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Antarctica, South Pole

Tourists cruise the western Antarctic peninsula on March 04, 2016. The Antarctic tourism industry is generally considered to have begun in the late 1950s when Chile and Argentina took more than 500 fare-paying passengers to the South Shetland Islands aboard a naval transportation ship.
Tourists cruise the western Antarctic peninsula on March 04, 2016. The Antarctic tourism industry is generally considered to have begun in the late 1950s when Chile and Argentina took more than 500 fare-paying passengers to the South Shetland Islands aboard a naval transportation ship. Photo: EITAN ABRAMOVICH/AFP (Getty Images)

Unless you’re visiting Antarctica from your home at southern end of South America, leisure travel to the South Pole will produce a boatload of emissions. The world’s poles are melting, and recent studies have found that maintaining Antarctica’s ice shelves is crucial for stopping rapid sea level rise.

The ice-covered continent is also home to several endangered species. This includes a variety of whales, penguins, and sea birds. Those animals’ right to live and thrive in their natural habitat should outweigh the tourism industry’s right to send people to Antarctica.

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