Ecomusicology is an area of study that explores the relationships between music or sound, and the natural environment. It is a study which encompasses a variety of academic disciplines including musicology, biology, ecology and anthropology.
Ecomusicology combines these disciplines to explore how sound is
produced by natural environments and, more broadly how cultural values
and concerns about nature are expressed through sonic mediums.
Ecomusicology explores the ways that music is composed to replicate
natural imagery, as well as how sounds produced within the natural
environment are used within musical composition.
Ecological studies of sounds produced by animals within their habitat
are also considered to be part of the field of ecomusicology. In the 21st century, studies within the field the ecomusicology have also become increasingly interested in the sustainability of music production and performance.
Ecomusicology is concerned with the study of music, culture, and nature,
and considers musical and sonic issues, both textual and performative,
related to ecology and the natural environment. It is in essence a
mixture of ecocriticism and musicology (rather than "ecology" and "musicology"), in Charles Seeger's holistic definition. Ecomusicology is regarded as a field of research rather than a specific academic discipline.
Because ecomusicology focuses on a vast variety of disciplines as well
as areas of research, it can be imagined as a space in which studies of
sound in relation with the environment are conducted.
Ecomusicology's relevance to such a wide range of other research areas is exactly what makes it somewhat ambiguous to define.
On one hand, ecomusicology is a unique field of research which helps to
make connections between a variety of music-related and environmental
studies. Yet, by functioning as a collective term, it is often difficult
to frame ecomusicology within a static set of descriptive definitions.
Musicologist Aaron S. Allen, the author of multiple published works on
ecomusicology, defines ecomusicology as "the study of music, culture,
and nature in all the complexities of those terms. Ecomusicology
considers musical and sonic issues, both textual and performative,
related to ecology and the natural environment."
Background
Ecomusicology as a field of study is often traced back to musical composer and environmentalist R. Murray Schafer who used the term to explain the sonic nature of particular physical environments or soundscapes.
The idea of sound or music as something which creates or captures a
particular atmosphere, was initially professed by Murray R. Schafer
through his development of the concept of soundscape ecology in the late 1970s.
Schafer used this term to encompass the vast acoustic environment which
constitutes all the varied sounds, audible to the human ear. A
soundscape might entail for example, the all audible sounds heard within
a specific area of land, such as a mountain range, a forest or field.
From the 1970s, there has been an increase in interest in the
term ecomusicology, which was established as a term in the early 21st
century in North American and Scandinavian circles.
As a field, ecomusicology was created out of a common area of interest
between the fields of ecocriticism and musicology, expressed by a range
of scholars and artists such as composers, acoustic ecologists, ethnomusicologists, biomusicologists, and others.
Ecomusicology embraces what is today considered the field of historical musicology, ethnomusicology, and related interdisciplinary
fields, which while at the same time may enable specialists within each
of these fields to interact with academics in the other fields in their
approach, it also provides individuals with flexibility to approach an
ecocritical study of music through a variety of disciplines and fields.
In 2011, the Society for Ethnomusicology established an Ecomusicology Special Interest Group (ESIG).
In October 2012, the first international ecomusicology-conference took place in New Orleans, U.S.
Ecomusicology considers aspects of environmental sustainability
within music production and performance. For example, the relationship
between a demand for a certain musical instrument as well as the costs
and impacts of its production, has been an area of interest for
Ecomusicologists investigating the sustainability of the consumption and
production of music or musical instruments.
This includes the impact which the demand for musical instruments,
merchandise or live experiences such as concerts has on the natural
environment.
Music-Journalist and Anthropologist Mark Pedelty, has written on the
Ecomusicological relationship between human musical activities and the
health of the environment.
Having written about the pollutive impacts that international music
touring often has on the environment, Pedelty explores Ecomusicological
concerns of ethicality regarding the production of carbon emissions
created by vehicles used to a move band members, instruments and/or any
extensive staging or crew.
Live Earth Concert at Wembley Stadium, 2007
Part of ecomusicology's investigation of environmental ethics, are the ways in which discussions around projects of sustainability are positioned within popular music and media. In 2010, music magazine Rolling Stone
compiled a list of "The 15 Most Eco-Friendly Rockers", selecting
artists based on various criteria regarding their support or
consideration for the environment within their musical practice.
This included assessments of the amount of money donated to
environmentally sustainable causes, or an artist's effort to perform and
act in carbon-neutral ways. Some of the artists included Green Day for their work with the Natural Resources Defence Council, as well as hip-hop group The Roots for hosting multiple music events aimed at promoting social and environmental awareness.
A key area of focus for studies within ecomusicology are the ways in
which sound and music is used to create or express concerns about the
environment. Jeff Todd Titon has described ecomusicology which focuses more on conceptual aspects of ecocriticism as "the study of music, culture, sound and nature in a period of environmental crisis." The occurrence of live music events aimed at promoting awareness about environmental destruction and climate change is one area in which ecomusicology continues to be engaged.
Marching band at Climate Strike in Toronto, 27 September 2019
Numerous music events including Live Earth in 2007 and, more recently, Make It Rain (Australia, 2020)
among others, have either been involved in promoting climate-change
awareness, or to raising funds for the alleviation of the effects of climate change on humans and animals. The investigation of eco-friendly organisations such as Reverb
is also relevant to Ecomusicological inquiry. These organisations are
often aimed at working with artists to reduce or offset the carbon
footprint of their performance and touring emissions, as well as
engaging audiences in environmental activism by reducing waste production at music events.
Romantic Landscape with Spruce (Elias Martin) – National museum – 21679
Ecomusicology also considers the relationships between music or
sound, and the promotion of ideas surrounding environmental activism.
Ecomusicologists may for example examine the conceptual basis of songs
written specifically about environmental degradation
or, consider how and to what effect the use of simple short,
repetitive vocal chants may assist in voicing the environmental concerns
central to projects of climate activism.
The ways in which music has been used to prompt social and political
action to protect the environment is of notable relevance to the focuses
of ecomusicology at large.
