Antarctica is the planet's fifth largest continent. It contains the Earth's largest (of two) remaining ice sheets and is considered to be one of the most important scientific laboratories on Earth. Changes in the area and volume of the two polar ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland are intricately linked to changes in global climate, and could result in sea-level changes that could severely affect the densely populated coastal regions on Earth. This book explores the global, environmental and economic issues facing Antarctica including topics such as: species diversity of Antarctic mysids; volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons in Antarctica; the levels and trends of organochlorine pesticides in Antarctica; volcanoes in the northern Antarctic Peninsula area, remote sensing of solar influence on Antarctic terrestrial climate by GPS observations and others.