JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE EARTH
Points to Remember
Summary
The writer visited Antarctica, the coldest, driest and windiest continent in the world, aboard the Russian research vessel, Akademik Shokalskiy.
The journey, beginning at Chennai, passed through many areas, geographical, legal, ecological and temporal.
The writer’s first reaction to the continent was of relief, followed by wonder at its vastness, seclusion and geological history.
Part of History
Before human evolution, Antarctica was part of a huge tropical landmass called the Gondwana land, which flourished 500 million years ago.
Biological (flora and fauna), geological (changing continents) and geographical (climatic)changes occurred and Antarctica separated and moved away evolving into what it is today.
A visit to Antarctica gave the writer a deeper understanding of fold mountains, the earth’s history, ecology and environment.
The writer felt unsettled in two weeks time not only because she came from a much hotter place, but also because all features of human civilization were absent from an already desolate landscape.
The long summers, the silence broken occasionally by cracking ice sheets and avalanches, the blue whales and ice bergs, all contribute to an ecological implication that the future for humans isn’t good.
Human Impact
Humans, who are known to have existed for a mere 12000 years, have caused tremendous impact and played havoc with nature.
Population explosion, putting a strain on available resources, carbon emissions, fossil fuels and global warming have all resulted in climatic and ecological imbalances that have also affected Antarctica.
Antarctica, though unpopulated, has been affected and there are concerns for its half a million year old carbon records trapped under its ice sheets.
Abc ?⏳ 6 years, 5 months ago
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