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Antarctica - Coggle Diagram
Antarctica
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Threats
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Whaling and Fishing
Overfishing can threaten the whole food chain and therefore the ecosystems of Antarctica - In 2013 over 200,000 tonnes of krill (primary consumers) were caught causing an 80% decline in their population, they are at the bottom of the food chain so many other organisms rely on krill to survive like adelie penguins therefore higher trophic level populations also started to decline
A lot of illegal fishing takes place which is hard to monitor and keep on top of - The Blue Whale population has gone from 350,000 down to 10,000
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) (a global institution) is responsible for regulating whaling and ensuring that the whale population is at a sustainable level
The IWC set up a whale sanctuary in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica in order to protect whales - HOWEVER the IWC have been criticised for not properly monitoring the number of whales in the sanctuary
The IWC introduced a Whaling Moratorium that banned all commercial whaling around the world, the success is monitored by estimating whale populations based on sightings and modelling - HOWEVER NGOs have said that it is also poorly enforced for example Japan have continued to kill large numbers of Antarctic whales for 'Scientific research'
Global institutions
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United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is a UN agency and is the main institution that governs the world's environment, It is responsible for reporting activity in Antarctica to the UN, Its aims in Antarctica are to stop illegal fishing and conserve the ecosystems by setting up protected areas - HOWEVER its effectiveness is limited by individual countries protecting their own interests
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