Traveling to favorite destinations is definitely on the bucket list for many and ask any serious traveler and he/she will definitely pick Antarctica among some other choices. The pristine terrain Antarctica offers is absolutely unparalleled and there are not many places like Antarctica. It is special and its beauty must be preserved. A recent study has stated that this is actually not the case and that a trip to Antarctica may not be something you should be planning any time soon. Read below to understand why?
1 visitor = 83 tons of melted snow
In a recent study published under the journal nature communication, researchers have urged tourists not to choose Antarctica as their next destination. The peer-reviewed study scientists have claimed that snowmelt is steadily increasing in Antarctica. The study found that for every tourist who visits the continent, snow melts as much as 83 tons. In addition, researchers have also said that nearly 23mm of snow melts in summer due to black carbon produced in various ways in the continent.
The study was chaired and authored by Raúl R. Cordero of the University of Santiago, Chile. He was assisted by a team of 20 other researchers. The study, while warning not to travel to the continent, also claimed that the snow in Antarctica was the cleanest to be found on our planet. The team tried to calculate how many tourists visited Antarctica, and the numbers they came up with were alarming. Their study found that more than 74,000 tourists visited Antarctica in the 2019-2020 season, and 53 thousand tourists traveled to the continent annually between 2016 and 2020.
Study claims researchers do more damage than tourists
The peer-reviewed study has clarified how researchers inflicted more damage on Antarctica than tourists. It stated that researchers left almost 10 times more footprint compared to a tourist. The researchers blamed the researchers for the overuse of ships, planes, helicopters, generators and, most importantly, the use of diesel. The study, added by a co-author, confirms that Antarctica was one of the last more or less unpolluted continents and that it should be preserved as well.