Ecomusicology investigates the creation of music which attempts to reflect or capture feelings or experiences provoked by the natural environment. Experiences of nature which are often expressed through poetry or art,
are frequently analysed within ecomusicology to identify the cognitive
and emotional impacts which specific sounds might have on humans.
Ecology
Ecomusicology is often closely paired with the study of ecology, assisting in the analysis of the behavioural patterns of animals and ecosystems through the investigation of sound data. Ecological studies of bird
and the characteristics of their song, have revealed ways in which
sounds and spaces in their natural environment have shaped certain
behaviours. Here, ecomusicology applies concepts related to sound and music theory
with research regarding animal behaviours to reveal information about
how sound is manipulated by animals in relation to their environment.
By measuring musicological qualities such as volume, pitch and frequency
within a particular bird's song, Ecologists have discovered that
certain birds will sing louder in noisier, built-environments compared
to birds of the same species found in rural environments.
Similarly, some birds may pitch their song differently in order to be
heard across greater distances or more densely vegetative, and therefore
more sound-absorbent environments. Other ecological studies on non-human animals include research on whale vocalization as well as the acoustics of bat and insect communication otherwise known as biophonics.
Research methods
Ecomusicology utilises both qualitative and quantitative
methods of data collection, however, the type of data as well as
methods of data collection vary depending on what the subject of study
may be. Ecomusicological research aimed at understanding aspects of social engagement with ecocritism might for example primarily involve the use of qualitative data collected through interviews and field research of particular social events.
Conversely, research regarding the communicative behaviours of certain
animal species would likely be pursued through a comparison of quantitative data collected through audio recordings of a specific environment.
Environment-focused
Ecomusicological
field research of animal behaviours within a particular environment
often includes methods of passive recording/listening. This is usually
undertaken with the use of multi-directional Microphone which are often hidden and left within a species' habitat to record the array of sounds created in its environment. Hydrophones
(microphones that can be submerged beneath water) may also be used to
collect sound data from marine environments. By replaying passive (data
collected without being present at the source) recordings, Ecologists
are able to study the amount, frequency and variation of a particular
sound within that environment to reveal insights about the population or
behaviours of a particular animal species.
Human-focused studies in ecomusicology are often conducted using similar field research methods to that of anthropology or sociology. This includes conducting interviews, collecting various numerical data, surveys as well as on-site observation.
There are three main ways in which the study of non-humans enhances the
study of human music: the context of the non-human's sound, the agency
or behavior of the non-human, and the interaction between the human and
non-human.
As an example of contextualizing a non-human's sound, study of the
peacock's call altered the interpretation of northeastern Brazilian
folklore; works about the peacock were interpreted as love songs until
better understanding of this particular call elucidated that it was
resistance to the military dictatorship in Brazil.
Studying agency includes the relationship that humans have with animal
behavior; migratory patterns of the Picazuro pigeon predicted major
droughts, demonstrating the interconnectedness of rural and urban
communities through nature. Finally, the study of human and non-human interaction focuses on the manner in which humans interpret the sounds of nonhumans. Luis Gonzaga,
a popular Brazilian singer, popularized a folk song about the laughing
falcon, which many used to understand the birds' call as an indicator of
major drought.
These varied methods of data collection are used to make a qualitative
analysis of the ways in which sound and music may influence behaviours
as well as systems of value and meaning within a particular social
context.
The idea of "place" has also served as a common theme of
human-focused ecomusicological research. Having worked with the Kaluli
people in Papua New Guinea, ethnomusicologist Steven Feld studied the
confluence of myth and ecology in Kaluli aesthetics reflected in
weeping, poetics, and sound. According to Feld, for the Kaluli, sound,
as a system of symbols, functions as a way of communicating deeply felt
sentiments and reconfiguring mythic principles.
The form and performance of Kaluli weeping, poetics, and song, tied to
Kaluli origin myths and the natural environment, embody and express
cultural meanings. Using sound as an expressive, performative modality,
the Kaluli signify the symbolic circle of their myth, "the boy who
became a muni bird."
Feld's analysis suggests that this theme of "becoming a bird" serves
as a core metaphor of Kaluli aesthetics that "mediat[es] social
sentiments in sound forms."
Culturally constituted performance codes confer performers with the
ability to symbolize bird communication. Kaluli aesthetics elicit
comparisons between performers and certain birds of the natural
environment in the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.
Through his research, Feld theorized the concept of acoustemology (sound
as a way of knowing) by analyzing how acoustics and epistemology
conjoin.
Musical theory and instrumentation
Ecomusicology considers the ways in which musical instruments and other forms of sound manipulation are used to recreate or represent features of specific environments or soundscapes. Music produced within the conceptual spectrum of ecomusicology often tries to replicate sounds found in the natural environment.
This can include the use of orchestral instruments or vocal sounds to
mimic sounds produced within the natural environment, such as the
melodic chirp of a bird's song, or the rhythmic gushing of stream. Sound effects
are also used in a variety of ways to recreate sound textures produced
within particular environments. An example might be the application of
echo or reverb effects to an instrument to reproduce the distant echoing
of sound as it rebounds off hard surfaces across a canyon or valley.
A screen of music production software Ableton Live
The work of composer and sound-artist Maggi Payne
often features the creation and combination of different sounds to
convey natural processes or reflect elements of the natural environment. In her sound work Distant Thunder,
Payne uses a combination of different sound sources including "boiling
water, a resonant floor furnace, and unrolling adhesive tape" to recreate the distinctive soundscape of desert storm.
A common feature of musical compositions related to ecomusicology, is the use of field recordings that capture the ambient sound
produced within a specific environment. Field recordings can originate
from urban settings to rural or natural environments, or anywhere else
where an audio recording device may be used to record the sounds
produced within a particular location.
The creation and use of field recordings form part of ecomusicology's
analysis of soundscapes and the ways in which different environments may
be experienced through their distinctive aural features.
