The author remained there for two weeks. For a sun worshipper South Indian, being face to face with ninety per cent of earth’s total ice volume was a mind-boggling and chilling prospect. It was also a chilling experience for circulatory and metabolic functions and for imagination. It is like walking into a giant ping-pong ball with no human markers such as trees, billboards, and buildings.

Question - 12 : -
What is the visual experience in Antarctica?

Answer - 12 : -

In Antarctica the visual scale ranges from the microscopic to the mighty midgets and mites to blue whales and icebergs as big as countries. The writer refers to it as walking into a giant ping-pong ball devoid of any human markers, without trees, billboards, buildings. Days go on in 24 hours austral summer light. A ubiquitous silence, interrupted only by an occasional avalanche or calving ice sheet consecrates the place.

Question - 13 : -
How, according to the author, has mankind etched its dominance over nature?

Answer - 13 : -

According to the author, though civilizations have been around for barely a few seconds on the geological clock, yet they have created a ruckus by their various activities like exploiting the limited resources and careless burning of fossil fuels. In the short span of existence on the earth, they have already created a blanket of carbon dioxide and increased the average global temperature.

Question - 14 : -
How has Antarctica sustained itself and managed to remain pristine?

Answer - 14 : -

Antarctica, on account of being the coldest, windiest and driest continent in the world, has never sustained a human population and has thus managed to remain pristine. This has prevented man from being able to create ruckus in this part of the world by his thoughtless exploitation of the natural resources.

Question - 15 : -
How is global temperature increasing? What are the immediate fears due to it?

Answer - 15 : -

Global temperature is increasing due to the increasing burning of fossil fuels. It has now created a blanket of carbon dioxide around the world. This has given birth to questions like: Will the West Antarctica ice sheet melt entirely? Will the Gulf Stream Ocean current be disrupted? Will it be the end of the world as we know of? It may be. It may not be.

Question - 16 : -
How is Antarctica a crucial element in the debate of climate change?

Answer - 16 : -

Antarctica is a crucial element not because it has no human population but because it holds in its ice cores half a million year old carbon records. They are trapped in its layers of. ice. It will open up areas of knowledge about the past, present and future of the earth.

Question - 17 : -
What are the reasons for the success of the Students on Ice programme?

Answer - 17 : -

Sitting distant in the comfort zone of our houses, any talk about global warming looks so unreal and one can be unconcerned. But the visible experience of seeing glaciers retreating, ice caps melting and ice shelves collapsing makes one understand and realize what global warming is all about. The indications for the future of humankind become clear when one actually witnesses the geological phenomena.

Question - 18 : -
The author says that her Antarctica experience was full of such epiphanies. What was that best epiphany that occurred there?

Answer - 18 : -

The Akademik Shokalskiy got wedged into a thick white sheet of ice. The captain decided to turn around and asked the passengers to walk on the ocean. Underneath their feet they saw 180 metres of living, breathing salt water. Crab eater seals were stretching and sunning themselves on ice floes much like stray dogs under a banyan tree. It was a great epiphany, a revelation.

Question - 19 : -
What is that beauty of balance that a trip to Antarctica unfolded to the author?

Answer - 19 : -

The author was wonderstruck by the beauty of balance in play on our planet. Travelling across nine time zones, three bodies of water and as many ecospheres was an experience that unfolded a wide range of climate, geographical features, and flora and fauna. It was also a visible experience of the varied geographical phenomena.

Question - 20 : -
Why does the author conclude the chapter by saying that a lot can happen in a million years, but what a difference a day makes?

Answer - 20 : -

The author concludes the chapter by saying that much more can really happen in a million years as it happened in the case of Antarctica. But in this long period, changes even in a day make a great difference because global climate is changing. It is posing a threat to the beauty of balance on the earth.

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