Different paths for Antarctica?

[Thande]

What different paths might Antarctica have taken? I suppose the most obvious one is that, rather than be neutralised by treaty, it is formally carved up between the various relevant powers (Britain/Australia, Norway, Argentina, Chile, etc.).

Or perhaps the whole of Antarctica could end up British, and then eventually end up as a territory of Australia?

GBW's Republic of Yamania, which he devised for the first Mosaic Earth, is probably the most original possibility I have seen...an Antarctica ruled by a very small population of native peoples who (POD) managed to cross over from Tierra del Fuego...

Any more suggestions?

 

[Tyr]

Being carved up by the relevant powers pretty much covers it all.
I suppose it oculd be carved up by corporations too but...Thats not that mcuh of a extra possibility.

 

[zoomar]

I could see a situation where the coastal margins are carved up among major powers with an interest in the Southern oceans for fishing/whaling rights, with the interior remaining international and protected by treaty.

Something weirder might be for the USA to include the whole Continenent within the terms on the Monroe Doctrine, with that eventually leading to US ownership.

 

[The Ubbergeek]

Being carved up by the relevant powers pretty much covers it all.
I suppose it oculd be carved up by corporations too but...Thats not that mcuh of a extra possibility.

Incidently, it's the path in the rpg Shadowrun and Cyberpunk 2020, if I remember well - corporations direct rule. Maybe also other cyberpunk works.

 

[Hermanubis]

What different paths might Antarctica have taken? I suppose the most obvious one is that, rather than be neutralised by treaty, it is formally carved up between the various relevant powers (Britain/Australia, Norway, Argentina, Chile, etc.).

Or perhaps the whole of Antarctica could end up British, and then eventually end up as a territory of Australia?

GBW's Republic of Yamania, which he devised for the first Mosaic Earth, is probably the most original possibility I have seen...an Antarctica ruled by a very small population of native peoples who (POD) managed to cross over from Tierra del Fuego...

Any more suggestions?

Maybe carved up between the US and the Soviets? East and West Antarctica anyone?

(Maybe this could be tyed into a 'No Outer Space Treaty' TL? Who ever dosnt get the moon gets Anarctica?)

 

[Keenir]

What different paths might Antarctica have taken?

Any more suggestions?

well, in the wake of WW2, Japan is not forbidden-by-treaty to stake any claims in Antarctica.

(in OTL, they were forbidden from claiming territory, despite being one of the first 5 nations to go for the South Pole)

 

[Tom Veil]

How about this: take one of the standard Roman-Empire-survives TLs. Now imagine what global warming would be like in a world that had been burning coal in industrial quantities for 1500 years. Antarctica should be a lovely place by now in that world.

 

[sunsurf]

One wealthy megalomaniac decides to own Antarctica! I'll leave it at that in case I'm able to write a story on it. Maybe an AH.COM episode.

Argentina was very wealthy in the 1920s; maybe, earlier, Argentina was able to dominate S. America and they then decide to take control of Antarctica.

Brazil, S. Africa, Australia, Indonesia, India, China...

The Kingdom of Hawaii remains independent, forms a confederation with the rest of the Pacific Islands, forms the most powerful navy in the world, beats back Japan's attempts at imperialist expansion, then Hawaii takes control of Antarctica.

The United Socialist Republic of Alaska has a government is more like Sweden's and less like Russia's. Russia broke up and Alaska was able to expand somewhat into northernmost Siberia, and Alaska dominates N. Canada and Greenland. They decide that since they control most of the Arctic, then for symmetry they should control the Antarctic.

But the other countries point out that for symmetry, since they only control 70.18% of the Arctic, they should only control 70.18% of the Antarctic.

Gambia becomes like Hong Kong, the most wealthy and influential African nation. They put together a navy and start taking control of parts of the Antarctic so they can start towing icebergs to the water-poor parts of Africa.

Before the asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, they put some of their best and brightest with some cultural and technological goodies into a vault underneath the ground, not anticipating that in millions of years the vault would be buried under miles of ice....

 

[Keenir]

Before the asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, they put some of their best and brightest with some cultural and technological goodies into a vault underneath the ground, not anticipating that in millions of years the vault would be buried under miles of ice....

actually, I've heard of an upcoming book along those lines.

it involved the explorer Byrd.

 

[The Mists Of Time]

Let's look very long term

According to some, Antarctia wasn't always the South Pole and won't always be the South Pole.

There is the theory that on a regular basis every so many thousands or tens of thousands or some number of years, the Earth's axis poles shift. Supposedly it happens very quickly and is a very dramatic geological event.

There is a book called I think "The Path Of The Poles" which is supposed to trace where the North and South Poles have been at other times in geological history.

