Antarctic Treaty System An Assessment: Proceedings of a Workshop Held at Beardmore South Field Camp, Antarctica, January 7-13, 1985 (1986) / Chapter Skim
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11. The Role of Science in the Antarctic Treaty System
11. The Role of Science in the Antarctic Treaty System
Pages 169-184
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From page 169... ...
It is therefore pertinent to examine the relation of science to the politics of Antarctica and the role of scientific research in the Antarctic Treaty System today. BACKGROUND In 1959, amid the tensions and conflicts of claims, disputes, and the contrasting goodwill and enthusiasm generated by the successful international scientific cooperation of the International Geophysical Year (IGY)
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From page 170... ...
On his return he campaigned vigorously in academies of science and prestigious scientific institutions throughout Europe for a new approach to the study of polar regions. He stated that traditional polar exploration had been nothing more than an international steeplechase to reach the poles, where "immense sums were being spent and much hardship endured for the privilege of placing names in different languages on ice-covered promontories, but where the increase in human knowledge played a very secondary role".
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From page 171... ...
They were published promptly by the International Polar Commission. Starting with the idea of international cooperation to achieve effective study of the polar regions, it became truly the first coordinated multidisciplinary study of the whole planet.
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From page 172... ...
Sponsorship was justified on the grounds that basic knowledge of natural phenomena in polar regions, particularly in subjects relevant to a country's own issues and research, was useful in itself and that pursuit of such knowledge was a good investment for the country concerned. The conviction that openly shared scientific knowledge of the polar regions, obtained through international cooperation, was a good investment for the sponsoring country independent of any economic return from the region was confirmed through the second IPY in 1932-1933 and the IGY in 1957-1958 and became a philosophical cornerstone of the Antarctic Treaty.
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From page 173... ...
It is thus the science itself that must justify the political and national interest and investment. And if, as was pointed out by Weyprecht 100 years ago and amply confirmed by subsequent activities in both polar regions, science is not a territory for national possession, and the knowledge of most lasting value is obtained through international cooperation and open sharing of information, the contribution of science in Antarctica to the political self-interest of the individual countries involved must be through nonexclusive, cooperative actions and inform
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From page 174... ...
DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO SCIENCE IN ANTARCTICA Over the years, the political and public justification for scientific activities in Antarctica must be in terms of its contribution to the economy; to social, cultural, and domestic development; or to foreign policy or strategic objectives. It is therefore useful to examine the antarctic science program, as summarized in Chapter 9 by William Budd, to see how the results of the program contribute to those objectives.
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From page 175... ...
The scientific work done to date in Antarctica has shown few positive results from the so-called "functional" approach to science except, and this is still unproven, with regard to marine living resources. But the payoff from science in a pragmatic or academic sense has already been great.
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From page 176... ...
Many of the scientific programs in Antarctica take advantage of the unique location and conditions of Antarctica in order to make continuing observations of a kind that could not be made anywhere else on the planet, to detect and keep track of regional or global changes in natural or human-induced conditions or characteristics. Such monitoring may range from timely information on short-term effects due to human activities, such as fallout of radioactive particles in the atmosphere or the spread of persistent chemical pesticide residues around the world, to more subtle but potentially enormously important changes in the thickness and stability of the large ice sheets or the position of the antarctic convergence in response to climate changes (The antarctic convergence defines the northern boundary of the Southern Ocean, where cold, southern surface waters are pushed below warmer, northern waters moving south.
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From page 177... ...
As science in Antarctica has matured from exploratory reconnaissance and careful description of what is there, the questions of how it got that way and how its natural processes operate have become more sharply focused. Today, "process" studies, rather than descriptive survey, lie behind much of the most important and challenging research in antarctic regions.
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From page 178... ...
Study of antarctic geology is providing distinctive information of direct value to the geological interpretation of the other fragments of Gondwanaland; and some of the basic geological processes well displayed in antarctic rocks, despite the absence of known mineral deposits, are of value in understanding the processes of mineralization and aid in the search for mineral deposits elsewhere in the world. · The low angle of solar radiation and its marked seasonal variation throughout the year have led to a distinct climatic regime, which in turn has led to distinctive oceanographic, geomorphological, and biological processes and responses.
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From page 179... ...
Scientific study is also an obvious component both of the identification and exploitation of living and nonliving resources in the modern context and of their management and conservation. In Antarctica, the use of science in connection with resource exploitation and management applies most directly to marine living resources, where international programs such as the Biological Investigations of Marine Antarctic Species and Stocks provide the essential scientific background to treaty activities under the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.
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From page 180... ...
Evidence of this can be seen every year in the high national and international public interest attached to amateur sporting and quasiscientific exploration ventures to Antarctica, in the popularity and high quality of antarctic picture books in nearly every language, and in the growing industry (and the growing environmental problems) of tourism to the region.
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From page 181... ...
The agreement to designate SSSIs under the Antarctic Treaty System is not only a positive act of conservation, however local, and a recognition that some places and parts of the antarctic web of life are particularly vulnerable to disturbance; it is also an international statement that science in Antarctica is of international importance and that special scientific places must be protected, even against disturbance by scientists themselves. As Antarctica becomes more "popular," its special features will on the one hand be likely to become more highly valued by people in other lands who are concerned about the environment and conservation, as noted by the special chapter on Antarctica in the World Conservation Strategy produced by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)
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From page 182... ...
Yet its organization into a national committee trom each consultative party state has enabled it to translate general scientific priorities into recommended national programs that are compatible with the respective priorities and capabilities of participating countries. One of the fortunate aspects of the Antarctic Treaty situation is that a nonpolitical, international, professional scientific body of the International Council of Scientific Unions, SCAR, has made it possible for science to play a strong political role within the treaty without becoming politicized or · .
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From page 183... ...
To date, scientific activities in Antarctica have given very little or no encouragement to prospects for commercially exploitable mineral or hydrocarbon resources in Antarctica, with the possible exception of development of ice as a freshwater resource, but they have provided information on which any potential mineral deposits can be evaluated and the technical, economic, and environmental assessments carried out. It can be expected that present trends regarding science in Antarctica will continue.
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From page 184... ...
Thus, future science in Antarctica, conducted through the international cooperation and open exchange made possible by the Antarctic Treaty, can be expected to serve the purposes of the treaty. At the same time, it will be increasingly integrated with scientific research in other parts of the world, and its results will be judged in terms of its contribution to the major scientific, environmental, social, and economic problems of populated areas.
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