Ralph Pace/Minden Pictures (whale); David Chapman/Alamy Stock Photo (seal); Shutterstock.com (all other images)

Welcome to Antarctica

The coldest, driest, windiest continent on Earth

From the December 2025/January 2026 Issue

Learning Objective: Students read an infographic, then use it to create their own infographic.

Featured Skill: Visual Literacy,

Standards

Jim McMahon/Mapman ®

The Numbers

98^%of the land in Antarctica is covered in ice
About 60^%of the world’s fresh water is in Antarctica (mostly frozen).
1,000 people live in Antarctica in the winter and 5,000 in the summer (mostly researchers)

^{_{Sources: British Antarctic Survey, AntarcticGlaciers.org}}

The Animals

10 species of whales
6 species of seals
12 million penguins
500 million tons of krill

^{_{Sources: Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, Time, National Geographic}}

The Southern Ocean encircles Antarctica. Its currents and sea ice play an important role in regulating Earth’s climate.

The Weather

Summer (Oct-Feb) as high as: 59°F
Winter (Mar-Sept) as low as: −128.6°F
Average annual precipitation: 2 inches (It’s the world’s biggest desert!)

^{_{Sources: British Antarctic Survey, United States Antarctic Program}}

The Threats

Antarctica is facing major challenges.

Warming Seas

Because of climate change, parts of the Southern Ocean have warmed by more than 1.8°F since 1955. This heating contributes to the ice shelves melting, which impacts the wildlife that lives on the ice.

Melting Ice

Also as a result of climate change, about 136 billion tons of ice in Antarctica melt every year. If Antarctica’s ice sheet—the largest piece of ice in the world—were to fully melt, global sea levels would rise 200 feet.

Tourism

A record number of tourists visited Antarctica during the 2023-24 summer season: 124,000. Tourism affects the region’s fragile ecosystem by disturbing wildlife and introducing diseases and invasive species.