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Amazing Antarctica Quick
Facts |
 QUICK FACTS - Amazing Antarctica |
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- 90% of the world's ice (29 million cubic km) and approximately 80% of its fresh water is locked up in the Antarctic icecap.
- If all the Antarctic ice were evenly spread over Australia, the entire continent would lie under a 3-km high layer of ice.
- Antarctica is the windiest place on earth, with gales of more that 150km/h sometimes last for a week.
- Vinson Massif is the highest mountain in Antarctica at 5139m. The highest mountain in Western Europe is Mont Blanc at 4812m.
- There are no permanent inhabitants in Antarctica.
- The helicopters carried by the Royal Navy ice patrol ship, HMS Endurance, give valuable assistance to The British Antarctic Survey Team (BAS) by moving scientists and supplies to hard-to-reach locations within Antarctica.
- Ozone is a bluish gas that occurs naturally in very small quantities high in the atmosphere. It protects us from the sun's harmful ultra-violet radiation. Recently, a hole has appeared in the ozone layer in Antarctica.
- The Antarctic Treaty sets out how Antarctica is governed and as a result it may only be used for peaceful research in the earth scienc
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