The remote and frozen land of Antarctica has long fascinated people. For years, the continent was inaccessible to everyone but a handful of fortunate and pioneering scientists and explorers. But now, around 30,000 tourists visit every year to see its vast extraordinary landscapes and breathtaking wildlife.
Antarctica holds many of the answers to how our world works – both the history of the planet and the impact of human activity on it today. But the polar regions are particularly vulnerable to climate change and we’re already seeing dramatic changes there. Record temperatures are being reached. More and more ice is melting. Sea levels are warming and rising. Biodiversity is under threat, with some species already shrinking and vanishing.
Even penguins – one of the region’s most loved inhabitants – are being affected, with their habitats and food sources becoming ever-more unstable. Between 1980 and 2020, several penguin colonies vanished. This short video from British Antarctic Survey shows the effect of climate change on the penguin population of Antarctica
A vital role
The oceans, ice and ecosystems of Antarctica have a critical role in regulating the earth’s climate. And as these fragile systems are disrupted and thrown off balance by climate change, the effects are already beginning to be felt around the world.
We’re on the brink of catastrophe, and what we do now will affect the future of the whole planet. We have to do more, and we have to do it faster.