Ryotaro

1 Any Street
Random NSW 2060
6 March 2015
The Hon Greg Hunt MP
Minister for the Environment
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Dear Minister Hunt,

My name is Ryotaro. I am writing this letter to ask you not to break the
Antarctic Treaty.
I have two strong and convincing reasons why the Antarctic Treaty
should not be broken. My first reason is about animals and marine life in
the Antarctic Ocean and my second reason is about war over Antarctica.
If the Antarctic Treaty were to be broken, marine life and animals would
be endangered. The Ross Sea is the last untouched and not overfished
ocean in the world. If there was no treaty it would be overfished and all
the wonderful and exotic creatures that live in it will be gone. Also, there
are some fish that only live in Antarctica so if they were overfished, they
would greatly decrease in numbers. They could even go extinct. Sealing
would be a huge problem if the treaty were to be broken. Sealers can
hunt seals but only a certain amount a year. If there was no Antarctic
Treaty, seals would be hunted over the limit and they could die out in
Antarctica. Animals that live on the Antarctic continent itself would also
be in danger if the treaty were broken. Nuclear weapon testing would be
a huge problem if there was no treaty. No one lives on Antarctica, so
people would think that it is ok to test nuclear weapons on it. However,
this is not right because animals live on Antarctica. Nuclear weapons
would kill animals easily and this could maybe cause them to go extinct.
Another problem if there was no treaty is drilling. People want to drill in

Antarctica because they believe that there are lots of minerals and oil
under all of the ice and snow. Drilling would create pollution which could
intoxicate the animals of Antarctica. The noise of drilling would scare
away animals from their natural habitats and could affect their breeding
and living. This is what would happen to animals and marine life in the
Antarctic if the Antarctic Treaty was broken.

No Antarctic Treaty would mean war. The treaty is what keeps peace in
Antarctica. If the Antarctic Treaty did not exist, countries would fight over
territories in Antarctica. Argentina, Britain and Chile have overlapping
claims, so if the treaty was broken they would fight over who would keep
the land. Another problem would be people coming to Antarctica to steal
land from countries that already have a claim in Antarctica. Then war
might begin to fight over the land. To keep Antarctica a peaceful place,
we definitely need the Antarctic Treaty.

Please do not destroy the last pristine land in the world.

Yours sincerely,

Ryotaro