If the world's global warming scientists are to be believed, Australia is on the verge of becoming a major dustbowl. Although the doom and gloom may be well founded, it seems to be falling on deaf ears. Even the likes of Al Gore, who are the most aware of the dangers, seem unable to curtail their energy emissions. Gore has three homes that he divides his time at. One of these homes has 20 rooms, eight bathrooms, a guesthouse and a pool. It requires an annual energy bill of $A36,000 a year. Likewise, World Wildlife Fund chief Greg Bourne still flies around the world as he attends meetings discussing what should be done to save stop global warming. As Mr Bourne is well aware, flying is the equivalent of "beating the planet with a sledgehammer." Yet, even though Mr Bourne knows that he shouldn't be beating the planet with a sledgehammer, and that teleconferencing would be more economical, he just can't help himself.

Because even the gloom merchants can't curtail their energy usage, despite being aware of how destructive they are being, it is stupid to think less passionate people would be able to succeed where they have failed. As global warming in inevitable, all the money foolishly being wasted on trying to persuade people to reduce CO2 emissions should instead be directed towards adapting to the diasters that are on the way. Colonising Antarctica is one such adaptation.

In the short term, an Antarctic colony would serve as an insurance policy in the event of a nuclear war. With global warming scientists predicting massive collapse of agricultural production, another world war is on the cards, and with it, perhaps some nuclear weapons useage. Any survivors will emerge to find a Mad Max style post-apocalyptic landscape of lawless gangs. Meanwhile, an Antarctic colony would ride out the storm. Buried deep beneath the ice at the bedrock level, the colony would survive on its advanced hydronic gardens powered by nuclear energy or wind energy. In many respects, it would be the last remnants of civilised humanity on earth.

If the nuclear war never eventuates, Antarctica could instead be a refuge from the heat. While Australia is turning into a furnace, Antarctica will be melting into an idyllic destination. As the ice melts away, or the world descends in social strife, Antarctic property developers stand to make a killing!

One of the main problems Australian property developers will face is the insecurity of title. Australia currently claims 42 per cent of Antarctica. Under the Antarctic treaty of 1959, the world neither recognises the claim, nor disputes it. Ominously, the United States says that although it doesn't claim any land, it reserves the right to. This is perhaps code for saying it will humour Australia while there is nothing economically viable to exploit. If there were things to exploit, Australia's claim would probably go the same way as the French and Dutch claim on Australia during Europe's colonising era. Despite beating the English in raising a flag, the other European powers never backed up their claim with permanent settlements. As a consequence, their claims were never recognised. It seems the world has traditionally had a "use it or lose it" philosophy. As for the Aborigines, they never had their claim recognised either; largely because they were nomadic and never built bricks and mortar structures.

In what is a sign of the future, the Japanese have found that the Antarctic waters are lucrative hunting grounds for whales and thus they have refused to acknowledge Australia's claim. From a legal viewpoint, the Japanese now have a cultural association with the region that is similar to the kind of cultural associations the Aborigines had with their hunting grounds in Australia. As the 1992 Mabo vs Queensland judgement recognised the validity of hunting associations in order to claim land, a future world court may yet follow Australia's own precedent and rule that Japan has a stronger claim to Antarctica than Australia. Currently, Japan uses hunting associations in order to claim disputed, but uninhabited islands, between Japan and Korea. Even though most of the world would still insist on bricks and mortars structures to claim ownership, at least the validity of hunting associations is something that both Australian and Japanese courts could agree on.

Other nations will no doubt follow the Japanese lead once fish stocks have declined to the extent that Antarctica becomes a profitable fishing zone. Unless there is a local population to resist it, mining will probably one day come to Antarctica as well. In China and India, the environment is a long way behind the country's human needs in terms of national priorities. If the global powers run out of uranium, coal, or oil, they are not going to twiddle their thumbs on Antarctica just because Australians want the snow to remain virgin white. Likewise, if the greenhouse predictions prove true, ten billion people are not going to starve to death as Antarctica becomes an idyllic haven for cows, sheep, and a little house on the prairie. As it has in the past, the "use it or lose it" mantra will again be enforced.

Although getting people to Antarctica will be easy once all the dire predictions about the Greenhouse effect come true, in the short term it may be a little more difficult. Perhaps the federal government could look at establishing some industries, and then run a scare campaign about the Greenhouse effect, or nuclear war, in order to convince the masses to get in early and so beat the inevitable rush.

One possible industry is a university offering courses in cutting-edge science. Such a university could exploit the fact that Antarctica is the windiest continent on earth. It could do a great deal of research into wind power, and so show the rest of the sweltering world what they should have been doing. Furthermore, as energy would be in very short supply, architects and chemical engineers could do a great deal of research into insulation materials, and building designs that conserve energy. (In Antarctica, there definitely isn’t room for Al Gore swimming pools, and heating extra rooms.) Food production would also be a problem. Agricultural scientists could research hydroponic farming. They could also research crop production under lights so that food could still be produced in the months of darkness. Even psychologists could have a role to play. They could research how people cope with unusual day light hours, isolation, and being seen as the last hope of humanity. In fact, much of the research would also be applicable to a space program, and perhaps some joint research with NASA wouldn't go astray.

Another industry is defence. Although there is almost no chance of an enemy invading the Australian mainland that is destined to become a dustbowl, the idyllic land of Antarctica may be worth fighting for. Before the ice melts, fighting would have to be in sub-zero conditions. As both Napoleon and Hitler discovered, those most capable in subzero battles have destroyed even the mightiest of powers. The key to winning a battle for Antarctica would be to gain the first foothold. In many respects, a dug in military supported by tunnels and food supplies would be very difficult to push out. Antarctica doesn’t have many places to aircraft to land, or for ships to unload soldiers or supplies.

Tourism is another potential industry. The Europeans like their skiing and once all their ice is gone, they will have to fly south to find the little that is left on Antarctica highest peaks. Australia could then stage the winter Olympics, and watch as Europeans come last on the medal table as Australians win gold after gold.

An open-air prison might also work a treat. Prisoners could be forcibly sent south in the comforting knowledge that they don't need to be kept behind huge walls. If they run away from the colony, certain death awaits. As the difficult conditions would necessitate that they work co-operatively to survive, they may address some of their social problems that caused them so much trouble in the first place. In the long run, it will be the best thing that could have possibly happened to them. Just as Australian descendants of British Convicts can be thankful that their ancestors where sent to Australia, 200 years from now, decedents of Australian inmates may well be thinking how lucky they are that their ancestors were sent to such an inhospitable destination as Antarctica.

The main barrier to colonising Antarctica is that it runs contrary to the spirit of the Antarctic Treaty, which aims to reserve the continent for peaceful scientific use. Military bases are forbidden, as is storage of nuclear waste, and mining. While the treaty has worked well up until now, it was signed before signatories knew that most of the world was going to be destroyed by global warming. With climate change now firmly in the minds of governments, it now seems certain that treaty partners will eventually break. Whoever breaks first will have the upper hand in surviving climate change.

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