Chapter – 3 (Vistas)

JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE EARTH

By: Tishani Doshi

 You read the lesson yesterday and
watched related videos as well.

Today, before we proceed further, let

us revise the lesson.
 Summary
The author started her journey in a Russian
research vessel, ‘Akademic Shokalskiy’ bound for
Antarctica. Her journey began 13.09 degrees
north of the Equator in Madras. She travelled over
100 hours in combination of car, aeroplane and
ship before she set foot on the Antarctic
continent.

Akademic Shokalskiy
• The purpose of the visit was to know more
about Antarctica.
• The author stayed there for two weeks. It is a
place which stores 90 percent of the Earth’s total
ice volumes.
• It has no trees, billboards or buildings.
• The visual scene ranges from the microscopic to the
mighty. Days go on and on in 24 hour austral
summer light.
• Silence pervades everywhere. It is broken only by an
avalanche or calving ice-sheet.
• Six hundred and fifty million years ago, a
giant
southern supercontinent- Gondwana- did
exist.
• It was centred roughly around present day
Antarctica.
There were a variety of flora and fauna.
•Humans had not arrived on the global scene
yet.
Gondwana thrived for 500 million years.
•Then came the time when the dinosaurs were
wiped out
and the age of mammals began.
•The landmasses to separated into countries,
shaping the
world much as we know it today.
 Climate change is one of the most hotly contested
environmental debates of our time. If we want to
study the Earth’s past, present and future,
Antarctica is the place to go as it holds half-million-
year-old carbon records trapped in its layers if ice.

Climate Change – Melting Earth

• Antarctica has a simple eco-system and lacks of
biodiversity.
• It is the perfect place to study how little changes
in the environment can have big repercussions.
Scientists warn that a further depletion of the
ozone layer will affect the lives of the sea-animals
and birds of the region. It will also affect the
global carbon cycle.
• The burning of fossil fuels has polluted the
atmosphere. It has created a blanket of carbon
dioxide around the world. It is increasing the
global temperature which is visible at Antarctica
when we see ice bergs melting away.
• It shows how minor changes in the atmosphere
can cause huge effect. If the global temperature
keeps on increasing, the human race may be in
• The author gives us an example of phytoplankton to
show how small changes in the atmosphere can be
threatening.
• The microscopic phytoplankton are single celled
plants.
• They nourish and sustain the entire Southern
Ocean’s food chain.
• They use the sun’s energy to assimilate carbon and
supply oxygen.
• Any further depletion in the ozone layer may affect
this functioning and indirectly affect the lives of all
marine animals.

Phytoplankton
• When the author returned, she was still
wondering about
the beauty of balance in play on our planet.
• Walk on the Ocean was the most thrilling
experience of
the visit.
• They were walking on a meter-thick ice-pack.
• Seals were enjoying themselves in the sun on
ice.
• The narrator was wondering about the beauty
of the
place. She wished it would become a warm
place again as
it used to be millions of years ago. If it
happens, the
results can be catastrophic.
Students of ‘Students on Ice’
programme walking on the ocean.
Kudos to you boys.

I hope that you all have now well

understood the lesson. Let us
proceed with the assignment for the
day.
Short answers type questions.

• Kindly copy each

question in your
English class
registers.
• Answer the
questions in 30-40
words only.
• Answers will be
shared in the next
blog.
Q.1What are the indications for the future of
mankind?

Q.2 How did Antarctica amaze the writer when she

first saw it?

Q.3 Why is Antarctica the place to go if you want to

study the earth’s past, present and future?

Q.4 What sort of brightness and silence prevailed in

Antarctica during summer?
Q.5 What do you think is the reason behind the
success of the programme, ‘Students on Ice’?

Q.6 “My Antarctic experience was full of such

epiphanies”, says Tishani Doshi. Which
experience does she consider the best and why?

Q.7 What unique opportunities does the Antarctic

environment provide to the scientists?

Q.8 "And for humans, the prognosis is not good".

Explain the situation & observation.
 Until I see you with the next blog,
keep safe, stay inside and continue studying.
God bless you all.