Approximately 4,000 scientists and researchers live in Antarctica during the austral summer, with about half of these being American. During the winter months, however, this number is greatly reduced to a total of about 500 people. Although the number of people living on the Antarctic continent remains quite small, scientists have been blamed for pollution problems ranging from sewage leaks to oil spills. In July, 1995, approximately 21,000 gallons of oil were spilled in Argentina's Marimbo base as the result of a poorly constructed fuel storage system, which consisted of large rubber fuel bladders placed directly on the snow. Similar incidents have occured on other international scientific bases, including Russia's Bellingshausen base (known to be one of the continent's more contaminated sites) and the United States' McMurdo Station. However, as more attention has been placed on the continent of Antarctica such spills are rare, and scientists have done much to clean up and improve waste management procedures on the continent.
Despite the 1991 Madrid Protocols 50-year moratorium placed on the exploitation of Antarcticas natural resources, future economic and population pressures could pose significant environmental threats to the continent of Antarctica. An expected and dramatic increase in world demand for energy over the next 30 years may expose the continent to countries and markets looking for alternative petroleum supplies. If Antarctica is indeed eventually opened for oil exploration activities, which many believe it will be, the potential for oil pollution occurrences such as oil tanker spills, the dumping of waste oil, natural oil seeps and well blowouts will rise substantially.
However, the Antarctic Treaty system currently in place offers the internationally-owned continent an opportunity to temporarily avoid such premature exploration activities. The continents usefulness as a scientific tool and international research station will continue to be taken advantage of and Antarctica will continue its important role in providing answers to the dilemma of climate change.