Human movement
Humans are part of the Antarctic environment and have been increasing their presence and activities for more than 50 years, but human activity has not been a key focus of research for Antarctica.
Humans are increasingly impacting and shaping the environment as more scientists, and tourists visit the continent. The ice-free areas of the continent, in particular, receive significant human activity and impact. This has resulted in a range of human-activity pressures on Antarctica, such as the rise in the number of non-native species. An analysis of where humans go, the activities they undertake, and the resulting impact, has not been assessed for the RSR. This Programme will undertake a spatial analysis of human movement and impact within the RSR and provide a validated agent-based model for the exploration and visualisation of human activity that will provide insight into the spatial scale of the future human footprint on the continent.