looking at antarctica christina will be back at the top of the hour on ask me how i'm out of it and for me and all the same here unveiling happy news that you. go beyond. the stories that. come to a. lawyer for it takes. a running nut the good d.w. made for mines.

plane antarctica a continent of mystery and natural wonders the legislature covered with ice for kilometers deep plate temperatures can drop to minus 93 degrees celsius. 75 percent of our planet's fresh water is locked up in its ice sheet and yet it's classified as the largest desert on earth the lead this could be the only place in the world where diverse countries have rallied together in the name of peace and science to protect the environment the part about the ice and the temperatures sure but the part about

peace in the environment it's hard to believe led not just because i'm concerned about nature but also because i lived in syria in 2009. so i don't have much faith left in peace. corps in the international community. but i'd love to be proven wrong. place. we've come to point to i mean us where the polar research vessel espied us is picking up a group of spanish scientists to take them to act arctica. and we are already nervous you'll get your storage organs it's no big deal. you know but i could just die off.

first opened up it's amazing i mean i've even got a window there's a bit of a bunk. is that into the feet last night was rough and we went to bed early but i had a hard time falling asleep but i must have slept just 4 hours because i was so nervous about the trip and buy tickets. but i got to know them. by embarked on this journey to explore the myths of antarctica. after one day at sea we reached the end of the world. at the southernmost tip of argentina chennai gets way go is still a 1000 kilometers from the continent of antarctica this is the drake passage eddies and wind sheer and freezing here whipping up violence sees in one of the earth's

roughest waterways. well was unbearable for but this island then the worst storm to date is this year it was our 2nd trip back from antarctica if you say the feel for about 18 hours from south america when a severe weather system hit us from the star board side of it we faced 7 metre high waves and winds of up to 50 knots and i think when the us. every time the crew sails into the drake passage they have their mobile phones camera ready there are limits to what is the point comes a monster wave. bitola. these are the outlines of cape horn a notorious maritime graveyard that harbors the sunken wrecks of hundreds of ships even today the drake passage commands respect everyone battens down the hatches it wasn't so dramatic on our trip though. or for that one of them which luckily

technology has improved a lot today before setting sail we can check the weather forecast to find the best went over crossing the drake passage of the office. the adventure may not be as wild as it once was. but it's still beautiful. antarctica has been subject to territorial disputes for centuries the passage was 1st sailed by a spaniard francisco the arsis in 152550 years later it was discovered by the english explore sir francis drake and bears his name to this day.

in the early 20th century 7 countries laid territorial claims to parts of antarctica the overlapping claims of the united kingdom argentina and chile caused tensions that erupted into armed conflict between britain and argentina in 1952 as the cold war set in the last thing the world needed was a new geopolitical flashpoint it was that realisation that gave rise to the antarctic treaty. many scientists looking for. international chief physical year 95758. worked out so well but there was this idea that there could be cooperation.

they fell for it there was a way and that's shown an article 4 of the treaty to set aside the claims and say that there would be a demilitarization but it's also as you may know one of the 1st arms control treaties so it was focused on keeping the peace in that respect as well. but none of that was the result of good will alone the extreme climate made it difficult to exploit the region economically and the u.s. and soviet union staked their territorial claims quite late in the game. 4 days after leaving point i mean us the reaches antarctica. everyone is excited we got up at 5 in the morning to catch our 1st glimpse of the coastline. what we hadn't expected was the fog.

going away don't tell and a half miles away and you can't see anything. a few hours later the fog lifts and at last we can see antarctica. the s.p.d. just 1st stop is king george island the spanish team is delivering supplies to the world lyon station. antarctic cooperation is running smoothly. in kentucky so they followed a few of us have a feel of the antarctic treaty is very effective. under its terms this location is devoted solely to science is for slade a key role in getting all countries to set aside their other interests. at least publicly and it's been that way for

a very long time and those. are yes the unfortunately the same is not true in other parts of the world where usually economic interests take precedence over scientific cooperation. of course another until you come up with a most of this model be exported beyond antarctica. in a system that will now that's a good question it's something many on the planet would support which was that there was that level. because king george island offers the easiest access to antarctica it has the greatest concentration of stations on the entire continent . there are facilities here belonging to europe why russia chile argentina brazil china poland peru ecuador the czech republic south korea and bulgaria the end arctic treaty regulates how many new stations can open so that it doesn't get too crowded. it's always better to co-exist peacefully with your neighbors and get along the 1st thing we did was to establish good relations with

