were set aside in the nature of cooperation.

An amazing example of this, is that the treaty was signed at the height of the Cold War, and those countries involved in that struggle did not insert their internal strife into the treaty. This also included not taking sides with their allies if their allies lost land because of the deal. They did reserve the right to be able to change their minds if they so chose in the future.Because of this, this prevented other smaller governments from trying to create a fuss if they didn’t get what they wanted.trips to antarctica

In the decades that followed, nations and business organizations started to desire the natural resources thought to be in Antarctica.Soon, there were national bases all over the surrounding islands and the peninsula; at its most prolific, Antarctica is home to 5,000 people – only in the summer, and only in the science stations that are based all around the peninsula and islands.

Bases were opened on King George Island throughout the 1960s and 70s by Chile, Great Britain, Poland, Italy, Argentina, the United States and Soviet Union, with Peru, Brazil, China, Uruguay, and South Korea joining them in the 1980s.Though they were there for ostensibly scientific purposes, their actions were not unlike the Nazi stake dropping in that they wanted to stake political claim.Everyone has managed to create “squatters rights” for each of their countries.

However, by the 1980s the political mentality had begun to turn away from exploitation and in the direction of scientific exploration.Antarctica is in the process of becoming the jointly-owned property of the entire planet, similar to the political definitions of ocean ownership.It was at Britain’s Halley Bay Antarctic Base that the hole in the Earth’s ozone layer was first discovered, making it clear to man that industrial activity could cause damage to the atmosphere.

This discovery began the discussions for an international agreement in 1987 that would ban the use of ozone-depleting chemicals from being used by the end of the 1990′sThis put Antarctica back on the map because the scientific research conducted at this location on Earth gave people a better view of how industry was changing Earth structurally and physically.The whaling industry was also encountering massive public outrage in the 1980′s, leading to the idea of establishing Antarctica as a world park, and thereby protecting it further.

The nations that participated in the Antarctic Treaty put forth a decree in 1991 that all gas and oil exploration would be stopped for the next half century, as well as mining; instead, the environment would be given higher priority.Now, Antarctica has a unique duty and place in the world, for it’s the one place where we can most accurately measure just how much damage we’ve done to the environment, and study how to stop it.

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