NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
Support for this project was provided by the U.S. Department of State under Grant No. 1755-200101 and the National Research Council (NRC) Fund.
Cover: Images of Earth: Antarctica from the Galileo Project, December 8, 1990. Image processing by W. Reid Thompson of Cornell University. The Galileo Project is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California for NASA.
Front: This near-infrared, false-color view of the Earth is constructed using the Galileo spacecraft’s Solid State Imager (SSI) wavelength band near 1 micron along with its red and green bands. Ice and snow preferentially absorb incident solar radiation near 1 micron resulting in a cyan (blue-green) hue on Antarctica in this false-color version, while vegetation preferentially reflects radiation near 1 micron resulting in reddish areas on the other continents. Differences in the cyan hue within the Antarctic continent are mainly due to clouds or windblown snow masking the surface. Differences in the saturation of the blue-green color in other areas are due to different ice textures; e.g., the boundary between the continent and solid ice shelves (upper right and middle left), fans of broken offshore icebergs (upper left and middle left), and the deeply colored serration-like protrusions of glaciers and their associated fringe of offshore icebergs (lower left) are seen at different longitudes. Deeper cyan colors result from relatively clear or warm ice, while weaker hues result from cold, fine-grained ice and snow. Galileo’s sensitive imaging of snow and ice is a prelude to observations of the icy Galilean satellites of Jupiter when the spacecraft arrives there in December 1995.
Back: This unique polar view of the Earth was produced from a total of 21 images obtained by Galileo’s SSI after its first Earth flyby in December 1990. Galileo receded from the Earth looking down on 34°S latitude and, thus, had a very clear view of the southern hemisphere and Antarctica. Here, computer mapping techniques have utilized these images to construct a view of the Earth as if it were illuminated and viewed from directly above the South Pole. The regularly spaced weather systems and especially the antarctic continent are prominent. The continents of South America, Africa, and Australia are respectively at the upper right, lower right, and lower left. In this natural-color version, the slightly bluish ice and snow of Antarctica include large ice shelves (upper right, middle left), a broad fan of broken offshore pack ice (left and upper middle), and the continental glaciers protruding into the sea (lower left).
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 93-84800
International Standard Book No. 0-309-04947-4
Copyright 1993 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
B-172
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COMMITTEE ON ANTARCTIC POLICY AND SCIENCE
LOUIS J. LANZEROTTI, Chair,
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey
RICHARD B. BILDER,
University of Wisconsin Law School, Madison
ROBERT A. BINDSCHADLER,
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
DANIEL M. BODANSKY,
University of Washington Law School, Seattle
WILLIAM M. EICHBAUM,
World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC
DAVID H. ELLIOT,
Ohio State University, Columbus
WILL MARTIN,
Harwell Martin & Stegall, Nashville, Tennessee (through 4/22/93)
DIANE M. McKNIGHT,
U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colorado
NORINE E. NOONAN,
Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne
DONALD B. SINIFF,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
SUSAN SOLOMON,
Environmental Research Laboratories, Aeronomy Laboratory/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, Colorado
VICTORIA E. UNDERWOOD,
Explorer Shipping Corporation/Abercrombie & Kent International, Oak Brook, Illinois
NRC Staff
SARAH CONNICK, Study Director
DAVID A. SHAKESPEARE, Research Associate
MARIANN S. PLATT, Senior Project Assistant KELLY
NORSINGLE, Senior Project Assistant
POLAR RESEARCH BOARD
ROBERT H. RUTFORD (Chair),
University of Texas at Dallas
RITA R. COLWELL (Vice-Chair),
Maryland Biotechnology Institute, University of Maryland, College Park
NORBERT UNTERSTEINER (Vice-Chair),
University of Washington, Seattle
EDDY C. CARMACK,
Department of Fisheries & Oceans, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada
F. STUART CHAPIN III,
University of California, Berkeley
INEZ Y. FUNG,
Goddard Institute of Space Studies, New York, New York
JOHN L. LaBRECQUE,
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, New York
MARK F. MEIER,
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder
JOHN P. MIDDAUGH,
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, Anchorage
THEODORE J. ROSENBERG,
University of Maryland, College Park
DONALD B. SINIFF,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
SUSAN SOLOMON,
Environmental Research Laboratories, Aeronomy Laboratory/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, Colorado
WILFORD F. WEEKS,
University of Alaska Fairbanks
ORAN R. YOUNG,
Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
Ex-Officio Members
CHARLES R. BENTLEY,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
ELLEN S. MOSLEY-THOMPSON,
Ohio State University, Columbus
Staff
LOREN W. SETLOW, Director
DAVID A. SHAKESPEARE, Research Associate
MARIANN S. PLATT, Senior Project Assistant
KELLY NORSINGLE, Senior Project Assistant
COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES
M. GORDON WOLMAN (Chair),
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
PATRICK R. ATKINS,
Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
PETER S. EAGLESON,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
EDWARD A. FRIEMAN,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
HELEN M. INGRAM,
University of Arizona, Tucson
W. BARCLAY KAMB,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
GENE E. LIKENS,
The New York Botanical Garden, Millbrook
SYUKURO MANABE,
NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey
JACK E. OLIVER,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
FRANK L. PARKER,
Vanderbilt/Clemson University, Nashville, Tennessee
DUNCAN T. PATTEN,
Arizona State University, Tempe
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada
MAXINE L. SAVITZ,
Garrett Ceramic Components, Torrance, California
LARRY L. SMARR,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
STEVEN M. STANLEY,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
WARREN WASHINGTON,
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
EDITH BROWN WEISS,
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.