Also of interest to studies within ecomusicology, are the ways in
which sound is processed and manipulated through technological software
to compose new soundscapes or sound environments. Musical composition
methods which involve music production software has allowed for music's
relationship with nature to be imagined in new ways, many of which are
useful and relevant to ecomusicological analysis.
Education
Since
its increased presence within academic discourse in the 21st century, a
number of teaching methods have been devised to integrate the study of
ecomusicology into school learning environments. Daniel J. Shevock, an
academic of musicology who has written extensively on Ecomusicological theory,
has designed and taught a variety of lessons concerning ideas and
practices of ecomusicology which can be applied to primary/highschool
learning environments.
Shevock has outlined a series of possible practice-based learning
activities focused on informing students about environmental concerns
central to the study of ecomusicology. This includes tasks which involve
the creation of songs or poems inspired by the natural environment or
other social concerns about sustainability and the health of ecologies.
Shevock has also devised a range of theoretical tasks which include
listening to and discussing the conceptual and structural elements of
nature-focused music.
As a field of study which encompasses more than one area of
interest, both Allen and Shevock have discussed the potential advantages
that studies of ecomusicology might have in extending an understanding
of other subject areas taught within schools. For example, the teaching of some of ecomusicology's research methods
and findings within the study of ecologies, may be useful in expanding
students' comprehension of some ideas taught within the subject of biology.
The "wild pedagogies" approach has also been proposed as an innovative
way of integrating music studies into environmental concerns within both
schools and university education.
Composite satellite image of Antarctica (2002)Apollo 4 photograph with Antarctica at top, 1967
Antarctica (/ænˈtɑːrktɪkə/ⓘ)[note 1] is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14,200,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq mi). Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).
Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost 60 metres (200 ft). Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). The coastal regions can reach temperatures over 10 °C (50 °F) in the summer. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss.
A speculative representation of Antarctica labelled as 'Terra Australis Incognita' on Jan Janssonius's Zeekaart van het Zuidpoolgebied (1657), Het Scheepvaartmuseum
The name given to the continent originates from the word antarctic, which comes from Middle Frenchantartique or antarctique ('opposite to the Arctic') and, in turn, the Latinantarcticus ('opposite to the north'). Antarcticus is derived from the Greekἀντι- ('anti-') and ἀρκτικός ('of the Bear', 'northern'). The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote in Meteorology about an "Antarctic region" in c. 350 BCE. The Greek geographer Marinus of Tyre reportedly used the name in his world map from the second century CE, now lost. The Roman authors Gaius Julius Hyginus and Apuleius used for the South Pole the romanised Greek name polus antarcticus, from which derived the Old Frenchpole antartike (modern pôle antarctique) attested in 1270, and from there the Middle Englishpol antartik, found first in a treatise written by the English author Geoffrey Chaucer.
Belief by Europeans in the existence of a Terra Australis—a
vast continent in the far south of the globe to balance the northern
lands of Europe, Asia, and North Africa—had existed as an intellectual
concept since classical antiquity. The belief in such a land lasted until the European discovery of Australia.
During the early 19th century, explorer Matthew Flinders doubted the existence of a detached continent south of Australia (then called New Holland) and thus advocated for the "Terra Australis" name to be used for Australia instead. In 1824, the colonial authorities in Sydney
officially renamed the continent of New Holland to Australia, leaving
the term "Terra Australis" unavailable as a reference to Antarctica.
Over the following decades, geographers used phrases such as "the
Antarctic Continent". They searched for a more poetic replacement,
suggesting names such as Ultima and Antipodea. Antarctica was adopted in the 1890s, with the first use of the name being attributed to the Scottish cartographerJohn George Bartholomew.
Antarctica has also been known by the moniker Great White South, after which British photographer Herbert Ponting named one of his books on Antarctic photography, possibly as a counterpart to the epithet Great White North for Canada.
Positioned asymmetrically around the South Pole and largely south of the Antarctic Circle (one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the world), Antarctica is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. Rivers exist in Antarctica; the longest is the Onyx. Antarctica covers more than 14.2 million km2
(5,500,000 sq mi), almost double the area of Australia, making it the
fifth-largest continent, and comparable to the surface area of Pluto. Its coastline is almost 18,000 km (11,200 mi) long: as of 1983, of the four coastal types, 44% of the coast is floating ice in the form of an ice shelf, 38% consists of ice walls that rest on rock, 13% is ice streams or the edge of glaciers, and the remaining 5% is exposed rock.
The lakes that lie at the base of the continental ice sheet occur mainly in the McMurdo Dry Valleys or various oases. Lake Vostok, discovered beneath Russia's Vostok Station, is the largest subglacial lake
globally and one of the largest lakes in the world. It was once
believed that the lake had been sealed off for millions of years, but
scientists now estimate its water is replaced by the slow melting and
freezing of ice caps every 13,000 years. During the summer, the ice at the edges of the lakes can melt, and liquid moats temporarily form. Antarctica has both saline and freshwater lakes.
Vinson Massif, in the Ellsworth Mountains, is the highest peak in Antarctica at 4,892 m (16,050 ft). Mount Erebus on Ross Island is the world's southernmost active volcano and erupts around 10 times each day. Ash from eruptions has been found 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the volcanic crater.
There is evidence of a large number of volcanoes under the ice, which
could pose a risk to the ice sheet if activity levels were to rise. The ice dome known as Dome Argus
in East Antarctica is the highest Antarctic ice feature, at 4,091
metres (13,422 ft). It is one of the world's coldest and driest
places—temperatures there may reach as low as −90 °C (−130 °F), and the
annual precipitation is 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in).
Glossopteris sp. leaf from the Permian of Antarctica
During the Cambrian period, Gondwana had a mild climate. West Antarctica was partially in the Northern Hemisphere, and during the time, large amounts of sandstones, limestones, and shales were deposited. East Antarctica was at the equator, where seafloor invertebrates and trilobites flourished in the tropical seas. By the start of the Devonian period (416 Ma),
Gondwana was in more southern latitudes, and the climate was cooler,
though fossils of land plants are known from then. Sand and silts were laid down in what is now the Ellsworth, Horlick, and Pensacola Mountains.
