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| HIV/AIDS & Sustainable
Development |
Even after 18 years of activities all over the world,
there is still enough scope for something new and exciting to be organised
for every Peace Boat voyage. On this 36th global voyage one of these
unprecedented events will be a visit by a group of passengers and
staff to Antarctica. As part of the run up to this very special journey,
Javier Gastaldi, an assistant biologist from the University of Buenos
Aires, Argentina, has been onboard to give people an insight into
this most remote and fascinating continent.
For the last 2 arctic summer seasons Javier has been working as a
wildlife guide on a tourist vessel traversing the Southern Ocean between
Ushuaia in Argentina and the Northern Peninsula of Antarctica.
With over 25 visits he has become something of an expert on the unique
environment encountered there, and has developed a great passion for
the often-extreme life forms it contains.
These life forms range from algae which flourish in snow, the southern
most bird of the world, the South Polar Skua, which has even been
spotted at the South Pole, to the biggest breathing creature on this
planet, the 30 meter Blue Whale. |
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| Antarctica as seen through the ozone hole |
Many animals, such as the Emperor Penguin, the huge
Elephant Seal, many species of Albatross and other birds, such as
the Snowy Sheatbill are endemic to the Southern Ocean or even Antarctica
itself. The glacier-fed Ross Ice Shelf, the Antarctic Peninsula and
a number of surrounding islands provide some of the most valuable
breeding grounds for a vast array of seabirds, penguins and seals.
The continent itself, most of which was only fully explored during
the latter part of the 20th century, plays a very role in the earth's
climate and hosts a large number of international scientific bases,
which are all linked through the Scientific Committee of Antarctica
Research (SCAR). By drilling into the core of the massive Ross Ice
Shelf, removing samples of ancient ice and examining the air bubbles
trapped within, scientists are presented with a window into the earth's
distant past, through which they can learn about changes in the Earth's
atmosphere through the ages.
One of the more dramatic discoveries made here was that of the ozone
hole. Since 1985 the ozone hole has appeared over Antarctica every
summer and has recently grown to a size covering the whole Southern
Ocean.
Its effects on the environment are radical and immediate. The sun's
lethal UV a, b and c rays, which pass through the hole unhindered
kill off the phytoplancton, which in one way or the other is the basis
for the whole arctic food chain. As C02 is absorbed by the algae,
a surplus of the gas builds up in the atmosphere, once this micro-organism
is removed. Consequently, along with putting the whole range of species
of fauna in jeopardy by taking away one of the basic sources of life,
this effect also contributes to global warming.
The results of global warming have already been felt in Antarctica
- a general and comparatively dramatic rise in average temperatures
has been recorded and the breaking off of substantial sections of
the Ross Ice Shelf in recent years have sent alarm bells ringing not
only in the scientific world. However, according to Javier, "Something
strange is going on in Antarctica". Apparently the very latest studies
show that the ozone hole has failed to make an appearance this summer
for the first time since its discovery. Furthermore, the winter of
2001 was one of the longest and coldest ever recorded in the Arctic.
It remains to be seen what scientific significance these developments
suggest, but for now, the one thing those of us who are going can
do is look forward to visiting one of the last wild frontiers on this
planet. |
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| Cape Town-Rio de
Janeiro / Peace Boat's 36th Voyage |
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PEACE BOAT is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. |
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