Pictured above: Antarctica. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Dnyaneshwari Haware ’23
Staff Writer
Members of the largest all-women’s expedition to Antarctica, organized by women in STEM initiative Homeward Bound, have formed an all-women’s scientific coalition which is offering ways to overcome the negative impacts of climate change on the fragile Antarctic environment. The lack of women in Antarctica’s research and exploratory history makes this coalition an important step toward empowering women in scientific fields. It consists of 289 scientists and includes the European Union, Russia and the U.S.
Antarctica, which houses unique species, has a highly sensitive ecosystem. Climate change, along with human activity like tourism and fishing, endangers Antarctic organisms from microscopic algae to humpback whales.
Antarctica’s ecosystem mainly depends on a species of crustacean called krill, which form the basis of the continent’s food chain. Climate change and the negative externalities of human activities have resulted in shrinking sea ice and higher sea levels, leaving krill larvae unsheltered. This could destabilize the entire food chain, affecting species populations faster due to the vulnerability of the ecosystem.
The western peninsula of Antarctica is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth with a temperature of 20.75 degrees Celsius. In a two-week-long meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources in October 2020, the coalition proposed the western peninsula of Antarctica as a new marine protected area. This was led by Chile and Argentina. Currently, two areas in Antarctica have marine protection: the South Orkney Islands and the Ross Sea. Marga Gual Soler, a Spanish science policy advisor, told Reuters that the protection of this peninsula “would show the international community that collective action to tackle a global problem is possible.”