Antarctica is the highest, coldest, and windiest place on Earth. This frozen continent may seem irrelevant to our daily lives at first site, but it is vital to our survival, as it plays a huge role in how the entire planet and the climate function.
Antarctica accommodates 90% of the global ice and helps keep the planet cool and liveable. It is home to amazing wildlife, while the rich current swirling around the continent, the giant conveyor belts, feeds the fish that feed the world.
While it seems vast and quite remote, Antarctica is more and more fragile and vulnerable. It stands on the frontline of climate change and biodiversity, with melting ice and industrial fishing.
For this reason, the global community must take action to significantly protect it. In fact, in the last five years Antarctica has lost an average of 219 billion tonnes of ice per year.
As a result, three large scale marine protected areas are currently proposed in Eastern Antarctica, the Weddell Sea, and the Antarctica Peninsula. Together, they would ensure the protection of 7 million square kilometres.
Therefore, the Antarctica2020 Group calls world leaders to protect the continent and conserve it for future generations.
