Should Development Be Permitted in Antarctica

Antarctica is a remote continent, the fifth largest of the Earth's seven continents. It is considered the as the largest desert in the world due to the very little precipitation there, it can get up to 8 inches per year generally around the coast and less and less as you get towards inland. The southernmost, coldest, windiest, highest, most remote, and most recently discovered continent, it surrounds the South Pole, the point at the southern end of the Earth's axis. Almost completely covered by ice, Antarctica has no permanent human population. The Southern Ocean rings the continent. The continent is shaped somewhat like a comma, with a round body surrounding the pole and a tail curving toward South America. The round portion, lying mainly in the Eastern Hemisphere, makes up East Antarctica. The tail and its thickened base, located entirely in the Western Hemisphere, form West Antarctica.
The total surface area is about 14.2 million sq km (about 5.5 million sq mls) in summer, approximately twice the size of Australia, half as big again as the USA and fifty times the size of the UK. Antarctica lies 1,000 km from South America, its nearest neighbour; 4,000 km from Africa; and 2,500 km from Australia. Antarctica's latitude relation and high elevations make it the coldest continent. Air temperatures of the inland regions can fall below -80C in winter and rise only to -30C during summer. The warmest coastal regions reach the freezing point in summer but drop well below in winter.
The Antarctic continent is one of the harshest and most inhospitable places on earth, yet despite this a wide range of species manages to survive in the desolate landscape. By contrast, the surrounding ocean abounds with life, as nutrient rich water wells up from the depth. The ice cap in the centre holds over half the world’s fresh water. It is from within these icy depths that scientists hope to un-ravel the secrets of the long-term fluctuations in the earth's climate. As scientific