all our neighbors cooperation is vital in antarctica. when they're active between the united states and russia that it affected competition in antarctica i wouldn't say there's no effect but by and large the cooperation has continued. it doesn't mean that those tensions aren't in some respects in the background somewhere but at least in terms of the antarctic programs in the arctic programs and the work of the scientists together by a large that that continues. in 2004 russia imported wood from siberian pines its national tree to construct a small orthodox church here in antarctica. critics say it's a sly way to stake a territorial claim. the

chilean station has its own church too it also has a school for the children of soldiers stationed on the base year round. it's the closest thing you'll find to a settlement in antarctica. in the 1970 s. argentina's military dictatorship sent pregnant women to give birth in antarctica to underscore its territorial claims chilean dictator augusto pinochet copied the tactic but it was widely viewed as provocative and after the birth of 8 argentinians and 3 chileans both countries ended the policy today more subtle strategies are used to cement territorial claims as seen on chalayan television. will be overcast with cloudy skies whereas chad i and i talk to. and i talk to be mostly sunny. what are 2 lanes think about their country's claims to antarctica.

i would rather say friend. is to be honest there isn't much public debate on the topic the order when i was little people did talk about it. but later on the political discourse subsided. a day people primarily associate it with environmental protection. that's the trend i've observed especially among young people. in the us and at the center. for look you have sort of our i mean my it's hardly discuss the issue. with us it's simple we sing and talk to us a place where many nations come together and there's no reason why we should be more entitle to it than anyone else so it is a risk about what do you think we can save antarctica if we fail to do the same in other places. i think it's exactly because we made so many mistakes in other places that we have a shot to saving antarctica. spain

has 2 stations in antarctica its national research center operates the one carlos the 1st station on livingston island it was built in the late 1980 s. and remodeled in 2008 into a modern facility that looks a bit like a space station. the station is used it doesn't need to withstand the harsh conditions you'd expect to encounter in antarctica.

there is hardly any wind but 2 days ago we had costs only $14.00. 80 kilometers an hour which drives the wind chill factor down to minus 15 or 20 degrees celsius. and. i don't even know paris and his team studied the continents geology which they say is of essential importance to the rest of the planet and arctic of facts the whole world's climate doesn't follow together for your know it's the planet's cold factorial fear not of it's really cold in the arctic too but not to the same extent that there's a lot more ice in antarctica than in the arctic but. they love it arctic deep sea water reaches us far as the iberian peninsula and continues to circulate around the northern hemisphere these waters sometimes flow all the way up to the arctic where they cool back down again a motor driving the circulation is antarctica. one of the most important

projects at the one carlos the 1st station is its study of the herd and johnson glaciers. from. the recent is move the value of the state of the mass balance and then touch it and found the gains of us have been greater than the losses of a single place was. the exact opposite is the so is it getting colder in antarctica . then for the end of yes it is getting colder but our measurements and emitted to the last 15 years following. scientific studies need to examine a punitive it least 30 is if we'll close so we can see that it was a gradual temperature increase 15 years and a temperature drop in the subsequent fish dinis but globally the trend is towards only.

on our trip we didn't see much snow but the year before there was so much snow that the 2 metre high stakes used to monitor the glacier disappeared to find them the spanish team had to dig. and dig. and dig. located next to livingston island is half moon island. we made a discovery in this miniature sized antarctica the weather here changes very suddenly .

