Education

All about Antarctica

by Dr. Steve Emslie

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Latest episodes

Part XII The Heroic Age

March 12, 2023 · 12 min

The Heroic Age in Antarctica dates from 1899-1922 when the first men to winter over and conduct scientific research and exploration endured many hardships with some deaths. Besides providing the first scientific studies, photography and…
Part XIX Antarctica and the Future

March 11, 2023 · 5 min

Throughout this podcast, we have traced the history of Antarctica from its geologic origins, its earliest discovery and the first people to set foot there, to the first research stations and into the modern world. Even though Antarctica…
Part XVIII Marine Fisheries and Illegal Fishing

March 11, 2023 · 8 min

Fisheries for fin fish and krill began to increase in Antarctica in the late 1960s and 1970s and by 1982 the krill catch rose to a peak of over 520,000 tons removed. This increased harvest caused concern among scientists in Antarctic…
Part XVII Anthropogenic Impacts

March 11, 2023 · 10 min

Although Antarctica is still the most remote and pristine place on earth, there have been many human-caused impacts to this continent and the marine environment around it. These impacts include pollution from research stations, tourism…
Part XVI Research Stations and Life in the Cold

March 11, 2023 · 11 min

Research stations in Antarctica must overcome three obstacles: logistics for how to build and maintain them, climate control for comfortable temperatures, and comfort in general for the personnel including space to spread out, quality of…

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Part XV The Antarctic Treaty

March 11, 2023 · 11 min

After the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958, Antarctica became a focus of scientific research that continues to this day. In 1958, most of Antarctica was under territorial claims by seven nations, with overlapping claims between…
Part XIV The International Geophysical Year

March 11, 2023 · 11 min

Following Shackleton’s death in 1922 which marked the end of the Heroic Age in Antarctic history, no major expedition occurred to Antarctica until 1928 when a naval aviator, Richard Byrd, ventured south with ambitions to be the first…
Part XIII Race to the Pole

March 11, 2023 · 14 min

As we enter the heart of the Heroic Age in Antarctica, three men become competitors to be the first person to reach the South Pole: Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton, and Roald Amundsen. Scott and Shackleton had a falling out after…
Part XI Discovery of Antarctica

March 10, 2023 · 12 min

Antarctica is a huge continent, over 5 million square miles in size. Yet, it was not until the 1820s that humans first set foot upon it, and not until the first half of the 20th century before it was finally confirmed that it really was…
Part X Penguins and Other Seabirds

March 10, 2023 · 15 min

When the topic of penguins is raised, most people tend to think only about Antarctica as their habitat. However, of the 19 living species only five actually occur in Antarctica and of those, only two are endemic there. In this episode I…
Part IX Marine Mammals

March 10, 2023 · 13 min

Marine mammals in Antarctica can be divided into two major groups: the pinnipeds and the cetaceans. Pinnipeds can be further divided into two groups, true seals in the family Phocidae and sea lions in the family Otariidae, while cetaceans…
Part VIII Antarctic Lakes

March 10, 2023 · 10 min

Although only about 2% of Antarctica is exposed as ice-free land, there are hundreds of lakes found there that vary from freshwater to saline. There are even hundreds more that are below the ice sheets that have been hidden and isolated…

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About the show

This ad-free podcast is a shortened version my undergraduate class that I designed and teach at the University of North Carolina Wilmington titled Antarctic Ecology, Geology, History, and Policy (BIO 367). The podcast is presented in 19 parts that cover all topics in this class, allowing listeners to learn about this frozen continent as a public service. Each part is an audio file (mp3) that is about 8-12 minutes long. Additional information on my research can be found at https://www.uncw.edu/penguins/