Antarctica

[Soulrender]

Will it ever be inhabitable?

If/When shit hits the fan, could we use this landmass for anything? Are there any resources?

I haven't learned anything about it in any courses I've taken up until this point. Maybe you guys can shed some light .__.

[Deleted]

If global warming gets serious enough, we could. But I'd rather live in Greenland, at least there there's an established society.

[Soulrender]

Bro Greenland would be so beautiful if global warming became serious enough


Have we tried seeing if Antarctica has any natural resources? It seems really untouched

[Deleted]

An alternative is Svalbard, I might go there this summer, might be nice.

[Deleted]

An alternative is Svalbard, I might go there this summer, might be nice.

As long as you watch out for armoured polar bears.

[Kalis]

An alternative is Svalbard, I might go there this summer, might be nice.

I Googled it.

It appears to mainly consist of what is in this picture...

[Soulrender]

In case anyone is interested, I actually just read that there was a Treaty signed in the 50s that prevented the region from being drilled for oil until 2048.

[derpkitteh]

there's like miles of ice over the whole damn continent. just imagine what kind of shit is frozen in it, still intact. i want us to explore it better just so we can see if there's any kind of monsters preserved down there.

[Deleted]

I Googled it.

It appears to mainly consist of what is in this picture...

Just gonna chill in Longyearbyen (no pun intended).



It's almost like I want to move there. They got their own university so it might not be too bad to live there.

[Catdancing]

there's like miles of ice over the whole damn continent. just imagine what kind of shit is frozen in it, still intact. i want us to explore it better just so we can see if there's any kind of monsters preserved down there.

probably since for the most part of earth's history there was no ice in the poles. So it could be a sort of Pompeii of the prehistoric world.

[Deleted]

There are loads of resources in Antarctica - Coal, Iron, Oil & Gas as well as a whole bunch of other metals like copper, but as the above poster mentions, no one can even think about drilling until 2048 due to the Antarctic Treaty which conserves the entire area for scientific purposes only. The resources are all unclaimed, they belong to the entire world, technically speaking. Some very limited areas are allowed to be fished in, in very limited quotas.

Even if it was allowable, mining would be incredibly difficult due to the extreme conditions, the thickness of the ice, and the inhospitability for the humans who would have to live there. There are a few scientific outposts, but no actual permanent settlements. The work season is only 6 months of the year, the other 6 months are extreme tempratures, extreme winds, and 6 months of darkness, meaning workers couldn't really work on any outdoor drilling.

Assuming that in 2048, the treaty isn't renewed, that people are allowed to drill there, assuming you can even build outposts, and figure out a way of drilling through the ice and keeping it stable - there is no infrastructure for transport, transport conditions to get your goods away once you've mined them are extremely difficult and expensive. Ultimately the general concensus at the minute seems to be that the value of what is there, is not going to be worth the cost of setting up drilling operations, even if the treaty isn't continued after 2048 (which it may well be). I suppose if it was the last resources left in the world at that point, the value would skyrocket and it might be worth it, but no one wants that hassle right now.

[Soulrender]

Around 2048, i'd assume that is when lots of discoveries within the region will be made. Its nice that we manage to maintain it well-preserved. Shows we still have a certain degree of environmentalism in upper-level politics

[Masark]

Will it ever be inhabitable?

Depends on your definition of "inhabitable".