According to this theory, Antarctica was at one time and someday will again be a warm temperate climate.

Many who subscribe to the pole shift theory believe that it is about to happen again and is even immanent. They claim that this is what is really behind things like global warming and such, that global warming and things like that are normal natural things that occur before a pole shift and that they have nothing to do with things like pollution.

So maybe a pole shift is about to happen and a different very different path for Antarctica is to again become a temperate climate.

 

[DuQuense]

one idea is that the poles will shift 90o to some where in the indian ocean, this would put Antarticia on the equartor.

The other idea is that the last shift was from hudson bay to present , and the nest will be to somewhere in Siberia. This put Antarticia somewhere between 20~30o S latitude, About like northern Canada.

This will all take place in 2012.

 

[Max Sinister]

Argentine was so rich because they could sell wheat and meat to the world and didn't need much industry. But somehow they didn't catch up later, and Peronism (shutting the economy out from the world market) made them fall back even more. Hm, that's a good idea for a POD...

 

[Wendell]

How about Chile, or Spain claiming Antarctica? Or, suppose there actually was a significant German contingent there?

 

[stevep]

According to some, Antarctia wasn't always the South Pole and won't always be the South Pole.

There is the theory that on a regular basis every so many thousands or tens of thousands or some number of years, the Earth's axis poles shift. Supposedly it happens very quickly and is a very dramatic geological event.

There is a book called I think "The Path Of The Poles" which is supposed to trace where the North and South Poles have been at other times in geological history.

According to this theory, Antarctica was at one time and someday will again be a warm temperate climate.

Many who subscribe to the pole shift theory believe that it is about to happen again and is even immanent. They claim that this is what is really behind things like global warming and such, that global warming and things like that are normal natural things that occur before a pole shift and that they have nothing to do with things like pollution.

So maybe a pole shift is about to happen and a different very different path for Antarctica is to again become a temperate climate.

Mist

I could be wrong but I think your referring to the oscillation of the earth's magnetic field, which means the direction of magnetic north and south flip flop periodically. However the physical locations on the Earth's surface don't change.

On the other hand I do know that David Gemmell, the fantasy writing, in his Jerusalem Man series a decade or so back referred to a situation where periodically the build-up of ice-caps caused an unbalancing of the Earth. This actually changed the relative location of land and seas but to be honest I am highly dubious about this.

On the longer term there is continental drift and Antarctic, along with Australia broke away from what was the combined S America & Africa about 60M years ago and both used to be a lot further north. I think in another 80M years it will be sub-tropical again. [Which unless there is another polar continent to hold a large icecap means higher sea levels!]

Steve

 

[Michael B]

I could see a situation where the coastal margins are carved up among major powers with an interest in the Southern oceans for fishing/whaling rights, with the interior remaining international and protected by treaty.

Argentine was so rich because they could sell wheat and meat to the world and didn't need much industry.

What Argentina could do would be to build a fishing/whaling fleet to exploit the waters around Anarctica. To keep out the British and Chileans they lay claim to large sections of the coast and put in a few colonists to man stations and thus buttress their claim.

If they don't seize too much, the Americans and French are lightly to go along with this as they can operate in non-Argentinian waters. The British aren't going to be too worried either as they had the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and thus don't have to be so stupid as to put a station in Antarctica.

Whilst it may be more economical to fish elsewhere, the same could be said about digging coal anywhere other than Spitzbergen.

Given the Argentinians a generation of colonisation of part of Antartica and it would be as Argentinian as Buneos Aires.

 

[SuperCanada]

On another note: What if Antarctica didn't exist at all? Would the whole planet be warmer if all that ice weren't there?

 

[stevep]

On another note: What if Antarctica didn't exist at all? Would the whole planet be warmer if all that ice weren't there?

Definitely if the land wasn't there then the earth would be a lot warmer, as there would be little or no southern ice cap. This would also mean much higher sea levels flooding much of the coastal plains and probably higher rainfall on average as a result.

Steve

 

[Straha]

Given that for millions of years australia and antarctica were connected. What would have happened if they remained connected and antarctica followed australia north?

 

[SuperCanada]

Given that for millions of years australia and antarctica were connected. What would have happened if they remained connected and antarctica followed australia north?

I suspect it would be much like North America climaticaly, as it would be predominantly in the midlatitudes. Large moa-like penguins would be the equivalents of grazing animals.

 

[Straha]

assuming OTL Climate and no rise in sea level/warmer earth we'd see northwestern antarctica resembling the medditeranean regions. The east would be a continuation of the warm, mild australian southeast climate until you go further south where it would resemble the eastern USA. South of the medditeranean zone in the west the climate resembles western north america north of california. The central climate would range from semidesert in the north to prairie and eventually steppe in the far south.