Antarctica: The Last Place on Earth

Hace doscientos años, un capitán de la Armada rusa divisó una tierra misteriosa cubierta de hielo. Se trataba de un continente dos veces el tamaño de Australia, con cadenas montañosas, volcanes y lagos subglaciales secretos.

Bandera UK
Sarah Davison

Speaker (UK accent)

Actualizado a

A massive iceberg floating in McMurdo Sound, south Antarctica.

Escucha este articulo

Imprimir

Antarctica, meaning ‘the opposite of the north’, is the last region on Earth in recorded history to be discovered. In January 1820, Russian Navy Captain Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen sighted what turned out to be a massive ice shelf — a thick suspended platform attached to the continent’s north coast. Days later, British Captain Edward Bransfield sighted land, but it was too difficult to approach

HEROIC AGE OF EXPLORATION

The first recorded landing on Antarctica was by a Norwegian-Swedish whaling ship in 1895. Subsequently, the continent became the focus of intensive scientific and geographical exploration, with nations competing to reach the geographic South Pole. A team led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen found it in 1911, just weeks before a British party led by Robert Falcon Scott.

SIX-MONTH DARKNESS

In Antarctica the sun sets only once a year and rises once for a six-month summer. Temperatures range from 10°C on the Antarctic coast in summer to -60°C inland in the winter, and as a result about 98 per cent of the continent is covered by an ice sheet averaging 1.9 kilometres thick. No humans live permanently in Antarctica, although up to five thousand work for periods of time on research stations all over the continent. Animals native to Antarctica include penguins, walruses, seals and mites, and certain organisms such as algae, bacteria, and fungi. 

PEACE AND SCIENCE

No one country owns Antarctica. Instead, multiple sovereign powers formally agree to share equal sovereignty and exercise their rights jointly. Twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959, and today 53 nations have consulting status. The treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining, nuclear explosions and waste disposal. It supports scientific research and protects the continent’s ecosystem.

PRESERVATION

Antarctica has a profound effect on the Earth’s climate and ocean systems. Its ice preserves a record of what Earth’s climate was like over the past one million years. Preserving the continent is vitally important, yet it is under threat from climate change, fishing and tourism. As global warming affects other parts of the world, its water and mineral resources have also become an issue.

wild geography

The continent is bigger than the United States, covering over 14 thousand square kilometres. The Transantarctic Mountains run from the Weddell Sea down to the Ross Sea, dividing the continent into Western (or Lesser) Antarctica and Eastern (or Greater) Antarctica. So far, 138 possible volcanoes have been identified in Antarctica, most sub-glacial; meaning that they are hidden under the ice. Mount Erebus is, at 3,794 feet, one of the highest and most active volcanoes on the continent, erupting for the last time in 2011. There are also three hidden canyons that run for hundreds of kilometres: the largest, Foundation Trough, is over 350 kilometres long and 35 kilometres wide.

“I am a professional mermaid”
Jim Wileman

People

“I am a professional mermaid”

“Tuve la idea de convertirme en sirena al volver a la ciudad donde crecí tras una época especialmente dolorosa de mi vida. Ahora bañarme con mi cola hecha a medida es una forma de devolverle el cariño a mi gente”.

Justin O. Schmidt

J.M.W. Turner: A Master of Light and Colour

People

J.M.W. Turner: A Master of Light and Colour

Nacido hace 250 años, el más célebre pintor inglés, genio del romanticismo y precursor del impresionismo, creó paisajes con un estilo nunca visto en el dominio de la luz y el color.

Conor Gleeson

More in Explore

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

A Short Story: Frost Fair

Fiction

A Short Story: Frost Fair

El espectáculo del Támesis helado transforma Londres en un escenario único, donde una historia de amistad inicialmente maravillosa se convierte rápidamente en una pesadilla.

Rachel Roberts

 'Know' y 'Learn': cuáles son las diferencias
Istock

Grammar

'Know' y 'Learn': cuáles son las diferencias

Las palabras 'know' y 'learn' se refieren a conceptos relacionados con el conocimiento, pero se utilizan de forma diferente. Te explicamos las diferencias y cómo utilizarlas.

Cristina Alarcón

Suscríbete y mejora tu inglés por solo 1€/mes ¡Es el momento! Mejora tu nivel de inglés con un método sencillo que se adapta a ti. Cancela cuando quieras.