In an ironic twist, scientists are the ones polluting Antarctica! Researchers took samples from the Antarctic sea floor near the Casey research station and found levels of pollution that were comparable to levels in the sea ports of Rio de Janeiro and Sydney. In the samples were high levels of heavy metals like lead and zinc and also polychlorinated biphenyls, which are forever chemicals and carcinogens. The use of polychlorinated biphenyls was banned in 2001 which is a testament to its longevity as it is still found on the ocean floor some 22 years later.
You might be asking how this problem even originated. Ever since 1991, Antarctica has been classified as a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science” under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, however, humans have been in Antarctica much longer than that. Roughly two-thirds of the research stations built in Antarctica were built before this treaty was signed. Much of the pollution nowadays comes from these old stations. Before 1991, there was nothing stopping scientists from dumping their waste on Antarctic land or marine and that is exactly what scientists did. This was certainly not isolated to the Casey station, as stations from every country in Antarctica face the same historical pollution issues.
Researchers are now trying to figure out ways to clean up the pollution and monitor the impacts the pollution has on the Antarctic ecosystem. Researchers at the Argentine Antarctic Institute have experimented with releasing bacteria that remove hydrocarbons that were released into the soil after fuel spills near the Carlini research base. They found that these bacteria were able to reduce hydrocarbon levels by 75%. Meanwhile, researchers at the Casey station are in the process of upgrading their wastewater treatment systems.
As for the effects of pollution, researchers have conducted experiments in order to figure out the environmental impacts it has. Researcher Jonathan Stark has conducted a study in which he has compared the biodiversity levels of areas polluted in Antarctica with control areas. He found that polluted locations have less biodiversity and that species that were more resistant to pollution became more dominant in those regions. This is just the tip of the iceberg, as more studies are underway to determine if pollution has affected these ecosystems in ways besides biodiversity.
As for the future, researchers are taking steps to make sure that history does not repeat itself. Curbing the environmental impacts of research stations today is just as important as cleaning up mistakes made previously. Scientist Shaun Brooks has proposed a nine step solution that helps stations set environmental impact mitigation goals. As more and more researchers come to Antarctica it is important that scientists outline methods to preserve the pristine environment. Over 100 stations are already in Antarctica and the reduction of future pollution is certainly a concern. Many of these stations are built in Antarctica’s ice-free areas which make up less than 1% of Antarctica. These ice-free areas have the highest levels of biodiversity and support penguin and seal colonies. When scientists build bases in ice-free areas they disturb natural wildlife and displace animals that use these rare parts of Antarctica to survive. A recent study has found that approximately half of all coastline ice-free areas have human structures or activity visible from space. Compare that with the number of research stations on Antarctica and you can see just how few of these ice-free areas there are on Antarctica. It is very important that if we want to continue studying wildlife in Antarctica we do so in a way that is non-invasive and clean.
