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The Internet's best Antarctica Travel
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What Adventure Travelers Need to Know More ... About AntarcticaAuthor: Mandy KarlikTechnically, the continent of Antarctica was not officially discovered until the year 1820. However, it was not exactly unknown. Before that, it had been "contemplated" by ancient cultures who sort of surmised that there had to be land at the extreme southernmost end of the world. Some ancient cultures figured it had to exist as a way of balancing the weight of Europe and Africa. The ancient Greeks, who knew about the Arctic or North Pole, speculated there had to be an anti-North Pole or anti-Arctic. In fact, they gave Antarctica its name. Famed explorer Captain Cook, better known for his more temperate discoveries in the South Pacific and Hawaii, almost discovered Antarctica when he cruised within miles of it but never actually sighted land (or knew what was there). It was not until 1820 that Antarctica was actually sighted and a few more years later until anyone managed to set foot on the continent. The actual discoverer of Antarctica remains somewhat in dispute, but suffice it to say that they were more interested in the fur trade than scientific exploration. The continent today is a land of superlatives. It's not just the coldest place on earth (colder by far than the North Pole). It's also the driest (which is paradoxical since it contains 90 percent of the earth's ice), the windiest, and the highest (in terms of average elevation). Antarctica receives so little average annual precipitation that its stark interior qualifies as the world's largest desert. It also has active volcanoes, several species of indigenous plants and animals, and a near-permanent settlement of temporary residents, mainly conducting scientific research. Today, it's also a vacation destination. True, it's not a typical vacation spot. Few people relax by going to the harshest, most extreme climate zone on earth. But for adventure travelers, it is a great place to visit. Commercial cruise lines run regular, if only occasional, tours there and cruising Antarctica is a great way to see it. However, even the most stalwart adventure traveler has to make concessions for the Antarctic. For one thing, it's daylight all of the time or not at all, depending on the season. Second, sunburn can be as much of a problem as frostbite since the glare from the ice and snow makes going outside treacherous. Eye protection is an absolute necessity since snow blindness can permanently damage the eyes. With high winds and frequent storms, air travel is dicey at best. Planes can and do fly around the region, but schedules are almost impossible since everything is contingent on the weather. Technically, the permanent population of Antarctica is zero, but there is actually a near permanent settlement of people who come to Antarctica on a temporary basis to live, study, work, conduct research, or even just play tourist. Recently, Ann Curry of the Today Show visited the South Pole as such a visitor. The facilities for residents are limited at best, but growing. Today, there are even a few people who can actually claim to have been born in Antarctica. The future of Antarctica is guarded zealously by a group of nations who signed a treaty to protect this last continent from all forms of exploitation. Scientific research is permitted, even encouraged, but it must be done in ways that do little damage to the delicate ecosystem of this harsh region. Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/wny-adventure-travelers-need-to-know-more-about-antarctica-473886.html About the Author:Interested in learning more about Antarctica? Whether you're a future visitor or just a curious arm chair traveler, check out http://www.see-antarctica.com . |
Antarctica Travel GuideAuthor: Jack LyonThe ice shelves and mountain ranges in Antarctica make you recognise the enormity of nature and the frailties of human life. To put it very simply, Antarctica is a stunning destination. The continent that is, even today, uninhabited (only scientists and other members at research stations comprise the temporary human inhabitants) leaves you spellbound with its breathtaking natural beauty. Although you’ll feel out of place, for hardly anyone (seals and penguins included) will notice you, more visitors to Antarctica have come thanking they chose this destination over others. Places to see in Antarctica Falkland Islands: Spectacular is the word to describe the Falkland Islands, a popular destination amongst Antarctica Cruises.With its vast population of albatrosses, seals and penguins, the Falkland Islands are sure to leave a memorable picture in your mind. Sheep are also abundant and outnumber Falklanders by 200 to 1. Some of the must visit destinations on the Falkland Islands include the Falkland Islands Museum (located in Stanley), Sea Lion Island (you can spot all five species of penguins on Falklands Islands here) and Steeple Jason (home to the world’s largest colony of black – browed albatrosses). You’ll also not want to miss a chance to meet and share a drink with the locals at one of Stanley’s lovely pubs. Antarctica Cruises An Antarctic cruise could well be the single most memorable experience of your life. Although Antarctica cruises from Australia and New Zealand are the longest, they are also amongst the most exciting. Cruising to Antarctica involves cruising in all sorts of weathers and temperatures. http://www.travelprojects.com.au offers Antarctica cruises from Australia – find more details on their website. Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/antarctica-travel-guide-1262445.html About the Author:Having travelled all over the world and tasted the culture and cuisine of almost all major countries, Jack Lyon now resides in Melbourne. These days he likes to tell people about his travels through his articles. www.travelprojects.com.au An Antartica Cruise... The Allure of the South PoleAuthor: Ronald RougeauxSights to See and activities to Do While Cruising Antartica: Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/an-antartica-cruise-the-allure-of-the-south-pole-781576.html About the Author:You'll get useful cruise tips and hints when you visit the top rated cruise site of www.Cruise-Tips.com. Here you will find practical information on cruising and all the cruise lines of Holland America, Princess, Celebrity, Norwegian and many other quality ships. Get the tips you need today.
