Take a journey to Antarctica—without having to prepare yourself physically for the journey! In the next couple of pages, you can learn some important facts about this very important continent.

• Antarctica contains 70% of Earth's freshwater and 90% of its ice.
• If melted, the ice sheets covering Antarctica would raise global sea level by almost 70 meters.
• The thin layer of sea ice that forms around Antarctica each winter helps create the densest water mass in the ocean. This water mass drives circulation in all of the world's oceans.
• Krill, the cornerstone of the Antarctic food web, make up the greatest single component of biomass in the ocean. They support a tremendous diversity of life in the southern ocean—and serve as a food source for human populations.
• The cold Antarctic environment drives atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere, and hence across the globe.

In the long, dark winter, temperatures at the South Pole hover around –58ºC (-73ºF). Even in the summer, temperatures of –26ºC (-16ºF) can lead to frostbite and hypothermia. Winds blow up unexpectedly and ferociously, causing blizzards, reducing visibility, and creating stormy seas.

The broad polar plateau sits 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) above sea level, resulting in altitude sickness for many of the people working at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and remote field sites.

The continental interior receives about as much precipitation as the Sahara; the dryness must be combated by constantly replenishing fluids, and buckets of protective skin lotion. The diminished ozone layer and long day length mean protective clothing and eye wear are a necessity at all times.

Despite these crazy conditions, approximately 3,500 people go there every year to work in this coldest, driest, windiest, highest place on Earth, and the number of people applying to do research in Antarctica increases every year.

Research scientists, electricians, computer technicians, cooks, carpenters, paramedics, communications specialists, and firemen—to name a few—go to this remote place. Their work scatters them across the continent in permanent stations and remote field camps, takes them offshore on research ships, and carries them into the cold waters in protective dry suits. The researchers have backgrounds in a wide variety of fields—physics, meteorology, biology, glaciology, field safety, chemistry, to name a few. Their work is helping us to understand the mysterious continent, the workings of the entire globe, and even other planets!

Our questions about Antarctica have changed through time, as our own scientific knowledge expanded with our ability to conduct research in such an extreme environment.

The earliest explorers began with such basic questions as, "Is there a land mass or ocean at the South Pole?" As our knowledge of Antarctica increased, new, more complex questions emerged. "Is there a continent under the ice sheet?" "What is the topography under the ice sheet?" "How thick is the ice sheet?" "How fast does the ice sheet change?" "What causes advances and retreats in the ice sheet?"

Paralleling the questions and discoveries, though perhaps not fast enough for scientists, are developments in technology. Satellite images and the development of the Global Positioning System have allowed scientists to accurately map the ice sheet and changes in the environment.

Antarctica's unique features, moreover, allow scientists to conduct research that cannot be pursued anywhere else on Earth. Here are some of the questions scientists are posing—and answering—in Antarctica.

• How—and how fast—has climate changed in the past? Can we predict what may happen in the future?

The ice sheet contains one of the most detailed records of our climate for the past several hundred thousand years. By examining how the ice sheets formed and moved, scientists can create models of how climate might be changing now—and what effect those changes could have on the rest of the world.
• When did the universe form and what events occurred during its formation?

Astronomy at the bottom of the world takes advantage of a high elevation, a thinner atmosphere, a drier climate and a virtual absence of particulate, noise, or light pollution. Astronomers can see farther, and more clearly, from Antarctica than from anywhere else on Earth.
• What design works best for remote vehicles operated on Mars?

Antarctica's incredibly harsh climate is very similar to the climate on Mars. NASA tests equipment in the Dry Valleys and other harsh Antarctic settings as part of the preparation for planetary expeditions.
• How can life exist in Antarctica's extreme environment? Might life exist in similar extreme environments on other planets?

Antarctica is one of the most extreme environments on Earth, yet scientists have discovered a vast and rich ecosystem there. Life can be found thriving even in the outer crust of rocks in the Dry Valleys and in the depths of the perennially ice-capped brine lakes. By researching how life exists there, scientists can gain clues to discover the potential for life in extreme environments beyond Earth.
• Is the depletion of the ozone layer increasing? How fast? What does this mean for the environment, both locally and globally?

The summer ozone "hole" is the most extreme over Antarctica. Scientists in Antarctica are studying the effects of ozone depletion where they are most obvious in order to understand how ozone depletion will effect the rest of the world. Their work may yield critical information on tissue damage, protection, and potential adaptations to an atmosphere with less ozone.
• How do organisms adapt, biologically and chemically, to endure the harsh conditions of Antarctica?

Polar organisms exhibit many adaptations for surviving the extreme environment of Antarctica. Such adaptations as the "antifreeze" manufactured by Antarctica fish and insects, may have important pharmaceutical applications. Scientists studying animals in Antarctica are adding to our knowledge in a large number of areas including evolution, the impact of global warming, and potential health advances.
• How are energy efficient, low cost, high durability living, and working structures best designed in extreme environments?

Resources are restricted in Antarctica; buildings must use energy efficiently and withstand the extreme environment for a prolonged period of time. Building strategies in this environment can inform building practices throughout the world, particularly as we move toward housing models with greater efficiency and smaller environmental impact.
• How do humans adapt to prolonged living in extreme environments?

As scientists conduct research, other scientists can study those scientists! Investigations of emotional, mental, and physical responses to living and working in such an extreme environment can inform the way astronauts prepare for extended space exploration.
• How is the Antarctic environment responding to climate change today?

The polar environments change dramatically throughout the year, and climate change has a tremendous effect on seasonal cycles for flora and fauna in Antarctica. By studying those changes, scientists can investigate the potential effects of climate change on ecosystems across the globe.

Questions continue to emerge as we begin to understand the complexities of Antarctica and its connections to our global system. In this course of study, there is only one guarantee: the answers scientists propose today create a path for the questions of tomorrow.