Antarctica became glaciated during the Late Paleozoic icehouse beginning at the end of the Devonian period (360 Ma), though glaciation would substantially increase during the late Carboniferous. It drifted closer to the South Pole, and the climate cooled, though flora remained. After deglaciation during the latter half of the Early Permian, the land became dominated by glossopterids (an extinct group of seed plants with no close living relatives), most prominently Glossopteris,
a tree interpreted as growing in waterlogged soils, which formed
extensive coal deposits. Other plants found in Antarctica during the
Permian include Cordaitales, sphenopsids, ferns, and lycophytes. At the end of the Permian, the climate became drier and hotter over much of Gondwana, and the glossopterid forest ecosystems collapsed, as part of the End-Permian mass extinction. There is no evidence of any tetrapods having lived in Antarctica during the Paleozoic.
Mesozoic era (250–66 Ma)
The continued warming dried out much of Gondwana. During the Triassic, Antarctica was dominated by seed ferns (pteridosperms) belonging to the genus Dicroidium, which grew as trees. Other associated Triassic flora included ginkgophytes, cycadophytes, conifers, and sphenopsids. Tetrapods first appeared in Antarctica during the early Triassic, with the earliest known fossils found in the Fremouw Formation of the Transantarctic Mountains. Synapsids (also known as "mammal-like reptiles") included species such as Lystrosaurus, and were common during the Early Triassic.
The Antarctic Peninsula began to form during the Jurassic period (206 to 146 million years ago). Africa separated from Antarctica in the Jurassic around 160 Ma, followed by the Indian subcontinent in the early Cretaceous (about 125 Ma). Ginkgo trees, conifers, Bennettitales, horsetails, ferns and cycads were plentiful during the time. In West Antarctica, coniferous forests dominated throughout the Cretaceous period (146–66 Ma), though southern beech trees (Nothofagus) became prominent towards the end of the Cretaceous. Ammonites were common in the seas around Antarctica, and dinosaurs were also present, though only a few Antarctic dinosaur genera (Cryolophosaurus and Glacialisaurus, from the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of the Transantarctic Mountains, and Antarctopelta, Trinisaura, Morrosaurus and Imperobator from Late Cretaceous of the Antarctic Peninsula) have been described.
Breakup of Gondwana at c. 150 Ma (1st), c. 126 Ma (2nd) and at c. 83 Ma (3rd)
Cenozoic era before present (66–10 Ma)
The
flora and fauna of Antarctica before the present was similar to the one
from Southern America today, as well as Australia and New Zealand,
which it spread to over Antarctica.
During the early Paleogene, Antarctica remained connected to South America as well as to southeastern Australia. Fauna from the La Meseta Formation in the Antarctic Peninsula, dating to the Eocene, is very similar to equivalent South American faunas; with marsupials, xenarthrans, litoptern, and astrapotherianungulates, as well as gondwanatheres and possibly meridiolestidans. Marsupials are thought to have dispersed into Australia via Antarctica by the early Eocene.
Around 53 Ma, Australia-New Guinea separated from Antarctica, opening the Tasmanian Passage. The Drake Passage opened between Antarctica and South America around 30 Ma, resulting in the creation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that completely isolated the continent. Models of Antarctic geography suggest that this current, as well as a feedback loop caused by lowering CO2 levels, caused the creation of small yet permanent polar ice caps. As CO2 levels declined further the ice began to spread rapidly, replacing the forests that until then had covered Antarctica. Tundra
ecosystems continued to exist on Antarctica until around 14-10 million
years ago, when further cooling lead to their extermination.
West Antarctica was formed by the merging of several continental plates,
which created a number of mountain ranges in the region, the most
prominent being the Ellsworth Mountains. The presence of the West Antarctic Rift System has resulted in volcanism along the border between West and East Antarctica, as well as the creation of the Transantarctic Mountains.
East Antarctica is geologically varied. Its formation began during the Archean Eon (4,000 Ma–2,500 Ma), and stopped during the Cambrian Period. It is built on a craton of rock, which is the basis of the Precambrian Shield. On top of the base are coal
and sandstones, limestones, and shales that were laid down during the
Devonian and Jurassic periods to form the Transantarctic Mountains. In coastal areas such as the Shackleton Range and Victoria Land, some faulting has occurred.
Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and driest of Earth's continents.
Near the coast, the temperature can exceed 10 °C in summer and fall to
below −40 °C in winter. Over the elevated inland, it can rise to about
−30 °C in summer but fall below −80 °C in winter.
The lowest natural air temperature ever recorded on Earth was
−89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at the Russian Vostok Station in Antarctica on 21
July 1983.
A lower air temperature of −94.7 °C (−138.5 °F) was recorded in 2010 by
satellite—however, it may have been influenced by ground temperatures
and was not recorded at a height of 2 m (7 ft) above the surface as
required for official air temperature records.
Antarctica is a polar desert with little precipitation;
the continent receives an average equivalent to about 150 mm (6 in) of
water per year, mostly in the form of snow. The interior is dryer and
receives less than 50 mm (2 in) per year, whereas the coastal regions
typically receive more than 200 mm (8 in). In a few blue-ice areas, the wind and sublimation remove more snow than is accumulated by precipitation. In the dry valleys, the same effect occurs over a rock base, leading to a barren and desiccated landscape. Antarctica is colder than the Arctic
region, as much of Antarctica is over 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea
level, where air temperatures are colder. The relative warmth of the Arctic Ocean is transferred through the Arctic sea ice and moderates temperatures in the Arctic region.
Regional differences
East Antarctica is colder than its western counterpart because of its higher elevation. Weather fronts
rarely penetrate far into the continent, leaving the centre cold and
dry, with moderate wind speeds. Heavy snowfalls are common on the
coastal portion of Antarctica, where snowfalls of up to 1.22 m (48 in)
in 48 hours have been recorded. At the continent's edge, strong katabatic winds off of the polar plateau often blow at storm force. During the summer, more solar radiation reaches the surface at the South Pole than at the equator because of the 24 hours of sunlight received there each day.
