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Footprints in the Snow
Polar Politics
E
arly explorers such as Amundsen and Franklin left
only footprints in the polar snows. Today scientists
have discovered how much the rest of us have affected the
poles. Our lifestyles have changed the composition of the
atmosphere over the poles. This is called the ozone hole.
It was first noticed in the Antarctic. We have caused the
atmosphere over the whole planet to become warmer.
Such climate change could melt the polar ice caps. The four
worst years for ice-cap size reduction have come since 2007.
Great rivers flow from Russia into the Arctic Ocean.
They carry waste and pollution from factories far to the
south. The Arctic is surrounded by nations with factories—
USA, Canada, countries of Europe, and Russia.
During summer a haze lies over the Arctic Ocean
caused by dust and pollution from factories around the
Arctic. Native Arctic peoples have been disturbed many
times by others, first by explorers claiming the land and
pushing them out. Oil exploration and mining has completely
changed the Inuit life style. Animals and plants have been
disturbed just as much. Native peoples now want their land
back and a share of the wealth.
The poles are important to the state of the Earth.
They are called a
life-support system
of the planet.
At the poles we can check what effects we are having on
the Earth. A 1.2 mile (2,000 m) ice core was drilled in
Antarctica. At its deepest point the ice dated back to
160,000 years ago. Traces of factory-made chemicals and
pollution were found in the core. These traces were of
things never used in Antarctica. They were used elsewhere
in the world and brought to Antarctica by winds.
P
eople have been careless in the polar regions, often leaving trash behind.