Antarctica: Beyond The Southern Ocean

Antarctica covers ten per cent of the world's surface, an area equal to the whole of the U.S. and Mexico combined. Surprisingly, its unique ecosystem supports one of the richest concentrations of wildlife in the world, and it is an increasingly popular destination for eco-tourists, having had almost 40,000 visitors last year. Updated from a previous edition, Antarctica provides a panoramic view of the continent. Life on the Fringe covers the sub-Antarctic islands of South Georgia, the Falklands, the South Sandwich Islands, as well as islands south of Australia and New Zealand; Earth the Ice Planet surveys Antarctica's great ice cover, from ice sheets, ice shelves and glaciers to spectacular icebergs in the Southern Ocean; A Slippery Path traces human activity from the huts of the early explorers to contemporary scientific bases, tourism, mountaineering, polar yachting and the impact of all these on the environment; Wild and Free examines the unique life cycles and adaptive behavior of Antarctica's wildlife. Antarctica provides not only breathtaking pictures of this great continent, but also gives a wealth of information about its history, its wildlife, and the politics which surround it.