within minutes the snowfall turns into a blizzard. clocking winds of 80 kilometers an hour. the next stop is deception island home to the station gabrielle because. this island is the caldera of an active volcano last erupted in 1970. glaciers are concealed beneath the ash. because

the station is run by the spanish army. wait didn't we say the antarctic treaty bans all military activity. due to the island's difficult terrain and the danger posed by the ok no it was decided that the army was best equipped to operate the station but about us all and all. our mission is to me as a visiting scientists be one horse and then they come for a very specific time period to work on research take samples do experiments and collect data. that i think you know so that our job is to ensure all the logistics are in place also they can concentrate on their work with i mean the. end to this so there are no weapons here you know not that i know was. deception island is home to a large colony of chinstrap penguins. and the race but a bossa has been studying these animals for 20 years. i specify what if they were

no other species like the penguin those populations have decreased dramatically on the antarctic peninsula by about 60 percent of the chinstrap penguin is also threatened by extinction. and other species like the gem to penguin have profited from present day conditions it's populations of increased by about 15 to 20 percent that's basically what's been happening over the course of 4000000000 years on our planet in the end of its cold evolution. and the what is is is that if there are species that thrive under positive conditions the nih vanish and are replaced by others of those. fundraising installed a camera to monitor the penguins all year long the images track the birds and their offspring as they gradually flee the onset of colder temperatures. we see siegel's fly by. the drifting icebergs.

the arrival of storms that bury the camera in snow and then blow it free again. in the long lonesome winter. the formation of sea ice. sunsets that no one else sees. in october the penguins return soon they begin to lay their eggs. and a few weeks later chicks are born. to . one of the spanish media tasks is to map the undersea topography of around these islands. drive a deeper. 08 seats.

in 4th and that's because the antarctic coast is so immense less than one percent of the area underwater has been properly going to tell us yeah i go there to for example you have to change your ships because of an iceberg you can be dangerous to leave the zones for which they are accurate data. so we need to produce more maps to prevent shipwrecks oil spills or other accidents. not just to protect human lives but also to prevent damage to the environment here we go through them but i think. we really have lots of work ahead and it will take. every country with the ability to cooperate should pitch in arming the. bicycle i think. the british captain william smith made the 1st recorded landing in antarctica in 1819 an accident after he was blown off course by powerful winds spain claims the honor for gabriele because dia who it says discovered the continent in 60 no 3 though that's never been proven. it's probable that seal hunters set foot on these islands before

william smith but they kept quiet about their discovery so as not to have to share its treasure trove of fur. without a 100 of us so these are photos of organisms from the way it will see a nobody knows what family genus and species they belong to that they have yet to be classified. which is true of lots of completely different types of animals. despite its remote location far removed from almost all human life on. on earth the southern ocean is a vital and precious region of the planet. a team of modern day explorers has been dispatched to the region by the university of

barcelona. as a big shock at it why don't people thought that because it's so cold with resources in terms of food there would be little phone on the seabed that's not true zahara should organise themselves out of the psychosis the ecosystems and antarctica the oldest on the planet so species that had a long time to adapt and there are species that are in fact unique to the ecosystem here. do you feel a bit like explorers. and while yeah i do see. explorers of antarctica today and in times past.

in 1011 norwegian explore roald amundsen of norway and britain's robert falcon scott race to be the 1st to reach the south pole ahmanson triumph to well scott's team perished trying to return though his expedition ended in tragedy scott was celebrated as a hero. on his way back scott had picked up a fossil from a tree also found in south america and india. to find support of the theory that the continents were once joined and had drifted apart. and so the race to the south pole contributed to a better understanding. of our planet's evolutionary history. the remnants of an old whaling station can still be found on deception island long

ago the location was referred to as bread day because of the blood stained water or stinking day due to the stench of rotting meat and processing oil. it was shut down in 1931. and international ban on commercial whaling came into force in 1986. japan was allocated a quota for scientific research purposes. it was long suspected of violating the terms of this quota by pursuing commercial whaling in antarctica. we support sustainable use we'd like to see ways for over and it was not the only way so that you know it's also now it is we. do have

any to have. raised the animals in nature and culture. in 2014 the international court of justice in the hague ruled against japan's whaling program called concludes the special permits granted by the pan with the killing taking and treating away. in connection with the 2. are not. the seas of scientific research. to articulate but i got one of the convention japan complied with the court decision. but only for one year after which its ships were back out whaling in the southern ocean again. whaling is not the only problem we should be concerned about. the patagonian tooth

fish is an antarctic treasure it's subject to catch limits but amid high demand poaching is a lucrative business. says poachers ignore quotas and then rules on fishing techniques just because these men date there was a long line in the law which allows for a selective fishing by ways of the quotas used children drift nets and indiscriminately kill tons of other fish as well. in 20142016 spanish police interpol and the new zealand navy took joint action against me data my daughter is a spanish company accused of illegal fishing when it went off but it was a milestone internationally because spain issued a public acknowledgement saying we admit this is a spanish pirate fishing company and we know there are many others but this story didn't have a happy ending. dollars appealed a little clips conviction the supreme court decided in its favor ruling that the

alleged hope she had taken place in international waters and spanish courts had no jurisdiction to try the case. from here. head south. it sails into the galusha strait one of the most spectacular locations on the entire continent.

