The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 766 - 573: Antarctica_1

It is well known that Earth consists of seven continents and four oceans, each continent boasting considerable resources and land area, while each ocean possesses immense marine resources and islands.

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Since the Age of Great Navigation to present day, the European powers have extensively developed regions around the world, having colonized many small islands in the vast Pacific Ocean. It is not an exaggeration to say that European colonists can be found everywhere in the world.

However, things are not so absolute. Of the seven continents, Europe is the native land, home to numerous powers, which naturally goes without saying.

Africa and Asia are populated by numerous indigenous peoples, and with the frequent visits from colonists, the degree of development is already quite advanced.

The Americas and Australia are basically the same, first colonized by settlers and then becoming one or several independent countries, typical examples of colonies transformed into nations.

But there is one continent with a special name that even the mighty European powers could not develop further.

The sole remaining continent with a special name is Antarctica.

Antarctica is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean, located at the southernmost tip of Earth. It has a total area of 14.05 million square kilometers, accounting for 9.4% of the world’s total land area, far surpassing the total area of Australasia.

If one were to merely consider the total land area, then no country should refuse Antarctica, and the colonists facing it should be no fewer than those facing other continents.

But in reality, due to its location at the Earth’s southernmost end, Antarctica is subject to the coldest climate on the planet, which is the biggest problem encounter in its development.

If not for its severe cold climate, Antarctica would have been developed into a new colony by European colonists long ago, rather than being mostly uninhabited as it is now.

How extreme is the cold climate of Antarctica? Only 2% of the continent is not perennially covered by ice and snow, allowing flora and fauna to survive.

The extreme lowest temperature in Antarctica once reached -89.2 degrees Celsius, with wind speeds able to reach around 18 meters per second, and even exceeding 90 meters per second at its maximum, recognized as the coldest land with the most storms and the strongest winds in the world.

Secondly, they intended to establish corresponding observation points and plant the Australasian flag, which would greatly assist Australasia’s claim to sovereignty over Antarctica.

Since there were very few people in Antarctica, it meant that no power had historical sovereignty over it.

At present, countries’ claims to sovereignty were based merely on the research stations they had established in Antarctica and their strong international status.

As the only superpower in the Southern Hemisphere, Australasia naturally had an advantage in this area.

With assistance from Britain, and by forming an alliance with France, they could potentially monopolize the exploration of the entire Antarctic continent.

This was one aspect of the era that Arthur was quite satisfied with; although it was a brutal era of survival of the fittest, as long as one was powerful, the benefits one could reap were far greater than those seen in a seemingly decorous and peaceful society.

The competition among nations was quite straightforward; it simply involved a comparison of national strength. Naturally, the more powerful countries would occupy more benefits.

In the current world, no country was yet able to counter the Britain-France-Australia alliance, not even the seemingly strong Island-United States alliance.

To resist the Britain-France-Australia group, it would take, at the very least, an island nation plus the United States plus another power.

Unfortunately, Italy wouldn’t help the United States and the island nation for nothing; in choosing sides, they would definitely lean towards Britain and France, since these two were closer to Italy and posed a greater threat.

Besides Italy, no other nation had the strength of a power, which dashed the hopes of the United States and the island nation to join another country in opposing Britain-France-Australia.

Moreover, Britain-France-Australia had the backing of the World Alliance; if these three countries truly united to accomplish something, at least in this world, it must be possible.

Arthur’s idea of establishing an Antarctic expedition reached the government very quickly, and the officers made concerted efforts, soon forming an expedition team.

This is the advantage of having power; one’s own idea can prompt numerous officers to work tirelessly and even risk their lives to achieve it.