7 Things You Might Be Getting Wrong About the Antarctic
People don’t really give our southern-most continent a lot of thought until they start looking into taking an Antarctic cruise. Because of that, a lot of misconceptions tend to trickle into the general population’s consciousness, replacing fact with fiction. Let’s take a look at some of the more common misconceptions out there and get at the truth behind them.
1. Penguins versus polar bears.
Probably the most common misconception out there, people about to visit the Antarctic are worried that they’re going to get munched on by polar bears...
Rest easy, Antarctic travellers. Polar bears are only found in the Arctic. However, one still has to be cautious in Antarctica when around seals or walruses. Although they’re generally fairly calm, and seals are even known to waddle on over for a snuggle, both creatures can become aggressive if their territories are invaded, especially during the breeding season.
2. Antarctic sea ice is growing, and that’s a good thing, right?
Not really. It’s all related to global warming and different types of ice.
Specifically, scientists are looking at land-based ice (glaciers and ice shields) and sea ice. When they cite that Antarctic ice is melting, they’re referring to the land-based ice. This ice-shield is pretty important because it’s an actual shield – it bounces back significant amounts of sunlight back into space, instead of it staying inside the Earth’s atmosphere. That’s crucial to regulating a healthy and habitable overall planetary temperature.
Sea ice, on the other hand, is seasonal, melting away in the summer. So it is not an essential regulator like the land-based ice shield. And the fact that the sea ice is growing its reach indicates that the Antarctic’s ice balance is in flux, and that’s not to our advantage.
3. Penguins, being flightless birds, don’t have feathers.
Penguins actually do have feathers just like other species of birds. The difference is that while other birds use their feathers to steer and maintain flight, penguins use their feathers primarily as insulation in the icy-cold ocean environments.
4. Antarctica is fairly small. Or gigantic.
This misconception sometimes pops up because of the way it looks on maps. Antarctica’s relative size distortions are actually due to the way maps are drawn to indicate the world’s curvature.
In actuality, Antarctica is the 5th-largest continent in the world, and at 14,000,000 km2 (5,400,00 miles2) it’s about one and a half times the size of the U.S. or almost twice as big as Australia.
5. The “South Pole” and “Antarctica” are the same thing.
The South Pole is actually a very specific geographic point. In fact, there are two South Poles – one geographic (being the point of the world’s axis) and one being magnetic.
“Antarctica” on the other hand refers to the whole region contained within the Antarctic Circle, although it’s more commonly used to describe the continent itself.
6. It’s always super cold.
The average temperature of Antarctica depends on where you’re taking your readings. If you head into the interior, around the South Pole, then the highest summer temperature ever recorded was -12.3°C (9.9°F) on December 25th, 2011.
However if you stay along the coastlines then temperatures can get much warmer. For example, the summer averages along the coasts of the Antarctic Peninsula (where a lot of Antarctic cruises visit) hover right around the freezing mark. Sometimes though the old mercury has been known to reach as high as 15°C, meaning it’s possibly quite a bit warmer in that particular portion of Antarctica in December as opposed to where you’re living.
7. Penguins are only in the Antarctic.
Penguins are actually fairly decently spread throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Some are found in New Zealand, others up around the southern portion of South America. One species, the Galapagos, even lives in a (probably) more tropical setting then you! They’ll wave hello as you sail past on your Antarctic cruise.
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