Antarctica ​​​​​​​And Us

To stay wild, Antarctica needs us to keep it that way. Documentarian Fraser Morton reminds us of our relationship with the Last Great Wilderness, as he documents his incredible ClimateForce expedition with a polar legend.

- Fraser Morton

Antarctica has reached into our hearts and minds and tugged at our adventurous spirit ever since the Ancient Greeks hypothesised that a great southern continent “ Antarktos ” had to exist.

Ever since, the continent has witnessed the best and worst of mankind’s relationship with nature – from darker days when the first sealers and whalers arrived in the 19th century and drove many species close to extinction, to a new dawn with the heroic polar exploration age from the 1890s to 1920s.

Since 1959, Antarctica has won our protection in the form of the Antarctic Treaty, a nation-binding agreement between 53 countries that keeps the pristine continent free from exploitation in all forms. It is the only free place left on Earth, owned by no one –a designated land for science and peace. The Treaty is regarded as one of mankind's greatest achievements.

Despite this, the continent once again faces an uncertain future as a consequence of human meddling. The Treaty is up for review in the year 2041, and there are countries and companies already jostling for claims on the continent resources.

Meanwhile, climate change is warming the continent faster than ever, which means that we will begin to feel Antarctica’s power even more in the decades to come as ice-melt morphs into sea level rise, burying low-lying shorelines around the Earth.

It’s a time when our species and the seventh continent’s fates are intertwined – a time when wonder with the last free wilderness needs to recapture our imaginations once more.

ADVENTURE ACTIVISM

Earlier this year, I travelled to Antarctica with a climate change activism foundation called 2041, led by British polar explorer Sir Robert Swan and his son Barney.