Major short-term threats to the South Pole are said to include climate change impacts on marine systems, marine resource use, ocean acidification, invasive alien species, pollution, and habitat alteration.
The treaty currently in place to protect the region is under scrutiny as to whether this will continue to protect the area as technology improves and temperatures increase.
Researchers said early explorers would be shocked by the changed landscape, and although the treaty is currently still effective, scope for swifter decision-making would have to be considered if the Antarctic is to be conserved in current and future climates.
Peter Gerard
Retired medical practitioner
As I have no scientific background I cannot offer any insight into the problems of Antarctica but I'm very dismayed by the predictions implied in the article.
Read moreWhether it is Antarctica, The North Pole, the Himalayas, our pristine marine environments or wherever, it seems nothing is or will be free from the destructive influence of humans and their unquenchable desire to conquer and exploit. Mt Everest is littered with debris and dead bodies, rain forests are disappearing at an accelerated rate, non…