By Jacob Mccoy

 Of all the planets regions, Antarctica is the most inaccessible and the most desolate. It is the only region on Earth that all nations agreed they could share. But now the Antarctica is being considered by many nations as a future source of natural resource as other sources have started to run out.


The land of penguins, seals, whales and ice is seen as a potential land of oil, coal and iron. The haven for scientific studies and international cooperation is envisioned as a possible powderkeg of nationalistic confrontation.

Many of the people who work in scientific research in the Antarctic have often spoke of the atmosphere as one of peaceful cooperation and the sharing between international communities. The high level of human bonding is said to be because of the common challenge that the environment creates, and a common interest in the research that is being done.

Next to the McMurdo headquarters of the National Science Foundation, which runs U.S. Antarctica activities, is a small, flag-encircled park dedicated to Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd and his idealistic dream. Admiral Richard Byrd was the first to fly over the Antarctic and South Pole and led five expeditions. He saw Antarctica as a continent where nations could work together for the common cause of science and that the Antarctic should be a prime example of international cooperation and peace. But as people become more dependent on energy and more reliant on the minerals within the Earth, are his noble ideals likely to survive?

Interest in the regions' mineral deposits is growing, but as of yet no one knows the full potential of the mineral deposit to be found there. The Antarctic has now become an issue for politicians and not just scientists, Many believe that minerals and oil reserves exist in large quantities beneath the treacherous frozen landscape and at the bottom of the surrounding seas.

Virgin oil reserves and minerals are already known to exist in geologically similar regions of the planet. Exploratory offshore core drilling by the U.S has already provided data that supports the belief that hydrocarbon deposits do exist. Coal has already been found on land along with lead, titanium, uranium, copper, cobalt, nickel, tin, chromium and gold.

Until recently, the harsh environment of Antarctica made exploitation economically unthinkable. The rising prices of natural resources has made governments look again now that new technology is available, and Antarctic scientists and environmentalists are very worried.

Mineral exploitation in Antarctica is a huge concern to environment groups worldwide because it remains one of the only regions that is unpolluted and unspoilt by man. The International Institute for the Environment and Development and the Sierra club are both environmental organizations that have seen that there will be a conflict between the environment and the exploitation of the region.

They want to see studies carried out to assess the risks to the environment caused by the exploitation of the region at the same time as any exploration which is needed to confirm exactly the resources the region holds. But they are concerned that the exploration will eventually lead to the exploitation. What raises most concerns is drilling for oil due to the chances of a spill. A lot of Antarctica's animal life is found near the coast and is likely to be affected. Colder climates cause oil to degrade and break up at a slower rate than in warmer ones so an oil spill in the Antarctic will be harder to deal with and more damaging than in other areas.

In 1959 a landmark treaty turned Antarctica into a scientific preserve and the majority of what goes on there is tied in to the treaty. One of the things that the twelve nations who signed the treaty have managed to achieve is to keep the Antarctic free from militarization and nuclear weapon testing. The treaty also sidesteps land claims, some of which overlap. Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, Great Britain claim territory.

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