Climate change
Antarctica's average ice mass loss since 2002 has been on the order of 100 billion metric tons per year. (Time between NASA's GRACE and GRACE Follow-On satellite projects caused gap in data.)
Antarctic surface ice layer temperature trends between 1981 and 2007, based on thermal infrared observations made by a series of NOAA satellite sensors.
Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions from human activities occurs everywhere on Earth, and while Antarctica is less vulnerable to it than any other continent, climate change in Antarctica
has been observed. Since 1959, there has been an average temperature
increase of >0.05 °C/decade since 1957 across the continent, although
it had been uneven. West Antarctica warmed by over 0.1 °C/decade from the 1950s to the 2000s, and the exposed Antarctic Peninsula has warmed by 3 °C (5.4 °F) since the mid-20th century. The colder, stabler East Antarctica had been experiencing cooling until the 2000s. Around Antarctica, the Southern Ocean has absorbed more oceanic heat than any other ocean, and has seen strong warming at depths below 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Around the West Antarctic, the ocean has warmed by 1 °C (1.8 °F) since 1955.
The warming of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica has caused the weakening or collapse of ice shelves, which float just offshore of glaciers and stabilize them. Many coastal glaciers have been losing mass and retreating, causing net-annual ice loss across Antarctica, although the East Antarctic ice sheet continues to gain ice inland. By 2100, net ice loss from Antarctica is expected to add about 11 cm (5 in) to global sea level rise. Marine ice sheet instability may cause West Antarctica to contribute tens of centimeters more if it is triggered before 2100. With higher warming, instability would be much more likely, and could double global, 21st-century sea-level rise.
The fresh, 1100-1500 billion tons (GT) per year of meltwater from the ice dilutes the saline Antarctic bottom water, weakening the lower cell of the Southern Ocean overturning circulation (SOOC).
According to some research, a full collapse of the SOOC may occur a
between 1.7 °C (3.1 °F) and 3 °C (5.4 °F) of global warming, although the full effects are expected to occur over multiple centuries; these include less precipitation in the Southern Hemisphere but more in the Northern Hemisphere, an eventual decline of fisheries in the Southern Ocean and a potential collapse of certain marine ecosystems. While many Antarctic species remain undiscovered, there are documented increases in Antarctic flora, and large fauna such as penguins are already having difficulty retaining suitable habitat. On ice-free land, permafrost thaws release greenhouse gases and formerly frozen pollution.
The West Antarctic ice sheet is likely to completely melt unless temperatures are reduced by 2 °C (3.6 °F) below 2020 levels. The loss of this ice sheet would take between 2,000 and 13,000 years, although several centuries of high greenhouse emissions could shorten this time to 500 years.
A sea-level rise of 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in) would occur if the ice sheet
collapses, leaving ice caps on the mountains, and 4.3 m (14 ft 1 in) if
those ice caps also melt. Isostatic rebound may contribute an additional 1 m (3 ft 3 in) to global sea levels over another 1,000 years.
The far-stabler East Antarctic ice sheet may only cause a sea-level
rise of 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) – 0.9 m (2 ft 11 in) from the current level of
warming, a small fraction of the 53.3 m (175 ft) contained in the full
ice sheet. With global warming of around 3 °C (5.4 °F), vulnerable areas like Wilkes Basin and Aurora Basin may collapse over around 2,000 years, potentially adding up to 6.4 m (21 ft 0 in) to sea levels.
The complete melting and disappearance of the East Antarctic ice sheet
would require at least 10,000 years and would only occur if global
warming reaches 5 °C (9.0 °F) to 10 °C (18 °F).
Scientists have studied the ozone layer in the atmosphere above Antarctica since the 1970s. In 1985, British scientists, working on data they had gathered at Halley Research Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf, discovered a large area of low ozone concentration over Antarctica. The 'ozone hole' covers almost the whole continent and was at its largest in September 2006; the longest-lasting event occurred in 2020. The depletion is caused by the emission of chlorofluorocarbons and halons into the atmosphere, which causes ozone to break down into other gases. The extreme cold conditions of Antarctica allow polar stratospheric clouds to form. The clouds act as catalysts for chemical reactions, which eventually lead to the destruction of ozone. The 1987 Montreal Protocol
has restricted the emissions of ozone-depleting substances. The ozone
hole above Antarctica is predicted to slowly disappear; by the 2060s,
levels of ozone are expected to have returned to values last recorded in
the 1980s.
The ozone depletion can cause a cooling of around 6 °C (11 °F) in the stratosphere. The cooling strengthens the polar vortex
and so prevents the outflow of the cold air near the South Pole, which
in turn cools the continental mass of the East Antarctic ice sheet. The
peripheral areas of Antarctica, especially the Antarctic Peninsula, are
then subjected to higher temperatures, which accelerate the melting of
the ice.
Models suggest that ozone depletion and the enhanced polar vortex
effect may also account for the period of increasing sea ice extent,
lasting from when observation started in the late 1970s until 2014.
Since then, the coverage of Antarctic sea ice has decreased rapidly.
Most species in Antarctica seem to be the descendants of species that
lived there millions of years ago. As such, they must have survived
multiple glacial cycles. The species survived the periods of extremely cold climate in isolated warmer areas, such as those with geothermal heat or areas that remained ice-free throughout the colder climate.
There are approximately 40 bird species that breed on or close to Antarctica, including species of petrels, penguins, cormorants, and gulls. Various other bird species visit the ocean around Antarctica, including some that normally reside in the Arctic. The emperor penguin is the only penguin that breeds during the winter in Antarctica; it and the Adélie penguin breed farther south than any other penguin.
A Census of Marine Life by some 500 researchers during the International Polar Year
was released in 2010. The research found that more than 235 marine
organisms live in both polar regions, having bridged the gap of
12,000 km (7,456 mi). Large animals such as some cetaceans and birds make the round trip annually. Smaller forms of life, such as sea cucumbers and free-swimming snails,
are also found in both polar oceans. Factors that may aid in their
distribution include temperature differences between the deep ocean at
the poles and the equator of no more than 5 °C (9 °F) and the major
current systems or marine conveyor belts which are able to transport
eggs and larva.
