Human Impact on Antarctica

                                                             Human Impact on Antarctica
                                                       Humans have a HUGE impact 
                                       on Antarctica. They play a large role in making the 

                    continent popular, learning more about it, making it a place for tourists, etc. They have also harmed the continent in many ways, too. They fish too much in Antarctica and the fish population is drastically going down. We humans hunt in Antarctica and we also kill many animals there just for research. This is unfair and unnecessary; in my opinion. Anyways, we also take territorial claim in the continent, too. About seven countries have already taken the liberty to do so. They do this just because they want the oil in the continent. Antarctica is the place that has the most oil in the world. So, even though we know we should be using less fossil fuels, we want Antarctica's oil so that we can just have the unlimited resources we want. We are willing to affect the wildlife there negatively only because we want oil. We also love sealing. Sealing is when you go to places to hunt seals for our everyday uses. I think we can survive without wearing jackets made out of sealskin. The same with whaling. Also we discharge other garbage we cannot find a place for near Antarctica. Tourism itself is harmful to Antarctica. As tourists travel there, pollutants and other harmful toxins are released into the desert. If humans are affected negatively with pollution, won't animals? Below is how we make Antarctica look.

                     Nonetheless, I can't argue with the fact we helped Antarctica, but only a little. Vets did go to Antarctica to see what was wrong with animals there and try to help them as well as gather information for their own personal needs. Some countries did claim land to make the best of it, and others didn't. We also do learn more about the coldest place on Earth: how it helps and harms humans, but that is just about it.

Here is a video containing more information

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_rtO5M1WLs

Sources:http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/science/human_impact_on_antarctica.php

http://www.antarctica.gov.au/environment/human-impacts-in-antarctica

http://antarctica.org.nz/06-human_impact/

Antarctica's Penguins

                                                                   Antarctica's Penguins
                                                        Everyone knows in Antarctica 
                               there are tons of penguins, but because my topic is on that

continent, I will tell you about that specific animal. Believe it or not, only four out of seventeen species of penguins live in Antarctica. Theses are the Adelie, Emperor, Gentoo, and Chinstrap penguins. Look at the pictures below to see which penguins I am talking about.

Above are two Adelie Penguins. Here are some interesting facts about Adelie Penguins.

1). The average lifespan of an Adelie Penguin is approximately 20 years.

2). Their weight is about 8.5 pounds to 12 pounds.

3). Their diet consists of mostly Krill, Shrimp, and Squid.

4). They can be as tall as about 28 inches.

5). Their scientific name is " Pygoscelis Adeliae".

 

Above is an Emperor Penguin.

Facts:

1). Emperor Penguins are the largest living Penguins alive today.

2). They can grow to be 4.3 feet tall.

3). Their scientific name is "Aptenodytes Forsteri". 

4). Their lifespan is 20 years.

5). They can weigh from 22 kg. to 45 kg.

Above is a Gentoo Penguin.

Facts:

1). Their scientific name is "Pygoscelis Papua".

2). A Gentoo Penguin makes (on average) 450 dives a day searching for food.

3). They can swim as fast as 22 miles per hour.

4). They are Carnivores.

5).They can dive as deep as 655 feet. (That is 200 meters.)

Above is a Chinstrap Penguin.

Facts:

1). Their scientific name is "Pygoscelis Antarcticus".

2). Their kingdom is "Animalia".

3). Thier class is "Aves". 

4). The predator of Adult Chinstrap Penguins is Leopard Seal.

5). They can weigh as much as 6 kg.

Here is a video on Antarctic Penguins.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/penguins-of-the-antarctic-video-penguin-family-reunion/192/

Here are some links you can go to for more information:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/adelie-penguin/

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/emperor-penguin/

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/gentoo-penguin/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinstrap_penguin

Antarctica's Tectonic Plates

                                                              Antarctica's Tectonic Plates
                                                         Did you ever wonder why the
                                            "Ice Continent" is so cold? Here is the reason 
                                that affects Antarctica's temperature the most: the movement 
                  of its tectonic plates. As the Arctic Tectonic Plate moved to the south part of

the world more, the continent developed a much more colder climate. As I mentioned in my previous posts, Antarctica used to be a SuperContinent, "Gondwana". That SuperContinent was a very tropical place. It had many animals, was always going through precipitation, had beautiful grasslands, and just about everything that a glorious tropical island had. Later on, however, the continent split into two and Antarctica was the piece of the continent that split onto the southern part of the Earth, and therefore was so cold. To better understand my claim, look at the picture below. 

