Word: peninsula
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...military, there is disagreement over whether that nation's 650,000- member armed forces could turn back a North Korean invasion. Yet it is clear that the U.S. presence remains a deterrent. Cheney announced in Seoul that the U.S. plans to reduce the 43,000 troops now on the peninsula by only 5,000 over the next three years. This would include closing three U.S. air bases starting next year (leaving two). According to opinion polls, only a small minority of South Koreans want the U.S. to pull out completely. Contends Kim Kyung Won, former Ambassador to Washington...
Around the edges, though, Antarctica is more than just an icebox. On the Antarctic Peninsula, which reaches like a finger to within 965 km (600 miles) of South America, the temperature has risen as high as 15 degrees C (59 degrees F). The peninsula is home to the continent's only two species of flowering land plants, a grass and a pearlwort. Off the coast is one of the world's most productive marine ecosystems. Antarctica supports 35 species of penguins and other birds, six varieties of seals, twelve kinds of whale and nearly 200 types of fish...
...press the Nazis' claim, but seven other nations with histories of Antarctic exploration -- Argentina, Chile, France, New Zealand, Britain, Norway and Australia -- maintained that parts of the continent belonged to them. Some of the claims overlapped: Chile, Britain and Argentina, for example, all declared their ownership of the Antarctic Peninsula. The U.S., while making no claims, refused to recognize those of other nations and organized numerous expeditions, including the largest in Antarctic history. Mounted in 1946 and called Operation Highjump, it was a naval exercise involving 13 ships, 50 helicopters and nearly 5,000 service members. Its unstated purpose...
...Rose Bowl game, but those few have had a disproportionately large impact. Because plants and animals, along with human outposts, are largely confined to the 2% of Antarctica that is ice-free for part of the year, the world's most sparsely populated continent is, paradoxically, overcrowded. The Antarctic Peninsula is particularly in demand, with 13 stations; King George Island, one of the South Shetland Islands, is home to an additional eight. Planes, helicopters, snowmobiles, trucks and bulldozers are in constant operation throughout the summer. Nearly every base has its own helipad, landing strip, harbor and waste dump...
While scientists try to clean up their act, tourists are posing an increasing threat to Antarctica's delicate ecosystems. Chilean planes began flying visitors to the peninsula in 1956, and luxury cruises started a decade later. Although commercial flights stopped after an Air New Zealand DC-10 crashed into Mount Erebus in 1979, killing all 257 aboard, ship travel has thrived. About 3,500 people, mostly Americans, paid $5,000 to $16,000 to sail over from South America last year. They generally stayed in Antarctica four or five days. Most boats carry naturalists or other experts, who give lectures...