Antarctica - ProfilesArchive

About Me

I am the fifth-largest continent following Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. I am larger than Australia and the subcontinent of Europe. I am slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US.

My land is about 98% covered in thick continental ice sheet and 2% barren rock, with average elevations between 2,000 and 4,000 meters. I have mountain ranges up to nearly 5,000 meters. I have ice-free coastal areas including parts of southern Victoria Land, Wilkes Land, the Antarctic Peninsula area, and parts of Ross Island on McMurdo Sound.

Glaciers form ice shelves along about half of my coastline, and floating ice shelves constitute 11% of me.

I am one of few places on Earth where there has been never been war, where the environment is fully protected. I am a land devoted to peace and science.

My Interests

Antarctica, Antarctic Circle, Bay of Whales, Mount Terror, Queen Mary Land, Adelie Land, Charles Wilkes, Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, ice cap, snowfield, Johannes Huberozone, Mount Herschel, Deception Island, glacers, ice shelves, ending global warming, krill, katabatic winds, solar radiation, Antarctic Treaty, southern lights, Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva Base, Halley Station, lichens, Emperor Penguins, Bentley Subglacial Trench, ice, icebergs, frigid water, Vinson Massif, Lake Vostok, coal, iron ore, Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, Patagonian toothfish, cold, Wilkes Land crater, ALH84001, Southern Ocean, cold islands, McMurdo Station, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, aurora australis, snow, Ernest Shackleton, Mount Erebus, The Endurance, Captain James Cook, HMS Resolution, Adventure, expedition, South Pole, Cape Hordern, Edmund Hillary

I'd like to meet:

I need a superhero to keep me from melting.
Or...a certain superpower.

(Not going to name any names or anything. But it seems like one PARTICULAR country is emitting more than its fair share of greenhouse gasses. Again, not wanting to point fingers, here. But if any, you know, leaders of the "free world" could help me out, that'd be really great.)

I want to meet everyone who loves me! Come visit! I have the cutest penguins and the most fantastic blue icebergs. Seriously, you are going to freak when you see me because I AM SO AWESOME.

If you can't make it down for a visit, you could show your support by making good environmental choices and encouraging pro-environment policy where you live. And in return, I'll keep global temperatures low enough for the continuation of life on Earth! :)!!