Kyle

HOW BIG IS ANTARCTICA? The land mass, ice and rock extend to over about 14 million square kilometres. Each winter the area of Antarctica roughly doubles to 28 million square kilometres. This is because the waters of the Southern Ocean develop thick ice around the shores during the winter. In addition, the permanent ice, glaciers and ice shelves extend for many miles into the ocean, covering an ocean area slightly larger than the Antarctic continent. This ice melts again during the summer.

WHO DISCOVERED ANTARCTICA?  Captain James Cook is the one who discovered Antarctica while crossing the Antarctic Circle on January 17, 1773. Captain James Cook named Antarctica from a word in the Greek language which means "south of the bear". The word ‘bear’ is from the Greek word Arcos, which is a constellation that can only be seen in the northern hemisphere. More than 2000 years ago, Greek writers described a large mass of land in the south of the world. Even though they had never seen it, they believed it must exist so that it could balance the land they knew about in the northern half of the world. They named this imagined land 'Anti-Arkitos', meaning the 'opposite of the Arctic'.

ARE THE ICECAPS MELTING?  The average surface temperature in Antarctica is minus 37°C right now so, it seems like the ice there is safe. It’s in no danger of melting unless there are huge changes in the weather patterns all over the planet. What about the ice at the other end of the world, in the Arctic Circle? There is already evidence that it is melting to some degree. This ice is not nearly as thick as ice at the South Pole and the ice floats on the Arctic Ocean, rather than sitting on land. If all the ice at the North Pole melted, sea levels would not be affected. media type="custom" key="19363010"

WILL ANTARCTICA FLOOD?  Rising temperatures may be causing some floating icebergs to melt, but this will not make the oceans rise. Icebergs are large floating chunks of ice. In order to float, the iceberg displaces a volume of water that has a weight equal to that of the iceberg. Submarines use this principle to rise and sink in the water by changing their weight.