A range of geographical, political, legal, economic, scientific, environmental, and other inter-connections can be drawn between the Falkland Islands and Antarctica. One common element concerns the fact that both areas remain the subject of long-standing dispute between Argentina and Britain. In the past, various attempts have been made to present Antarctic experience as the basis for action in the Falklands question, most notably, as part of the search for a resolution of the Anglo-Argentine impasse regarding sovereignty over the Falklands/Malvinas. A number of proposed linkages are examined, although, admittedly, it is easier to pose questions than to provide answers. Nevertheless, the proposals articulate the merits of viewing the Falkland Islands in a wider regional context, defined as covering the archipelago, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, Antarctica, and possibly South America.

This paper describes some of the very severe problems of pollution found in the industrialised regions of Kol'skiy Poluostrov (Kola Peninsula) in the European Russian Arctic. Information concerning this area, as is the case for other parts of the former Soviet Union, has tended in the past to be inaccessible, or highly fragmented. By assembling information from a variety of sources, including discussion with local experts, the authors have produced a coherent picture of the background to and current extent of industrial pollution in this area. The problems are shown to be quite as severe as western scientists have feared.

As a result of new provisions in the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty a number of countries are reviewing the management plans for protected areas in Antarctica. The United States and New Zealand have initiated a review of the 15 existing sites in the Ross Sea region, using an independent party, the International Centre for Antarctic Information and Research, to facilitate and coordinate the process. Management provisions are being revised to comply with the Protocol, and improved maps for the sites are being prepared using Geographical Information Systems. Visits in 1993/94 gathered field information, and thus far two sites have had new plans drafted: these are proceeding through the international review process. Input and comment is invited from interested parties with experience in these areas.

For a long period the Northern Sea Route was considered by the Soviet Union as a national seaway closed to foreign shipping. In 1987 Mikhail Gorbachev announced his intention to open the Northern Sea Route for international navigation. In the following years a number of acts were adopted to realise this idea. These documents clarified to a great extent the attitude of the USSR to the sector concept, historic waters, and other aspects of the northern seas. Nevertheless, some uncertainties in the legal status of the Northern Sea Route remain. This article focuses on the doctrinal views, state practice of the USSR and Russia, and prospects of internationalisation of the Northern Sea Route on the basis of international convention.

The completion of the SCAR Antarctic digital database (ADD) has provided a new basis for statistical calculations for Antarctica: data-sets are available at the scale of the original source material, and generalised to 1:1,000,000, 1:3,000,000, 1:10,000,000, and 1:30,000,000. The new descriptive statistics presented are based on the ADD 1:1,000,000 data-set since this is the largest scale at which source maps provided complete cover of the coastline and ice-free areas. The statistics include the total length and proportions of coastline types and the total area of Antarctica with the proportions of its constituent feature types. The areas of the Ross and Filchner-Ronne ice shelves have also been computed. Whilst the total area of Antarctica has remained static compared with previous studies, the relative proportions of coastline types and constituent feature types within the total area show significant changes. In particular the calculated area of ice-free ground is only approximately one-seventh of that often quoted from previous studies. The changes reported result from improved mapping, reinterpretation of data, and actual changes of coastline.

The effects of trampling on six types of vegetation and their underlying soils were investigated on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island. One hundred and fifty foot-passes per year for at least the past 10 years have occurred on a typical 6-km stretch of walking track on the island's upland plateau. Trampling favours vascular plants including exotics, especially Poa annua, while bryophytes and lichens are more common in undisturbed vegetation. The abundance of 19 of the 39 most common species appears to be affected by trampling. Track width is positively correlated with exposure and wet soils, and trampling increases the soil bulk density of the track. The contrast between the soil bulk density of the trampled and untrampled soils increases with increasing exposure. While present environmental damage is within an acceptable range over the majority of the island, the extreme environments are likely to suffer unacceptable levels of damage if increased usage occurs with more tourism or expansion of scientific and related activities. This is demonstrated by the diversion of a short section of plateau track in an atypically heavily used area; the diversion sustained substantial damage after 890 foot-passes during a 15-month period.