There is an international agreement that protects the entire continent of Antarctica. This includes every thing from the mountain ranges to the seas full of blue whales, emperor penguins, and leopard seals.

For the past decade or so, oil drilling and mining have been banned from Antarctica in order to safeguard Cialis Professional its natural beauty; this protection will last 40 more years. Conservation is emphasized over development interests. The agreement forbids a number or possible threats to wildlife including pesticides and non-native animals.

The agreement that sets all these rules it the Environmental Protection Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty. This agreement has been set by the nations of the world to keep Antarctica free of commercialism and industrial development.

The leading 26 nations that had scientific interest in the area approved the treaty in 1991. These nations include the United States, Russia, India, China, Brazil, Argentina, Japan and most nations in Europe.

The regulations set forth by this treaty ended over 15 years of lobbying by environmental groups and put as stop to diplomatic talks. In addition to prohibiting viagra alternatives oil exploration and mining, the rules mandate that nations involved in the thirty-five scientific outposts remove all their waste and clean up their dumps. Antarctic waters

are also protected from scientific stations and tourist ships dumping raw sewage into them.

In 1911, Roald Amundsen and explorers like him relied on dog sleds for their transportation around the continent and to reach the South Pole. The accord, however, prohibits any dogs on the continent, No prescription cialis as penguins and other native fowl have been killed by pets belonging to researchers. Also banned were pesticides, polystyrene packaging and non-sterile soil.

The continent lies under a covering of ice that averages a mile deep. The area supports limited plant life such as moss and grasses.

The ice on the continent accounts for 70% of the Earth’s fresh water. In the surrounding area you will find an assortment of whales, sea birds, fish, and seals.

You won’t find a more environmentally preserved environment than Antarctica. Not a lot of growth occurs in the intense cold.

It can take years to recover from pollution in that area. For instance, a footprint in a bed of moss may remain the same for 10 years.

1959 marked the signing of the initial Antarctic Treaty, and it prohibited military operations and the testing of nuclear devices in the region. The treaty also proclaimed that no nation would own Antarctica and outlined the regulations for research. A nation occupies nearly every inch of the area even though no one actually owns Antarctica.

In the early 80s, after scientist discovered deposits of zinc, coal, manganese, uranium, copper, gold, iron and offshore oil, environmental groups started to push for conservation laws. In the midst of the energy crisis of the 1970s, the feasibility of drilling for oil in Antarctica was considered. The interest in tapping these resources will only intesify as oil prices go up and technology advances.

Each of the 26 nations that uphold the treaty have their own jurisdictions. Should a nation’s citizens break the laws and its government declines to intervene, the other countries would exert pressure to resolve the problem. That is why may people view the treaty as an environmental victory.

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