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Antarctica, the highest, coldest and windiest of all continents is also the least known. Although initial discovery and exploration began with Captain Cook in the 18th century, substantial investigation began only in the 20th century. 1956 — the start of the International Geophysical Year — marks the major turning point for interest in Antarctica and the beginning of a continuing growth in Antarctic information. Increasing international interest in Antarctic resources, conservation, politics and science is providing a much wider demand for environmental information of all types.

This paper aims to draw on Ostrom’s commons theory to analyse the governance regime of Antarctic as a commons institution. Antarctic is a peculiar territorial space on Earth, which due to its unique characteristics constitutes a global common resource that very much resembles outer space resources. On these grounds, the paper highlights successful, and less successful, arrangements developed in the Antarctic commons to be considered as a blueprint or roadmap towards the governance of outer space resources as a commons.

The paper uses first, the social-ecological system (SES) framework to outline the characteristics of Antarctic as a commons institution, and second, Ostrom’s design principles to assess the commons institution of Antarctic. The Antarctic commons institution is used next, as an analogy to reflect on the challenges outer space global resource face and the way it could be managed.

The paper concludes that Antarctic enjoys a functional, credible and successful commons institution that should reinforce the twofold governance structure it exhibits. Similar cases of global common resources, such as these of outer space, that seek to establish a similar commons institution should take into account issues related the benefits spectrum and the credible commitment of actors to engage in different levels of the governance regime. What matters is not necessarily the form of the regime but rather how the commons as an institution functions, whether it fulfils the needs and interests of the driving actors and, on these grounds, how credible these arrangements are in the eyes of the committed members.

Both Antarctica and outer space are rather unique cases and domains of multiple resources.

The paper provides an analogy to consider sustainable appropriation of global resources (“global commons”) for peace and prosperity to all.

The paper is original, in the sense that according to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no published work has identified Antarctic as a commons institution or has used the aforementioned methodologies to analyse Antarctica as a commons and to employ their findings in providing directions for the design of appropriate governance frameworks for other resources that exhibit the characteristics of global commons, such as these of the outer space.

Tourism in Antarctica is rapidly growing and diversifying, which raises concerns about its impacts and the robustness of the current regulatory regime. Focusing on the analysis of past developments and trends of Antarctic tourism, this paper aims to describe the future opportunities for tourism in Antarctica.

Using literature on the recreation opportunity spectrum (ROS) and ecotourism opportunity spectrum (ECOS), the paper analyzes the future opportunities of Antarctic tourism and the key factors that determine the window of opportunity for Antarctic tour operators.

The analysis shows that tourism opportunities in Antarctica are defined by a combination of factors, which the authors integrate into an Antarctic tourism opportunity spectrum (ATOS). The paper argues that the opportunity settings for tourism in Antarctica vary from operations of increasing scale and efficiency to the continued development of smaller scale niche products, both of which will continue to diversify and drive the development of tourism in Antarctica.

The paper is an attempt to transfer the concept of ROS, originally designed for the operational level of national park management, to the more strategic level of tourism trends in Antarctica. The research findings are based on stakeholder interaction within a limited number of countries.

The paper is a potential source of information and advice for policy makers and managers of Antarctic resources, as well as scholars interested in Antarctic tourism issues.

The paper contributes to the ongoing debate on the regulation of tourism in Antarctica.

The continent of Antarctica consists of 14 million km², roughly equivalent to the whole of South America, and is of immense interest to humanity, in particular to the countries of the Antarctic Treaty. The Antarctic continent is the continent of superlatives: it is almost isolated from the rest of the continents, and is severely cold, windy, and dry. In winter, the Antarctic area increases to nearly 32 million km², because of formation of a 1,000km wide ice‐belt. The average depth of ice on the continent is in the order of 2,000m, and in the transantarctic region this depth is 4,800 meters. Antarctica is the biggest sweet water reservoir of the planet earth. Icebergs are common and huge ones (190km in length and 130km wide) have also been observed. The minimum temperature recorded (–89.2°C) at Vostok (Russian base) on 21 July 1983 is also the minimum recorded environmental temperature on the planet earth. Because of extreme temperature variations the Antarctic winds have high velocity. The environment is very dry and at the center of the continent the dryness is of the same magnitude as in the driest desert anywhere on the planet. This is the only uninhabited continent of the planet, except for some 50 research bases which cover an insignificant area located on the continent and the Antarctica Peninsula. Because of its economic, strategic, geopolitical, scientific, meteorological, and oceanographic importance and possible exploitation in the future, Antarctica has been attracting greater attention every day. Antarctica is basically concentrated around the South Pole and it touches the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Brazil, in common with many other nations, has geopolitical interests and in untapped mineral deposits (considerable deposits of coal, petroleum, gas). In the south, where the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans meet, the cold water of Antarctica is the habitat housing hundreds of species of sea life. Unrestricted and unbalanced exploitation of Antarctica could cause changes in the meteorological and oceanographic balance. In the present paper, the Brazilian Antarctic Program, and summarized results of studies of Antarctic soil, rocks, and sediments are reported.

The international tourism options have been enriched due to several factors: new transport technology, more flexible legislation, the globalization process, and political openness regarding some areas dominated by dictatorship regimes. Antarctica is one of the new possibilities for adventure and ecological travel. It is the wildest, most well‐preserved and most isolated continent on the planet. About 10,000 tourists can appreciate its dazzling landscapes each austral summer and tourism operations have increased considerably in the region during the 1990s. This article presents a history of travel to Antarctica, an analysis of the tour operators and of the Antarctic Treaty on tourism, and reports an experience on board one of the cruise ships in the Antarctica Peninsula.

In the southern hemisphere, the Antarctic continent is also experiencing a net loss in ice from the extensive glaciers and ice sheets that cover it. However, the connection between changes in Antarctic ice sheets and the global warming trend are much more uncertain than in the Arctic. The complex of changes in the Antarctic climate and the ice sheets are described in a later section of this chapter.

The Sno‐cat “Haywire” one of four used in Dr. Vivian Fuchs' 2,150 mile journey over Antarctic snow and ice has been presented to the British Petroleum Company in appreciation of the contribution made by the Company to the success of the expedition. The Company provided at their own expense, all petroleum fuels and lubricants for the party from the U.K. as well as that led by Sir Edmund Hilary from New Zealand. They also commissioned at their own expense a film record in colour of the expedition which will be ready by the late summer and B.P's. share of the proceeds from the commercial screenings will be placed at the disposal of the Trans‐Antarctic Expedition.

Examines one of the hypothetical economic policy options for international fisheries management, namely a national transferable quota (NTQ). Special emphasis will be placed on an examination of the voluntary agreement on the Antarctic whaling quota in 1962, as well as the trend in recent southern bluefin tuna (SBT) fisheries. An examination of the Antarctic whaling agreement, from a standpoint of economic efficiency, indicates that the 1962 agreement resulted in Pareto improvement. The trend in recent SBT fisheries also shows the economic rationalization between Japan, Australia and New Zealand. These events indicate that NTQ as an economic policy option has been unconsciously applied in international management systems in order to achieve mutual and effective agreement among the countries. It is, however, important to consider the possibility of an international monopolistic supply situation if the decision makers decide to implement this option. Discusses the possibility of third‐degree price discrimination in relation to the SBT.