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Global warming - beware of the mythAuthor: Johnny HerbertGlobal warming – It is a myth! Either way it is not going to be settled for a long time. There is some truth in it as Earth has been warming on and off since the end of the last ice age 10,000 years ago. I take the view of the sceptic who wants all the facts and doesn't like to be lied or preached too by those in power. The following shows that global warming realists are pointing to recent record cold temperatures in parts of North America and Asia and the return of Arctic Sea ice to suggest that fears about climate change are overblown. NATIONAL CLIMATE DATA CENTRE (NCDC) The above data collecting centre reported that the average temperature of the global land surface in January 2008 was below the 20th century mean (-0.02°F/-0.01°C) for the first time since 1982. The NCDC also reported that the cold conditions were associated with "the largest January snow cover extent on record for the Eurasian continent and for the Northern Hemisphere". It was noted that in 2008 in some parts of China and central Asia, snow fell for the first time in living memory. This data proves that there is no global warming… Want some more facts that prove the opposite to the myth of global warming? Read on for more facts that explode the myth. ARTIC OCEAN Ice in the Artic fluctuates and is not predictable. The Artic Ocean has been warmer than at present, one interesting war time example was the German freighter Komet, turned armed raider in 1940, it sailed the northern route from the Atlantic through the Baring Strait into the Pacific Ocean where it caused havoc sinking many ships. This route is not open to shipping today because of sea ice. In 2008 Lewis Pugh an Englishman aborted a well publicized effort to try to paddle an ice breaking kayak to the north pole, he hoped to prove the human induced effects of global warming however he demonstrated the exact opposite by only managing to reach 960 km short of the North Pole before being stopped by think ice. Whereas 125 years ago Fridtjof Nansen with an ordinary kayak was able to reach 800 km from the pole. ANTARCTICA ICE - EAST The warming and cooling cycles over the past 150 years have produced world wide changes. Lets me look at Antarctica, the East Antarctica ice sheet contains almost 90% of the worlds ice. This huge area is under constant measuring and monitoring by European satellites, some 347 million thickness measurements were taken between the years of 1992 and 2003, this proved that the ice sheet was gaining on average some 45 billion tonnes of ice per year. How can this be? Is it likely that the process of global warming has warmed enough for it to snow heavily in the coldest place on Earth? ANTARCTIC – TEMPERATURES ARE DOWN According to Ian Plimer in his recent book Heaven and Earth, from where I have taken some of these facts, Measurements from 21 Antarctic surface measuring stations show an average annual continental decline of 0.008 degrees centigrade between 1978 and 1998 in the Antarctic. These measurements were validated by satellite measurements since 1979 of infra-red radiation showing a decline in temperature in Antarctica of 0.42 degrees centigrade per decade. Penguins and other breeding birds accept this and are now migrating and arriving at their spring nesting stations some nine days later than they did in the 1950’s. Antarctica is cooling and this has been reflected in the thickening of ice sheets and the increase in snow fall, as indicated by drill hole samples and satellite altimeter echoes which determined the thickness of the ice sheet between 1992 and 2003. This shows the ice sheet is growing by between 27 and 29 billion tonnes per year. I think that is enough, so it looks like there is no more ‘global warming’ at least not for some time, so will the government, the IPCC, and all those other scare mongers please get off the case, and stop spending millions of public monies on advertising misleading statistics. They should do something useful for a change, like work on saving the rain forests from human clearing. We can’t replace these incredible assets but it is not too late to prevent them from what looks like their ultimate destruction. Forest clearing and population growth are the two main issues in the world today. So why don’t those in power use their time and energy to address these issues? Maybe it’s because these are just too difficult for them, maybe they think it is politically incorrect to visit these issues or to interfere! So they find it easier to beat us around the head with their false data and myths like CO2 released by us will lead to disastrous global warming. Fortunately they are wrong, it won’t. Global warming is nothing new, quite the reverse it was present a very long time before humans walked the earth. Global warming had nothing to do with CO2 or humans back then, unsurprisingly nothing has changed… Johnny Herbert Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/global-warming-beware-of-the-myth-1465258.html About the Author:
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