IRVIN L. WHITE,
Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Washington, D.C.
NRC Staff
M. GORDON WOLMAN, Chairman
STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director
LORRAINE W. WOLF, Assistant Executive Director
JEANETTE A. SPOON, Administrative Officer
BARBARA B. SINGLETARY, Administrative Associate
ROBIN L. ALLEN, Administrative Assistant
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Preface
With a worldwide increase in the awareness of, and concern for, environmental issues that face Planet Earth has come a growing awareness of the role that the polar regions play in the global environment. A quite natural accompaniment has been the growing recognition by the general public and by organized environmental groups of the especially pristine nature of the Antarctic, the southern polar region of the planet. Of course, the Antarctic has always been considered a special place by those nations that established, more than three decades ago, the Treaty System that has kept the continent free from human conflicts and that has preserved it as a unique locale for scientific research. Now, with the number of Consultative Parties to the Treaty more than double the original 12 and far more nations actively interested in environmental matters for the welfare of their citizens, the place of the Antarctic in international science has grown even more visible, especially for those research areas that require global perspectives.
Antarctica itself is no longer viewed as the sole object of the scientific research conducted there. Studies of marine living resources are placed in a global context of food stocks and of local and global ecosystems. The study of algae and bacteria in Antarctica's desert lakes and streams provides insight on microbial systems of the early Earth and the possibility of life on Mars. Studies of the evolution of life history phenomena in extreme environments, the physiological adaptations that accompany these phenomena, and species interactions have provided significant insights on ecosystem structures and functions. Undisturbed benthic habitats, in which marine communities have been isolated for perhaps 20 million years, provide a unique opportunity for studies of evolution. The explosion-generated acoustic signals that bounce off the rock at the bottom of an ice sheet not only yield data on the ice itself but also provide insights into the stability and future of the sheet under conditions of global atmospheric change. Machine-driven augers drilling deep into the ice caps produce cores that tell us of past climates on Earth and of the atmo-
spheric conditions that existed in those ancient times. Geologic and fossil discoveries made by geologists working under the most difficult conditions have been essential for understanding continental drift and the place of the Antarctic in it.
Humankind's influence on the stratospheric ozone layer was first discovered and then understood through measurements and experiments made on, and above the continent. The balloon-borne payloads that majestically circle the entire continent in a week or more relay data on the conditions of the upper atmosphere, the near-space environment, and the Sun, all of great importance for understanding global climate and weather. Sensitive ground-based instruments emplaced across the continent monitor signals that are crucial for understanding, and even predicting, the weather conditions where spacecraft that circle the planet fly. The antarctic ice sheet has collected and harbored a vast number of meteorites, some of which are of lunar origin, and some few of which are likely to be the only samples of the surface of the planet Mars that we have on Earth. Thus, research in the Antarctic has become essential for progress in many areas of global geosciences and biological sciences.
In meetings in Madrid and Bonn in October of 1991, a Protocol on Environmental Protection was developed for the Antarctic Treaty. The Protocol designates Antarctica as a natural reserve devoted to science and peace and establishes important environmental standards for the Antarctic. Its Annexes contain detailed mandatory rules for certain specific activities and areas. Compliance with the Protocol will require implementing legislation in the United States.
The scientific community recognizes the need for strong measures for environmental protection in the Antarctic. At the same time, there is reasonable concern that the implementation of the Protocol could harm the science required for environmental protection, including scientific monitoring. There are also questions as to whether the traditional primacy of scientific excellence as the principal determinant of the research to be pursued might be superseded by other criteria.
Humans and their activities cause the need for environmental oversight in the Antarctic. It is commonly believed that the scientific population in the Antarctic likely will grow little for some time. In many areas of research, projects will rely more and more on automated instrumentation and remote sensing from spacecraft. Such trends should be strongly encouraged. At the same time, however, tourism will likely continue to grow. And tourists will want to visit not only fixed scientific bases in order to understand the work in progress, but also continental areas of significant scientific importance. These developments raise concerns about the environmental aspects of such tourism, and its impacts on scientific research.
At the request of the U.S. Department of State, the Polar Research Board of the National Research Council (NRC) established the Committee on Antarctic Policy and Science (CAPS) to evaluate the possible impacts of policy decisions on scientific programs in Antarctica. The evaluation had four major goals:
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To identify the possible impacts on science from expanding human activities in the Antarctic.
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To evaluate the possible impacts on science projected from various political, institutional, and organizational scenarios being considered for managing human activities in the Antarctic.
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To provide an independent evaluation of U.S. policy options and their possible effects on the structure and functioning of science within the Antarctic Treaty System and within the United States.
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To provide specific policy recommendations on the role of the antarctic scientists in the policy process.
The Committee first met in December of 1992 and proceeded thereafter on a very rapid schedule to carry out its charter. In addition to four extensive meetings at which directions were established and issues debated and settled, the Committee convened a workshop to examine the governmental, environmental, and scientific issues raised by the Protocol. More than 70 interested individuals from government, universities, and nongovernmental organizations attended. The growth of mutual understanding and awareness among the attendees from differing backgrounds was most evident during the course of the workshop, and afterwards.
This report is the result of the Committee's deliberations and hard work. I would like to thank the members of CAPS and the NRC staff for the intensity of their participation and for the genuine collegiality demonstrated throughout our deliberations. The members have defined the issues and recommended actions that can be commended to all those concerned for the preservation of this unique continent on Planet Earth.
Louis J. Lanzerotti, Chair
Committee on Antarctic Policy and Science