this is the argentinian station primavera. but some garbage everywhere in the prima vera station is run by the army. unlike other stations the market has a system of raised walkway us so we have oil trampling on fragile plants including martin algae as the cause the least possible they are. why is it that international cooperation works here but not at the end when. you know much about it i'm not a foreign policy expert so i can't say but the antarctic treaty works very well and that of the course and that if you ask me why i can't really say it just does. i wish the rest of the world this way but probably there is more other places. for. if there is there cooperation between argentina chile and the united kingdom 2 and

last yes yes in fact i arrived through the fray stations there's no problem in that respect. here in antarctica it works perfectly happy to show you a bit more of the station. 2 the commander mentioned the phrase station which is chilean but nothing specific about the u.k. it may just have been coincidence or maybe he was avoiding a sensitive topic. in 1902 argentina and britain went to war over the falkland islands. for many it left wounds that never healed. for days we watched otherworldly scenes unfold before our eyes.

during those weeks we discovered and arctic as infinite beauty and one of its biggest threats. and that you know that we saw all right court president numbers in 20082009 with some 46000 tourists the financial crisis hit the tourism industry numbers dropped to below 25000 recently they were back up again to 46000 it's made one of the numbers keep rising as. we don't know what will happen i think numbers will increase but these trips on cheap. cost between 5 and 10000 euros.

you know i'm not a lot of people can afford such luxuries. for every researcher in antarctica there are now 10 tourists it's a business that rakes in some $400000000.00 euros per year. to you a few years ago and. muse. i am here inside a british station dating from the 1950 s. . there are rules of conduct by visitors but more needs to be done and it would help if tourists were required to make a monetary contribution to regional conservation opera it's currently only 10 of the 521-0000 euros they will pay for their trip going toward raising their footprint but on goes to conservation management. often it's the tourists

themselves who found complaints against the tour operators who found regulations. do you think tourism have a negative impact in antarctica personally you know we were we were able to have a lot of time to walk and child and a lot of time walking around the island and so far we found some trash which is very surprising in a way because you know in our miley's in my mind i thought an article will be a very prestigious every military location would be untouched but they're looking at you know a milk carton from china and chinese i can read that and looking at different water bottles and waste. just it's shocking in a way. it's not just tourism any human presence in antarctica can pose a threat. that they are looking for aliens.

which i. will ask aliens in the sense of species that didn't exist in the region before they arrived check out the local conditions and if they meet their ecological requirements they settle and propagate. we want to identify the invasive species that have displaced local population and. see last you know if the temperature rises even slightly species that would previously have been unable to survive. propagate it can invade and occupy the habitats of native species and supplant the need or point of. how do these invasive species return to arctic and what not they arrived at through different natural channels either on the sea or tree trunks or other floating objects or on animals natural routes the main source of invasion it's humans soon inadvertently carry them in their own vehicle wheels or our shoes but many species die in the harsh conditions that other more hardy

ones become invasive it all. i got what i mean by you. that's why we were required by the spanish polar committee to carefully vacuum each one of the items we took with us to antarctica. and you solve this problem alone if you long and that's what i'm going to know what the great thing about it arctica as the cooperation between the many countries active here what if employed a good example is our success in eradicating an invasive species 2 years ago good or not good enough it was a coordinated effort of the spanish british and argentine polar communities. and that despite the fact that britain and argentina have a history of conflict. we are radically to the invasive species and it actually does. russia call us all of the ecologist of the earth doctors now we have diagnosed it is us. now the onus is on society to follow the