About 1,150 species of fungi have been recorded in the Antarctic region, of which about 750 are non-lichen-forming. Some of the species, having evolved under extreme conditions, have colonised structural cavities within porous rocks and have contributed to shaping the rock formations of the McMurdo Dry Valleys and surrounding mountain ridges.
The same features can be observed in algae and cyanobacteria, suggesting that they are adaptations to the conditions prevailing in Antarctica. This has led to speculation that life on Mars might have been similar to Antarctic fungi, such as Cryomyces antarcticus and Cryomyces minteri.
Some of the species of fungi, which are apparently endemic to
Antarctica, live in bird dung, and have evolved so they can grow inside
extremely cold dung, but can also pass through the intestines of
warm-blooded animals.
Deschampsia antarctica at Collins Glacier,
Antarctica. This species is one of only two flowering plants native to
Antarctica, the other one being Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus
quitensis).
Throughout its history, Antarctica has seen a wide variety of plant life. In the Cretaceous, it was dominated by a fern-conifer ecosystem, which changed into a temperate rainforest by the end of that period. During the colder Neogene (17–2.5 Ma), a tundra ecosystem replaced the rainforests. The climate of present-day Antarctica does not allow extensive vegetation to form. A combination of freezing temperatures, poor soil quality, and a lack of moisture and sunlight inhibit plant growth, causing low species diversity and limited distribution. The flora largely consists of bryophytes (25 species of liverworts and 100 species of mosses). There are three species of flowering plants, all of which are found in the Antarctic Peninsula: Deschampsia antarctica (Antarctic hair grass), Colobanthus quitensis (Antarctic pearlwort) and the non-native Poa annua (annual bluegrass).
Other organisms
Of the 700 species of algae in Antarctica, around half are marine phytoplankton. Multicoloured snow algae are especially abundant in the coastal regions during the summer. Even sea ice
can harbour unique ecological communities, as it expels all salt from
the water when it freezes, which accumulates into pockets of brine
that also harbour dormant microorganisms. When the ice begins to melt,
brine pockets expand and can combine to form brine channels, and the algae inside the pockets can reawaken and thrive until the next freeze. Bacteria have also been found as deep as 800 m (0.50 mi) under the ice. It is thought to be likely that there exists a native bacterial community within the subterranean water body of Lake Vostok. The existence of life there is thought to strengthen the argument for the possibility of life on Jupiter's moon Europa, which may have water beneath its water-ice crust. There exists a community of extremophile bacteria in the highly alkaline waters of Lake Untersee. The prevalence of highly resilient creatures in such inhospitable areas could further bolster the argument for extraterrestrial life in cold, methane-rich environments.
In analogy to the 1980 treaty on sustainable fishing, countries led by New Zealand and the United States negotiated a treaty on mining. This Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities
was adopted in 1988. After a strong campaign from environmental
organisations, first Australia and then France decided not to ratify the
treaty. Instead, countries adopted the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the Madrid Protocol), which entered into force in 1998. The Madrid Protocol bans all mining, designating the continent as a "natural reserve devoted to peace and science".
Early world maps, like the 1513 Piri Reis map, feature the hypothetical continent Terra Australis. Much larger than and unrelated to Antarctica, Terra Australis was a landmass that classical scholars presumed necessary to balance the known lands in the northern hemisphere.
Captain James Cook's ships, HMS Resolution and Adventure, crossed the Antarctic Circle on 17 January 1773, in December 1773, and again in January 1774. Cook came within about 120 km (75 mi) of the Antarctic coast before retreating in the face of field ice in January 1773. In 1775, he called the existence of a polar continent "probable", and in another copy of his journal he wrote: "[I] firmly believe it and it's more than probable that we have seen a part of it".
Sealers
were among the earliest to go closer to the Antarctic landmass, perhaps
in the earlier part of the 19th century. The oldest known human remains
in the Antarctic region was a skull, dated from 1819 to 1825, that
belonged to a young woman on Yamana Beach at the South Shetland Islands. The woman, who was likely to have been part of a sealing expedition, was found in 1985.
The first person to see Antarctica or its ice shelf was long thought to have been the British sailor Edward Bransfield, a captain in the Royal Navy, who discovered the tip of the Antarctic peninsula on 30 January 1820. However, a captain in the Imperial Russian Navy, Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, recorded seeing an ice shelf on 27 January. The American sealer Nathaniel Palmer, whose sealing ship was in the region at this time, may also have been the first to sight the Antarctic Peninsula.
The First Russian Antarctic Expedition, led by Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev on the 985-ton sloop-of-warVostok and the 530-ton support vessel Mirny, reached a point within 32 km (20 mi) of Queen Maud Land and recorded sighting an ice shelf at 69°21′28″S2°14′50″W, on 27 January 1820. The sighting happened three days before Bransfield sighted the land of the Trinity Peninsula
of Antarctica, as opposed to the ice of an ice shelf, and 10 months
before Palmer did so in November 1820. The first documented landing on
Antarctica was by the English-born American sealer John Davis, apparently at Hughes Bay
on 7 February 1821, although some historians dispute this claim, as
there is no evidence Davis landed on the Antarctic continent rather than
an offshore island.
On 22 January 1840, two days after the discovery of the coast west of the Balleny Islands, some members of the crew of the 1837–1840 expedition of the French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville disembarked on the Dumoulin Islands,
off the coast of Adélie Land, where they took some mineral, algae, and
animal samples, erected the French flag, and claimed French sovereignty over the territory. The American captain Charles Wilkes led an expedition in 1838–1839 and was the first to claim he had discovered the continent. The British naval officer James Clark Ross
failed to realise that what he referred to as "the various patches of
land recently discovered by the American, French and English navigators
on the verge of the Antarctic Circle" were connected to form a single
continent. The American explorer Mercator Cooper landed on East Antarctica on 26 January 1853.
