Name: Antarctica: A message from another planet | DW Documentary
Uploaded: 2021-10-28T05:36:27.000Z
Duration: 42 min 26 s
Description: VoiceTubeの動画で発音を聞きながら英語表現を覚えよう！学べる英語：

Antarctica, a continent of mystery and natural wonders?

Temperatures can drop to minus 93 degrees Celcius.

75 percent of our planet's fresh water is locked up in its ice sheet?

...and yet it's classified as the largest desert on Earth.

This could be the only place in the world

where diverse countries have rallied together in the name of peace

and science — to protect the environment.

The part about the ice and temperatures... sure.

But the part about peace and the environment - it's hard to believe.

Not just because I'm concerned about nature.

But also because I lived in Syria in 2009.

So, I don't have much faith left in peace...

where the polar research vessel Hespérides is picking up

a group of Spanish scientists to take them to Antarctica.

We went to bed early, but I had a hard time falling asleep.

I must have slept just four hours because I was so nervous about the trip.

I embarked on this journey to explore the myths of Antarctica.

After one day at sea, we reach the end of the world.

Tierra del Fuego is still a thousand kilometers

from the continent of Antarctica. This is the Drake Passage.

whipping up violent seas in one of the Earth's roughest waterways.

The worst storm to date hit us this year.

It was our second trip back from Antarctica,

we were about 18 hours from South America

when a severe weather system hit us from the starboard.

We faced 7-meter-high waves and winds of up to 50 knots.

Every time the crew sails into the Drake Passage,

they have their mobile phones camera-ready.

These are the outlines of Cape Horn, a notorious maritime graveyard

that harbors the sunken wrecks of hundreds of ships.

Even today the Drake Passage commands respect:

It wasn't so dramatic on our trip, though.

Luckily, technology has improved a lot, and today, before setting sail,

we can check the weather forecast to find the best window

The adventure may not be as wild as it once was.

Antarctica has been subject to territorial disputes for centuries.

The passage was first sailed by Spaniard Francisco de Hoces in 1525.

Fifty years later, it was discovered by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake

seven countries laid territorial claims to parts of Antarctica.

The overlapping claims of the United Kingdom,

Argentina and Chile caused tensions that erupted into armed conflict

between Britain and Argentina in 1952. As the Cold War set in,

the last thing the world needed was a new geopolitical flashpoint.

It was that realization that gave rise to the Antarctic Treaty.

Many people including scientists were looking for ways to cooperate

and there was the International Geophysical Year in 1957-1958

and that worked out so well that there was this idea

that there could be cooperation in Antarctica.

and it's shown in the article 4 of the Treaty,

to set aside the claims and to say that there would be a demilitarization.

But it's also, as?you may know, one of the first arms control treaties,

so it was focused on keeping the peace in that respect as well.

But none of that was the result of good will alone:

the extreme climate made it difficult to exploit the region economically,

and the US and Soviet Union staked their territorial claims

Four days after leaving Punta Arenas, the Hespérides reaches Antarctica.

Everyone is excited. We got up at five in the morning

to catch our first glimpse of the coastline.

We are two and a half miles away, and you can't see anything.

A few hours later, the fog lifts, and at last we can see Antarctica.

The Hespérides' first stop is King George Island.

The Spanish team is delivering supplies to the Uruguayan station Artigas.

Antarctic cooperation is running smoothly.

Under its terms, this location is devoted solely to science.

It has played a key role in getting all countries

to set aside their other interests, at least publicly,

and it's been that way for a very long time.

Unfortunately, the same is not true in other parts of the world,

where usually economic interests take precedence over scientific cooperation.

Could this model be exported beyond Antarctica?

That's a good question. It's something many on the planet would support.

Because King George Island offers the easiest access to Antarctica,

it has the greatest concentration of stations on the entire continent.

There are facilities here belonging to Uruguay, Russia, Chile, Argentina,

Brazil, China, Poland, Peru, Ecuador, the Czech Republic,

The Antarctic Treaty regulates how many new stations can open

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Antarctica: A message from another planet | DW Documentary

impact

conflict

harsh

environment