 Although the picture is blurry, you can clearly see how big Gondwana was, and how Antarctica departed from it. To get a better understanding of the Arctic Tectonic Plate, look at the picture below.

 Yes, as you may be thinking, the Arctic Tectonic Plate was and is larger than Antarctica. For more information, go to the links below.

ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondwana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Plate

http://www.livescience.com/2501-history-ancient-supercontinent-breakup-detailed.html

Fun Facts on Antarctica

                                                                 Fun Facts on Antarctica

                                                               Below are just some interesting

                                                       facts, pictures, videos, and links you may 

                                            be interested in about Antarctica. I hope you like them!

1). Polar Bears are NOT in Antarctica, they are in the Arctic.(Specific parts in Antarctica.)

2). Antarctica was discovered in 1820, though scientists know that it has been around for more than 23 million years ago.(After being separated from Africa.)

3). Antarctica has 90% of the world's ice, and 70% of the world's fresh water supply.

4). Only one warm blooded animal stays on Antarctica during the winter; the Emperor Penguin. (Emperor Penguins are the largest "living" penguins in the world.)

5). For Antarctica, winter is March through September, and summer is October through February.
6). Only 2% of the continent is visible. 98% of it is covered in thick sheets of ice. 
7). The Antarctic Peninsula is swarming with wildlife, and therefore that is the place tourists consider when wanting to visit Antarctica. 
8). Only about 2 inches of rainfall is recorded yearly for this continent, which makes it very dry and fires easily able to occur. 
9). There are no land mammals in Antarctica.
10). The average temperature for Antarctica is -56 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here is a video you may be interested in watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdgg58px1DI

Sources: http://igentry.blogspot.com/2008/05/antarctica-is-coldest-continent-on.html

http://mission-blue.org/2012/11/10-fun-facts-about-antarctica/

http://www.adventure-life.com/antarctica/articles

Animal Life in Antarctica

                                                           Animal Life in Antarctica 
                                                           Everyone knows that there 
                                       penguins and seals in Antarctica, but what people 
                   do not know is there are many other animals in the Ice Continent. Some
other animals in the continent are Whale Seals, Albatrosses, Krill, other seabirds, several invertebrates, Whales, Penguins, and the list continues. In this post, I will talk about a few of these animals. Some Whale Seals that live there are Blue Whales, Southern Right Whales, Sei Whales, Humpback Whales, Minke Whales, Fin Whales, and many more. Here are some pictures of them for you to get a better understanding of them.

 
Humpback Whale

 
Blue Whale
 
Southern Right Whale

Sei Whales

Minke Whale

Fin Whale
The Blue Whale is the biggest animal in the world, and tons of them are in Antarctica. This Continent is (in my opinion) the best continent to visit if you want to go and see wildlife. For more information on these animals, you can visit the websites listed at the end of this post.
Look at the picture below to see the major types of Penguins in Antarctica.

These penguins are the ones you will most likely see in Antarctica. Their lifestyle is very unique from any other type of birds'. Once they are adults, the mother will go hunt for food first, then come back and feed her young, then the father will go and hunt. This will go on until the young are old enough to mate. Also, if the young get lost, or die, the mother penguin will go and steal other penguins' young, then make sure that one stays well. Just about every type of penguin will do this. To find about seals in Antarctica, look at the picture below. 
 Antarctic Fur Seal

 Crabeater Seal

 Leopard Seal

  Ross Seal

 Weddell Seal

 Southern Elephant Seal

Even though there are 35 species of seals in the entire world, only 6 of them are in Antarctica. Those are the ones listed above. Here is a fact about each one.
1). An Antarctic Fur Seal has ears. Some species of Seal do not even have ears.
2). 98% of the Crabeater Seal's diet consists of Krill.
3). The Leopard Seal is Antarctica's #1 primary predator.
4). Ross Seals have no typical predators.
5). Weddell Seal milk is one of the richest produced by any mammal.
6). Elephant Seals do not walk the Earth, they slither instead.

Sources: interestingfunfacts.com, lrs.ed.uiuc.edu, coolantarctica.com, seals-world.com 

Posted on 9/24/15

Territorial Claim of the "Ice Continent"

                                                   Territorial Claim of the"Ice Continent"
                                                                   Even though it is 
                                             impossible for anyone to stay in Antarctica 
permanently, it is owned by many other countries, in other words, it is distributed into many different territories. It is owned by 9 countries, and a part of it is even unclaimed. Look at the diagram below to see which part if the continent is claimed by which country.