The first confirmed landing on the continental mass of Antarctica occurred in 1895 when the Norwegian-Swedish whaling ship Antarctic reached Cape Adare.
20th century
Discovery Hut (1902) at Hut Point Peninsula of Ross Island, Antarctica, one of the earliest repeatedly temporarily used dwellings on Antarctica. In the background McMurdo Station, the largest base on Antarctica today, with cargo operations of the supply ship MV American Tern of Operation Deep Freeze 2007.
During the Nimrod Expedition led by the British explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1907, parties led by Edgeworth David became the first to climb Mount Erebus and to reach the south magnetic pole. Douglas Mawson, who assumed the leadership of the Magnetic Pole party on their perilous return, retired in 1931.
Between December 1908 and February 1909: Shackleton and three members
of his expedition became the first humans to traverse the Ross Ice Shelf, the first to cross the Transantarctic Mountains (via the Beardmore Glacier), and the first to set foot on the south Polar Plateau. On 14 December 1911, an expedition led by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen from the ship Fram became the first to reach the geographic South Pole, using a route from the Bay of Whales and up the Axel Heiberg Glacier. One month later, the doomed Terra Nova Expedition reached the pole.
The American explorer Richard E. Byrd led four expeditions to Antarctica during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, using the first mechanised tractors.
His expeditions conducted extensive geographical and scientific
research, and he is credited with surveying a larger region of the
continent than any other explorer. In 1937, Ingrid Christensen became the first woman to step onto the Antarctic mainland. Caroline Mikkelsen had landed on an island of Antarctica, earlier in 1935.
The South Pole was next reached on 31 October 1956, when a U.S. Navy group led by Rear Admiral George J. Dufek successfully landed an aircraft there. Six women were flown to the South Pole as a publicity stunt in 1969. In the summer of 1996–1997, Norwegian explorer Børge Ousland became the first person to cross Antarctica alone from coast to coast, helped by a kite on parts of the journey. Ousland holds the record for the fastest unsupported journey to the South Pole, taking 34 days.
The first semi-permanent inhabitants of regions near Antarctica (areas situated south of the Antarctic Convergence) were British and American sealers who used to spend a year or more on South Georgia,
from 1786 onward. During the whaling era, which lasted until 1966, the
population of the island varied from over 1,000 in the summer (over
2,000 in some years) to some 200 in the winter. Most of the whalers were
Norwegian, with an increasing proportion from Britain.
Antarctica's population consists mostly of the staff of research stations
in Antarctica (which are continuously maintained despite the population
decline in the winter), although there are 2 all-civilian bases in
Antarctica: the Esperanza Base and the Villa Las Estrellas base.
The number of people conducting and supporting scientific research and
other work on the continent and its nearby islands varies from about
1,200 in winter to about 4,800 in the summer, with an additional 136
people in the winter to 266 people in the summer from the 2 civilian
bases (as of 2017). Some of the research stations are staffed year-round, the winter-over personnel typically arriving from their home countries for a one-year assignment. The Russian OrthodoxHoly Trinity Church at the Bellingshausen Station on King George Island opened in 2004; it is staffed year-round by one or two priests, who are similarly rotated every year.
The first child born in the southern polar region was a Norwegian girl, Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen, born in Grytviken on 8 October 1913. Emilio Marcos Palma was the first person born south of the 60th parallel south and the first to be born on the Antarctic mainland at the Esperanza Base of the Argentine Army.
The Antarctic Treaty prohibits any military activity in Antarctica,
including the establishment of military bases and fortifications,
military manoeuvres, and weapons testing. Military personnel or
equipment are permitted only for scientific research or other peaceful
purposes. Operation 90 by the Argentine military in 1965 was conducted to strengthen Argentina's claim in Antarctica.
Antarctica's status is regulated by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty
and other related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty
System. Antarctica is defined as all land and ice shelves south of 60° S
for the purposes of the Treaty System. The treaty was signed by twelve countries, including the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Chile, Australia, and the United States. Since 1959, a further 42 countries have acceded
to the treaty. Countries can participate in decision-making if they can
demonstrate that they do significant research on Antarctica; as of 2022, 29 countries have this 'consultative status'. Decisions are based on consensus, instead of a vote.
The treaty set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and
established freedom of scientific investigation and environmental
protection.
In the present, sovereignty over regions of Antarctica is claimed by seven countries. While a few of these countries have mutually recognised each other's claims, the validity of the claims is not recognised universally.
New claims on Antarctica have been suspended since 1959, although in
2015, Norway formally defined Queen Maud Land as including the unclaimed
area between it and the South Pole.
The Argentine, British, and Chilean claims overlap and have caused friction. In 2012, after the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office designated a previously unnamed area Queen Elizabeth Land in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, the Argentine government protested against the claim.
The UK passed some of the areas it claimed to Australia and New Zealand
after they achieved independence. The claims by Britain, Australia, New
Zealand, France, and Norway do not overlap and are recognised by each
other.
Other member nations of the Antarctic Treaty do not recognise any
claim, yet have shown some form of territorial interest in the past.
Brazil has a designated "zone of interest" that is not an actual claim.
Peru formally reserved its right to make a claim.
Russia inherited the Soviet Union's right to claim territory under the original Antarctic Treaty.
South Africa formally reserved its right to make a claim.
The United States reserved its right to make a claim in the original Antarctic Treaty.
Deposits of coal, hydrocarbons, iron ore, platinum, copper, chromium, nickel, gold, and other minerals have been found in Antarctica, but not in large enough quantities to extract.
The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, which
came into effect in 1998 and is due to be reviewed in 2048, restricts
the exploitation of Antarctic resources, including minerals.
Tourists have been visiting Antarctica since 1957. Tourism is subject to the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty and Environmental Protocol; the self-regulatory body for the industry is the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators. Tourists arrive by small or medium ship at specific scenic locations with accessible concentrations of iconic wildlife.
