Science and Policy studies (Antarctica) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Science and Policy studies (Antarctica) - Essay Example Since the find of large quantity of oil resources underneath the seabed, various countries lying in the geographical proximity of the Antarctic region have staked claim to certain regions of this land. If one were to go back in history, one would wind that international co-operation in field of Antarctic exploration dated way back to 1882 which incidentally was the first Polar Year. The second Polar year was held in 1932 with forty nations supporting the cause in the study of meteorology and radio science. However, these noble designs of international studies were marred even then by politics, with Britain staking a claim to a portion of the land in 1908. By 1930 France, Norway and Chile had made their claims to certain regions in the Antarctic. Britain had in the meantime setup up a permanent base by sending an expedition code named Operation Tabarin. The era of Cold War also saw several expeditions being taken up by America and Russia which apart from being research oriented was al so a method in power posturing. The present scenario is quite complex with a number of sovereign countries staking claim to the region. US as a superpower has not claimed any part of Antarctica nor has it recognized the claims made by any of the other countries. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic research was established for the purpose of enhancing cooperation in the field of research and knowledge sharing. The twelve countries include the US, UK and USSR who contributed a significant amount to its early budget. The Antarctic Treaty was signed on 23rd June 1961 by member countries who pledged to engage in more constructive and peaceful scientific research while at the same time putting individual claims on the backburner.( Dodds Klaus, 2010, Governing Antarctica) This lay to rest some of the apprehensions of Britain, Chile and Argentina. This treaty which was signed by twelve members initially has now forty seven members to its credit. (Crawford Elisabeth et al, 1992)This treaty brought about in the form of a legal framework described measures to keep the Antarctic region under a system of good governance. Apart from the find of energy resources, some of the other issues which affected the politics of the region were illegal fishing and unregulated tourism. The Antarctic Treaty system is also taking measures to control the prominence of illegal fishing menace since these areas fall outside the ambit of any one particular country law. Source: www.archivegreenpeace.org, 1990, crew of the Kyo-maru pulls a Minke whale toward its port side Two notable measures adopted were the Agreed Measure for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora in 1964 and the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) established in 1982. The CCAMLR has sought to curb the illegal fishing of species like Patagonian tooth fish and ice fish. The other cause of concern is that unregulated tourism to this region has disturbed the eco balance of this region. In 2007-2008 , it was estimated that 50,000 people visited this areas like the Punta Arenas and Stanley near the Faulkland islands. (Elzinga Aant, 1993) Illegal whaling off the Antarctic coast although monitored by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has not been able to contain this