Antarctica

It is a stark and inhospitable place, where the landscape itself poses a challenge to survival, yet its strange, silent beauty has long fascinated scientists and adventurers. Explorers have crossed this vast, frozen terrain for many reasons: to stand in awe before the volcanic Mount Erebus or Antarctica's other natural wonders, to fathom the mysteries of ages past, to exploit its great stores of untapped mineral wealth, or to pit themselves against this cold, unforgiving continent.Now Antarctica faces an uncertain future. The international treaty which protects the continent is about to dissolve, clearing the way for Antarctica's resources to be plundered, its eerie beauty to be savaged. As politicians wrangle over its fate from half a world away, major corporations begin probing for its hidden riches. Adventurers come, as they have for more than a century, seeking the wild, untamed land even as they endanger it with their ever-growing numbers. And radical environmentalists carry out a covert campaign of sabotage to reclaim the land from those who would destroy it for profit. All who come here have their own agenda, and all will fight to ensure their vision of the future for this last great wilderness.