Over 74,000 tourists visited the region during the 2019–2020 season, of
which 18,500 travelled on cruise ships but did not leave them to
explore on land. The numbers of tourists fell rapidly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some nature conservation groups have expressed concern over the
potential adverse effects caused by the influx of visitors and have
called for limits on the size of visiting cruise ships and a tourism quota.
The primary response by Antarctic Treaty parties has been to develop
guidelines that set landing limits and closed or restricted zones on the
more frequently visited sites.
Tourism in Antarctica is, in part, ecologically focused with
expeditions being offered for bird watching tours due to the high
numbers of Adélie, King, and Gentoo penguins –
among other species. One site in particular – McDonald Beach – is
known to be a high-traffic area for tourists watching the Adélie
penguins who number more than 40,000.
Overland sightseeing flights operated out of Australia and New Zealand until the Mount Erebus disaster in 1979, when an Air New Zealand plane crashed into Mount Erebus, killing all of the 257 people on board. Qantas resumed commercial overflights to Antarctica from Australia in the mid-1990s. There are many airports in Antarctica.
In 2017, there were more than 4,400 scientists undertaking research
in Antarctica, a number that fell to just over 1,100 in the winter. There are over 70 permanent and seasonal research stations on the continent; the largest, United States' McMurdo Station, is capable of housing more than 1,000 people. The British Antarctic Survey has five major research stations on Antarctica, one of which is completely portable. The Belgian Princess Elisabeth station is one of the most modern stations and the first to be carbon-neutral. Argentina, Australia, Chile, and Russia also have a large scientific presence on Antarctica.
Geologists primarily study plate tectonics, meteorites, and the breakup of Gondwana. Glaciologists study the history and dynamics of floating ice, seasonal snow, glaciers, and ice sheets. Biologists,
in addition to researching wildlife, are interested in how low
temperatures and the presence of humans affect adaptation and survival
strategies in organisms. Biomedical scientists have made discoveries concerning the spreading of viruses and the body's response to extreme seasonal temperatures.
The high elevation of the interior, the low temperatures, and the
length of polar nights during the winter months all allow for better astronomical observations at Antarctica than anywhere else on Earth.
The largest neutrino detector in the world, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, is at the Amundsen-Scott Station. It consists of around 5,500 digital optical modules, some of which reach a depth of 2,450 m (8,040 ft), that are held in 1 km3 (0.24 cu mi) of ice.
Scientists also observed higher radiation dose rates around the coast
of Antarctica compared with the global average: this is attributed to
cosmic rays going through the thinner atmosphere compared to equatorial
latitudes.
Antarctica provides a unique environment for the study of
meteorites: the dry polar desert preserves them well, and meteorites
older than a million years have been found. They are relatively easy to
find, as the dark stone meteorites stand out in a landscape of ice and
snow, and the flow of ice accumulates them in certain areas.
The Adelie Land meteorite, discovered in 1912, was the first to be found. Meteorites contain clues about the composition of the Solar System and its early development. Most meteorites come from asteroids, but a few meteorites found in Antarctica came from the Moon and Mars.
Major scientific organizations in Antarctica have released
strategy and action plans focused on advancing national interests and
objectives in Antarctica, supporting cutting-edge research to understand
the interactions between the Antarctic region and climate systems. The British Antarctic Survey
(BAS) released a 10-year (2023–2033) strategy report to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and to focus on creating sustainable living on Earth.
Environmental sustainability is named as one of the top focus areas by
the BAS strategy, highlighting the main challenge and priority to embed
environmental sustainability into everything.
In 2022, the Australian Antarctic Program
(AAP) released a new Strategy and 20-year Action Plan (2022–2036) to
modernize its Antarctic program. The global climate system was
highlighted as one of the main priorities that will be supported and
studied through the AAP Strategy Plan. It emphasizes the importance of
understanding the vital role of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in
climate and weather to improve current knowledge and inform management
responses.
In 2021, the United States Antarctic Program
(USAP) released a Midterm Assessment on the 2015 Strategic Vision for
Antarctic and Southern Ocean Research, stressing the prominent role of
the Southern Ocean in the global carbon cycle and sea level rise.
The USAP outlines the Changing Antarctic Ice Sheets Initiative as a top
priority to enhance understanding of why ice sheets are changing now,
and how they will change in the future.
The Antarctic ice sheet's changing height
Antarctic ice sheets
are a central focus of contemporary climate research due to urgent
questions about their stability and reaction to global warming. Satellite technology enables researchers to study the ice sheets both through on-site fieldwork and remote sensing, facilitating detailed analyses of ice dynamics to predict future changes in a warming world.
The INStabilities & Thresholds in ANTarctica (INSTANT)
Scientific Research Programme proposes three research themes,
investigating the complex interactions between the atmosphere, ocean, and solid Earth
in Antarctica. Its aims include improving the understanding and
predictions of these processes to aid decision makers in risk
assessment, management, and mitigation related to Antarctic climate
change.
The Australian-led ICECAP project utilized advanced aerogeophysical techniques to map deep subglacial basins and channels that connect the ice sheet to the ocean. This mapping improves predictions of ice sheet stability, the impacts of climate change on the ice sheets, and their potential contributions to global sea level rise.
The southernmost music festival in the world, Icestock,
has been held at McMurdo Station since 1989. The organizers,
performers, and attendees of Icestock are all personnel working at
McMurdo or nearby Scott Base.
The Antarctic Film Festival is held annually between bases, with 48
stations registered to participate as of 2022. The festival is designed
for short films of 5 minutes or less.
In 2011, Australian classical harpistAlice Giles became the first professional musician to perform in Antarctica. The first full-length fictional film to be shot in Antarctica was South of Sanity, a 2012 low budget British horror film. An upcoming film directed by Nick Cassavetes and starring Anthony Hopkins, Bruno Penguin and the Staten Island Princess, will be the first major Hollywood production to shoot in Antarctica.
There are two principal holidays celebrated across Antarctica: Midwinter Day on the day of the southern winter solstice (June 20 or 21) and Antarctica Day on December 1, which commemorates the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959.
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