Methodology for environmental assessment in Antarctic buildings

Abstract

Antarctica, known as the most remote, coldest, windiest, driest, highest, most desert and least inhabited land, presents some of the worst conditions of habitability on the planet, and stands out for its environmental vulnerability and scientific importance (Alvarez, 2014).

It is known that the Antarctic continent is the site of scientific research, whose results have global implications (Dodds et al., 2017). Researches in the areas of the marine environment, environmental and climate changes and forecasts, and soil investigations that may lead to significant pharmacological discoveries (Dodds et al., 2017) are examples of the above mentioned. It is worth remembering that the inhospitable conditions, environmental fragility, and isolation will further encourage the research in the area of construction. These studies generally rely on the continued human presence on the site and require that the environment remains without interference that could endanger the fragile Antarctic ecosystem (Alvarez, 2014). Thus, it is extremely important to achieve a balance between the interests that attract humans to Antarctica and the impacts that may be caused by the human presence there (Bargagli, 2005).