Antarctica Should be Left Untouched

People do not have the right to visit any part of the world that they want because people can not be trusted to look after and respect the people, the plants, the wildlife and the land they are visiting. Only a number of scientists should be aloud to study in Antarctica at a time and only a small number of tourists should be aloud to travel to Antarctica a year. The tourists and photographs should not be aloud to set foot on Antarctica. This essay will explain the impact that tourists are having on Antarctica, the impact that scientists are having on Antarctica and why we should look after Antarctica.

Tourists are having an impact on Antarctica and the impact will only get bigger as more tourists visit. Tourism is a double edged sword. Mass tourism will destroy the beautiful and lonely landscapes of Antarctica as well as threatening the wildlife that thrives there. However careful tourists might be they cannot prevent the pollution caused by engines of the ships and aeroplanes that transport them. They can not be sure that they will not permanently damage the wild life of Antarctica. Researchers from Germany found that the heart rate of Adelie Penguins increased noticeably when a person came with in 30 metres of them. They also discovered that penguins deviated 70 metres from their usual pathways to the sea when a person stood within 20 metres of them. This extra 70 metres makes a big difference to the penguins. Problems that will be created by the increasing tourism include sewage and waste disposal, the need for search and rescue facilities, and a system for handling the civil and criminal cases that will inevitably arise.

Scientists and their support personnel have a bigger impact on the environment than tourists. Tourists account for only less than 1 per cent of the total human impact in Antarctica. The disposal of the waste caused by the number of people staying in bases around Antarctica is a huge environmental problem. Split fuel, plastics and chemicals are all hazards to the wildlife in Antarctica. Bits of plastic are being found in the digestive tracts of birds and seals. A huge amount of scrap metal is found around many of the bases varying from crashed helicopters to old tin cans. One way some of the bases get rid of this scrap metal is to place it on an ice flow and when the ice melts in the summer the scrap sinks to the bottom of the sea. Most of the scraps are covered with inflammable fuels and chemicals. Some bases soak the scrap piles in gallons of old fuel and light it up in the open causing unnecessary air pollution.

Antarctica is one of the few places left in the world that has not been totally changed by people. It is known as the land without people. There are no permanent human residents and no evidence of any existing indigenous population on Antarctica. Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive in Antarctica. It is a land of ancient rocks and fossils buried under hundreds of metres of snow and ice. Antarctica is a land of immense beauty and savage seasons whose unique climate has bound up nearly 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water in ice.

Although Antarctica is a land with people, the actions of people everywhere threaten its beauty and its value as the last unspoilt place on earth. There needs to be laws put up in Antarctica that stop bases from dumping scraps, stop people from getting to close to the wildlife, stop bases from making huge bonfires, and stop tourist from setting foot on this rare land. The problem with humans is they ruin the things they love and if we don’t stop and start to think about what we are doing to this very rare land, it’s wildlife and plants, it will be gone very soon.