Antarctica log 7 - Antarctica is a whole lot closer than you'd think
- By Richard Branson -
- Feb 02, 2012
Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, highest continent. It is the fifth largest of the seven continents. It is made up of 99.7% of ice and it has 90% of the world’s ice.
Nothing sums up Antarctica better than the penguins. Today we visited an island that had 100,000 pairs of penguins. Their feathers grow out all around them protecting every inch of their body.
There were also elephant seals burping and farting and leopard seals who feed off penguins and krill and crab seals that you can see in this video.
Should Antarctica lose all its ice sea levels would rise by 180 feet. If the world continues to warm up on its current projected rate at a very minimum we will see the sea rise by three feet by the end of the century, causing havoc to cities like London and New York and countries like Bangladesh.
It could well turn out a whole lot worse. That is why Antarctica is a whole lot closer than you'd think.
Read Antarctica log 1 - first 24 hours at sea
Read Antarctica log 2 - "no lie can live forever"
Read Antarctica log 3 - the world will never have another ice age
Read Antarctica log 4 - having a whale of a time
Read Antarctica log 5 - icebergs and penguins
Read Antarctica log 6 - one iceberg too many!
By Richard Branson. Founder of Virgin Group