     


The SouthWest part of Antarctica is still unclaimed, most likely because it is almost completely barren and has just about no wildlife. Antarctica has no government and no indigenous population. Nonetheless, many countries want a claim over it because scientists think there is lots of oil underneath the ice. 200 billion barrels of oil. That's more oil in that continent than any other place on Earth. Antarctica's oil is extremely expensive to extract, however, a few decades later, the whole Earth could be desperate for it. We are using up fossil fuels to quickly to replace them and soon we will have none left, so we are going to need Antarctica at that time. Many countries are fighting for that little piece of unclaimed Antarctica, so they all act like they claim it. That is one way Antarctica is beneficial to humans, it provides oil. Go to the link below for more information on this topic.

 http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27910375







  















Sources: bbc.com, wikipedia.org, antarctica.gov.au












                                                      

Fungi and Algae in Antarctica

Fungi and Algae in Antarctica

                                                        Fungi and Algae In Antarctica

                     News Flash: Antarctica does not  only habitat penguins. It gives habitat to fungi, plants, other organisms, and of course; penguins. Let's start from the different types of fungi. 

1). There are approximately 1,200 species of fungi in Antarctica. 
        The different types of fungi is mostly just about two. These are non-lichen-forming, and lichen-forming. If a fungi is non-lichen-forming, this means it is not a type of symbiotic organism. So therefore, a lichen-forming-fungi is a symbiotic organism. This means it has a strong relationship between a number of different species. Look at the picture below.



This type of fungi is the first fungi that was found in Antarctica at around 1847. It is called "peziza kerguelensis". It looks very different in its "real form", but that is because it is in slightly warmer areas. In those areas, it looks like an upside-down mushroom. For more information on other types of fungi in Antarctica and the one above, click on the link below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_of_Antarctica#Fungi

 Plants: 










The pictures you see above are of plants and weeds in Antarctica. The first two are different types of weeds, and the last two are the only species of flowers in the ice continent. Well, technically, the first picture is of a "on sea plant" and the second one is of a Tundra plant, which is a type of weed. The third picture is of an "Antarctic Pearlwort", and the last of "Antarctic Hairgrass". Those two are the only type of flowers in Antarctica. They only occur in the summertime and only last for a few weeks, so they are very rare to see. Look at the pictures below to see some of the types of Algae in Antarctica.

  




Above are pictures of algae and a place where they grow the most, so that you can see the conditions they thrive in most of the time. The first type of algae is part of a Polar Forest. It is unknown at this moment, but is being researched. It is actually a cure to at least one type of cancer. Anyways, the second picture is a type of kelp, "Macrocystis Pyrifera". In other words, it is a type of "brown algae". The third picture is just a picture of an area in Antarctica which is slightly in deeper waters and in slightly warmer ones, so that it suits the thriving conditions of an algae habitat. Here is a small video on a new fact about algae discovered by scientists.

http://www.weather.com/tv/shows/amhq/video/drones-mapping-algae-under-antarctic-ice

Sources: wikipedia.org, weather.com, and www.bas.ac.uk

Posted on 9/23/2015

Introduction on Antarctica

                                                                 All About Antarctica 
                                                     Cold, dry, deathtrap, penguins,
                    and harsh weather is all we humans ever think of when Antarctica comes

into mind. Nonetheless, have we ever thought in depth about this continent? There is a ton of information about this unique place that I think you should know about. To speak about this continent, what makes it unique from other places on Earth is its nature, inhabitants, weather, overall structure, tectonic plates, desert-like atmosphere, conditions, and much more. Due to Antarctica's harsh conditions, it can only give habitat to many rare species of animals, plants, and other organisms. It affects the earth as a whole, such as affecting the Earth's temperature, the movement of its tectonic plates, the seas and oceans of the Earth, humans, other organisms, the Earth's weather (mostly cold and warm fronts including storms and other harsh weather), and the Earth's overall structure. Antarctica is beneficial and very harmful to humans, too. Anyways, here are some geographical facts about this "ice continent."
1). Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth.
2). Antarctica's total area is 14,000,000 km.
3). Antarctica's coordinates are 90 degrees South, and 0 degrees East.
4). Approximately 170 million years ago, Antarctica was known as the SuperContinent, Gondwana. At that time it actually was a very tropical area, and many forests and ancient organisms lived there. 
5). This continent has about 70% of the world's fresh water supply, except it is in the form of ice.


Here is a link containing tons of more information on Antarctica.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica#Geography