doctor's orders medical. after a week on the gal ashtray to the s.p.d. this makes its way back to the spanish station from there it will return home. but i couldn't leave antarctica without investigating the world single biggest threat to peace and the environment into the argument in one part of the voter culture and without a doubt there are mineral resources that are to your hand there is oil. and there are not just hydrocarbons in the film is not as gasoline petroleum but also minerals like nickel gold and silver i think this week some recent publications even report findings of the time we broke my heart the dominant. color with my 5 if they're coming creasing the easier and cheaper to reach antarctica there to be minerals here with a value so great that my justify their exploitation of even in such

a remote location and hostile environment but if this was brought up your name of the out of power if i know it when i'm going to kind of thing. that i witnessed the pristine joyal spill firsthand we conducted research to determine the spill's impact along the entire coast of northern spain and the findings were devastating. let's get the oil isn't just hard to remove it's impossible and i think we take off the upper layer but the rest stay stuck. where it is the guess would be an oil spill in antarctica on the scale of the prestige would be a total catastrophe. if the only impact on the ice sheet would be far more dramatic than any of the effects you can have in other region yes and in others that but why . you 1st of all because it would be impossible to reach all of the affected areas in a 2nd here. when it freezes the oil gets trapped inside the ice so if you much time out of the marine kills just those that oil into other areas mean that what you

said is the best. in 1909 signatories of the end arctic treaty were poised to open the door to limited oil and mineral prospecting that had new countries lining up to join the club. but then once again a miracle happened i've heard a lot of but you are going to water today saw the signing of the madrid protocol and one of the agreement aims to protect the environment of it arctic the only remaining pristine territory on our planet when the video market said to stay in force for the next 50 years. or so often the world's most powerful countries were divided. around erupted between the more environmentally conscious mostly european nations and the united states soviet union china and britain for the millionth of what i remember. in the end all agreed to a 50 year moratorium on the exploitation of mineral resources the ban can only be

lifted with the unanimous agreement of all signatories which is virtually impossible at all briefly the protocol was a compromise between the interests of 2 sides and the exploitation of resources there could of course severe pollution and irreparable damage to antarctica but it failed to impose a permanent ban. the madrid protocol will be subject to review in 2048 what happens then. achieving consensus on anything is a very hard thing to do so as long as you haven't convinced all of the countries the change from current policy is needed then the current ban on mining. that may be but some are still tempted in 2007 britain asserted new claims to a vast area of the seabed off antarctica is set forth and there's

a reason why countries go to great lengths shifting resources and people to open stations in antarctica you know. they want to ensure they'll be there when the continent is divided. even if no one will say so. as a researcher do you feel you're being exploited for that end. no but i'm not not at all but. i have always believed it's better to join forces with your enemy. to take advantage of all barriers always. see. the of course say you more if through our research we can obtain a target that it will help protect antarctica a lot of weight up i guess i believe best option or theory of it for me that your point was a lot of going bust the other day. and

so the spanish researchers and military personnel take leave of the southernmost continent. shortly before we reach the mainland we receive footage of the penguin colony on the steps an island. the chicks were born 20 days ago. the embryo in this egg is dead its parents can't lay another until next year. it's hard for them to let it go.

and it also tries desperately to protect the things it laughs. and science has shown that the human heart is bigger than that of a penguin. for which you beg to differ. you know that's the one thing we can agree on. the be. the big the be.

the be. the be. one continent 700000000 people. with their own personal stories. we explore every day life. what europeans fear and what they hope for. something small in the world. in 30 minutes on d w. man and animal living together and unspoiled nature and nelson only rain cofounded

nationalize the only african wildlife conservation center run by the masses. but since the coronavirus pandemic they have faced many more challenges than usual i mean a problem should be in the conservation movement to find old. alternatives because . now for. 90 minutes on. young moroccan emigrants. they know the police will stop the. road is the solution to their flight could be fatal but going back is not an option. it's money i'm on and off the boat or stuck in the spanish border area they're there waiting for a chance that will probably never come shattered dreams starts generally 18th on t w. this

is deep meaning is life from pain and the usa is dead bye and good riddance to 2218 . the ball drops a new all time wave but without the usual strong crowds to ring in the new yet people all stay home also coming up. we have all freedom to get all hot and view up to us to make the most of the present and soft a century paul.