Amidst the harsh conditions in Antarctica such as high winds, isolation, ice, rough seas and cold snow, both hardy and soft types will, precisely for such reasons, venture into this continent this tourist season, and all eleven thousand two hundred of them coming in from cruise liners, except for a few, around 130, who will opt for alternative transportation measures. The disparity of last year's tourist season to this year, which ran from mid November up to February is only a weak 400 visitors but the truth is that this is actually an impressive 70 percent leap as compared to the season, all 6,585 of them before this one. Among the many watchers of Antarctica, they all predict Antarctic visitors growing by the thousands each year, and this makes them extremely worried about its environment.
It would cost a traveler about $20,000 for a cruise, as a two week leisure cruise will cost him a hefty six to seven thousand dollars but it does not end there for he will still have to pay a round trip flight ticket as he will have to come from Tierra del Fuego in Ushuaia Argentina, which known as the area where 90 percent of tourists start. Within the falsehood that Antarctica is invincible against the many throngs of tourists invading them despite high costs of going there and fierce climate and geography, environmental experts maintain that these occurrences are extremely damaging to the ecosystem of the White Continent.
The distinguished director of the Antarctic Project said that while he is all for people seeing the great beauty of Antarctica, there must be a cap on the number of visitors per year and a strong limit on exploiting new sites. Forty various countries containing 200 or more environmental teams use this as their secretariat for the Washington based initiative. While people, after visiting Antarctica become committed to protecting its environment, the truth is that there are just too many of these travelers and there's a risk that they are falling for this fragile place too much.
This director is largely concerned about the many tourists venturing to the same places on Antarctic Peninsula which is 800 miles long and has the largest concentration of penguins, seals and birds so he is pushing for a 6,000 limit of visitors per year. Although tour groups, at a time, rarely exceed a hundred visitors stepping on land. Animals are barely able to get food for themselves or for their young much more getting some rests, when there are visitors.
She adds that Science cannot determine yet if there will be a long term impact. Some of the fears include tourists touching flora and throwing garbage recklessly. That's why when visitors go ashore, there are large and experienced staffs to insure they have minimal impact and why the tour operators adhere to the guidelines, for visitors adopted by the Antarctic Treaty System. Such series of agreements including the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, since agreed on by 43 countries along with an environmental protocol signed last January 14, 1998, put a restriction on mining and oil drilling, on top of providing other environmental safety measures along with limiting fishing trips and seasonal cruises around the White Continent.
The tour association members based in New York voluntarily took the 100 person limit for shore tours where they employ zodiacs which are motorized boats made of rubber. Nine of the 15 vessels in Antarctica fly Russian flags this season. The breakup of the Soviet Union made a number of small ships available, to tour operators. Forty to eighty passengers can be accommodated in those ships whose hulls are hardened against ice, vessels that also include an icebreaker. But meanwhile, environmental concerns are plaguing the White Continent. It would be possible that in the future, we all would look back and with relief say, no problem, we just grew concerned about it when there was no need to. For the sake of this continent, we should limit our travels there until the time that science presents the solutions. - 39815
It would cost a traveler about $20,000 for a cruise, as a two week leisure cruise will cost him a hefty six to seven thousand dollars but it does not end there for he will still have to pay a round trip flight ticket as he will have to come from Tierra del Fuego in Ushuaia Argentina, which known as the area where 90 percent of tourists start. Within the falsehood that Antarctica is invincible against the many throngs of tourists invading them despite high costs of going there and fierce climate and geography, environmental experts maintain that these occurrences are extremely damaging to the ecosystem of the White Continent.
The distinguished director of the Antarctic Project said that while he is all for people seeing the great beauty of Antarctica, there must be a cap on the number of visitors per year and a strong limit on exploiting new sites. Forty various countries containing 200 or more environmental teams use this as their secretariat for the Washington based initiative. While people, after visiting Antarctica become committed to protecting its environment, the truth is that there are just too many of these travelers and there's a risk that they are falling for this fragile place too much.
This director is largely concerned about the many tourists venturing to the same places on Antarctic Peninsula which is 800 miles long and has the largest concentration of penguins, seals and birds so he is pushing for a 6,000 limit of visitors per year. Although tour groups, at a time, rarely exceed a hundred visitors stepping on land. Animals are barely able to get food for themselves or for their young much more getting some rests, when there are visitors.
She adds that Science cannot determine yet if there will be a long term impact. Some of the fears include tourists touching flora and throwing garbage recklessly. That's why when visitors go ashore, there are large and experienced staffs to insure they have minimal impact and why the tour operators adhere to the guidelines, for visitors adopted by the Antarctic Treaty System. Such series of agreements including the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, since agreed on by 43 countries along with an environmental protocol signed last January 14, 1998, put a restriction on mining and oil drilling, on top of providing other environmental safety measures along with limiting fishing trips and seasonal cruises around the White Continent.
The tour association members based in New York voluntarily took the 100 person limit for shore tours where they employ zodiacs which are motorized boats made of rubber. Nine of the 15 vessels in Antarctica fly Russian flags this season. The breakup of the Soviet Union made a number of small ships available, to tour operators. Forty to eighty passengers can be accommodated in those ships whose hulls are hardened against ice, vessels that also include an icebreaker. But meanwhile, environmental concerns are plaguing the White Continent. It would be possible that in the future, we all would look back and with relief say, no problem, we just grew concerned about it when there was no need to. For the sake of this continent, we should limit our travels there until the time that science presents the solutions. - 39815
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