Word: wellington
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...about Antarctica's future. "It is now clear that the continent's isolation no longer protects it from the impact of man," declares Bruce Manheim, a biologist with the Environmental Defense Fund. How best to protect Antarctica has been a topic of fierce debate in meetings from Washington to Wellington, New Zealand. Everyone agrees that the issue is of great importance and urgency. Despite the damage done so far, Antarctica is still largely pristine, the only wild continent left on earth. There scientists can study unique ecosystems and climatic disturbances that influence the weather patterns of the entire globe...
...focus of contention at the moment is the Wellington Convention, an international agreement that would establish rules governing oil and mineral exploration and development in Antarctica. Proponents say the convention, painstakingly drafted during six years of negotiations, contains stringent environmental safeguards. But many environmentalists see the convention as the first step toward the dangerous exploitation of Antarctica's hidden store of minerals. They argue that the continent should be turned into a "world park" in which only scientific research and limited tourism would be permitted...
That position did not garner much support until last spring, when France and Australia, two countries with a major presence in Antarctica, suddenly announced that they backed the world-park idea and would not sign the Wellington Convention. In Washington, Senator Albert Gore of Tennessee is leading a drive to get the U.S. to withdraw its support of the accord. Until the debate is resolved, there will be no agreed-upon strategy for protecting Antarctica from mineral exploration...
...development. Concern first arose after the 1973 oil crisis, when it became clear that there might someday be pressure to drill for petroleum, even in the harsh Antarctic environment. Eventually, the treaty nations decided it was best to have rules in effect before that happened. The result was the Wellington Convention, agreed to by representatives of 20 treaty nations in New Zealand's capital in June 1988. The document essentially forbids any mineral exploration or development without agreement by all treaty participants. But most environmentalists are disturbed by any accord that recognizes even the possibility of oil drilling. Naturalist Jacques...