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Antarctic Summit on Fishing, Environment, Tourism Delegates from 24 nations met for the first time ever at Antarctica in January, 1999 to discuss a wide range of issues affecting the ice continent. Start Date: 1/25/99 Delegates of 24 nations party to the Antarctic Treaty met for the first time ever on the southern continent to discuss a range of issues impacting earth's most remote frontier. Starting January 25, the delegates attended an historic two-day summit meeting at Scott Base, a New Zealand outpost on Antarctica's Ross Sea coast. The summit marked the 40th anniversary of a treaty which declares that Antarctica will forever be reserved for peaceful uses and be shared by the nations of the world. The summit also implicitly recognized that Antarctica is now far more accessible to human visitation than ever before, and therefore increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of human activity. Topping the list of discussion topics was the problem of illegal fishing in Antarctic waters. Because the seas around Antarctica are rich in marine life, they have become attractive to rogue fishing vessels. Particularly threatened is the Patagonian toothfish, which is currently being overfished at twice the rate set by international law. Environmentalists are concerned that continued overfishing could damage the entire ocean ecosystem around Antarctica. Also of concern is the fact that some 15,000 tourists now visit Antarctica annually, a number that is sure to rise in coming years. Until fairly recently, the only people on the ice continent were scientists and occasional adventurers. The first real tourism began in 1965. But now, human impacts on the extremely fragile ecosystem are growing. The largest settlement is McMurdo Station, which swells to 1,200 residents during Antarctic summer. In related news: As human exploration of the solar system accelerates in the new millennium, Antarctica will become increasingly useful as a testing and training ground for space travelers. Already, an international project to explore a subterranean Antarctic lake by robot is seen as a test of technologies that might one day be used to explore Jupiter's ice moon Europa. Antarctica also presents weather conditions more like those of Mars than anywhere else on earth, so it will undoubtedly be used as a training ground for future Mars explorers. Excelsior, Michael Lindemann's new novel (written under the pen name Michael Paul), depicts a wholly plausible near future in which human cloning is both widespread and widely abused; terrorists have access to target-specific biological weapons; recreational space travel is commonplace; and mounting pressures of global climate change, environmental decline, population growth and civil unrest inspire radical new approaches to urban security. Built by Frontier on a Macintosh on 6/17/00; 11:52:22 AM. Web Comments - Produced by Larry Lowe Served 2202 times since 1/25/99.

Global Warming Devastates World's Coral Reefs Rising sea water temperature due to global warming threatens to destroy the majority of coral reefs on earth, with potentially huge ecological and economic consequences. 1998 Was the Hottest Year on Record NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) both released data showing that 1998 was the hottest year on record, by a surprisingly large margin. New Data Points to Reality of Climate Change Recent studies of atmospheric surface temperatures and ocean temperatures support the claim that global warming is occurring and will probably bring major climate changes in coming years. Greenhouse Effect May Boost Frequency of El Nino Global warming could lead to more frequent and violent El Nino weather patterns, according to a new study. Evidence of Ancient Asteroid Found Evidence suggests an asteroid hit Argentina 3.3 million years ago, causing regional extinctions and climate change. Forecasters See Severe Hurricane Season Ahead Meteorologists say the La Nina cold water condition in the Pacific is likely to produce higher than average hurricane activity in the Atlantic and Caribbean this year. Water Shortages Will Bring Strife in New Millennium Limited water supplies will be a major source of international tension in coming years. In March, 1999, Israel and Jordan almost came to blows over water; more trouble lies ahead. Humankind's Grave Impacts on the Natural World Human activity has altered almost 50 percent of the Earth's total land area and now threatens to cause the greatest extinction of species seen in the last 65 million years. Trees Grow Faster With More Carbon Dioxide If atmospheric CO2 increases as expected, trees will absorb more of the greenhouse gas and grow faster. But that can't prevent global warming, scientists say. La Nina Probably Contributed to Huge Tornadoes Cooler than normal ocean temperatures in the mid-Pacific, called La Nina, have caused many bizarre weather effects in North America, including record snow and monster tornadoes.