Journey to the end of the Earth is the third chapter of the Class 12th book Vistas, which has been written by Tishani Doshi. This story is about Tishani Doshi’s experiences and realizations while traveling to Antarctica. This article includes a detailed summary of Journey to the end of the earth with the most important word meanings and after you have completed the summary Do test your knowledge with MCQ quiz questions in the end.
By the end of the summary, you will know why the writer decided to go to Antarctica and why it is the perfect place to study Earth’s past, present, and future?
Writer– Tishani Doshi.
“‘But it is difficult to rewrite the story of your life, especially when you have been telling it one way for so long.”
Introduction.
Journey to the End of the Earth is written by Tishani Doshi – an Indian poet and journalist. The main theme of the chapter is how our ignorant actions are causing huge damage to the Environment. The lesson has been narrated by the writer herself.
The narrator goes to Antarctica on a program -Students on Ice to observe and study the effects of our actions on Nature. In his ignorance and greed, man is digging his own grave.
We understand that this chapter can be a little tricky to understand as it has a lot of complicated Scientific terms and Phenomena.
So the following links have been given in order to improve your understanding of the terms and topics.
- Akademik Shokalskiy
- Ecosphere
- Time Zones
- Gondwana
- Cordilleran Folds
- Pre – Cambrian Granite shields
- Drake Passage
- Circumpolar Current
- Fossil Fuels
- Phytoplankton
- Photosynthesis
- Climate Change
- Global Warming
- Students on Ice program
Journey to the end of the Earth Summary.
The Journey Begins.
In 2006 Tishani Doshi began her journey to Antarctica – the coldest, driest, and windiest continent in the world. She boarded a Russian research ship – ‘The Akademik Shokalskiy’ for a program called Students On Ice. The main objective of the program is to take high school students to the ends of the world in order to study Climate Change.
It was started by a Canadian, Geoff Green who got tired of taking celebrities and retired rich people to Antarctica. Geoff believes that school students are the future policymakers and only they can act and save this planet from Climate Change.
Her journey began 13.09 degrees north of the equator in Madras. On her way, she crossed nine time zones, six checkpoints, three bodies of water, and at least three Ecospheres. It took her a hundred hours in car, airplane, and ship to reach there.
The Gondwana Landmass.
The Southern Supercontinent – Gondwana Landmass existed around 650 million years ago. It was centered around present-day Antarctica. There were no Humans back then and the climate was much warmer. There was a large variety of plants and animals.
But after around 500 million years the dinosaurs got extinct and the Gondwana landmass also got separated. This led to the formation of present-day countries. India moved Northwards towards Asia and formed the Himalayas. South America moved towards North America and formed the Drake Passage.
Why Should you visit Antarctica?
Around 90 percent of the world’s ice volumes are stored in Antarctica and there are no trees or buildings. In Antarctica, you can find Icebergs as big as Countries and Blue whales. There is Sunlight 24 hours a day for half the year and the only noise you can hear are the occasional Avalanches.
But it is the Best place to study where we’ve come from and where we are going as a species. In Antarctica, you can study Cordilleran folds, pre-Cambrian granite Shields, ozone, and carbon: evolution and extinction. Half a million-year-old carbon records are also buried deep in its ice cores so it is the best place to study earth’s past present and future.
Climate Change.
Climate Change is the biggest environmental issue of our generation. Even though humans have been on this planet for only about 12,000 years but the impact they have had on the environment is huge. Humans are trying to dominate nature with Growing populations and cities.
We are competing with other species for limited resources and burning large amounts of fossil fuels. All of this has lead to a disbalance in the environment and resulted in Global temperatures rising and Icebergs melting.
NCERT Textbooks in English for class 12 – Flamingo and Vistas
Antarctica is the best place to observe the effects of climate change as it is comparatively untouched by humans and you can see the ice shelves collapsing in front of you.
The Phytoplankton is a microscopic plant that requires sunlight to produce food by photosynthesis. It is a part of the food chain as it is eaten by small fishes.
Scientists are claiming that further depletion in the ozone layer would affect the phytoplankton which would further lead to a disturbance in the food chain. This would affect the lives of all marine animals and birds in that area. It shows that if we take care of the small things the bigger things will take care of themselves.
Akademik Shokalskiy gets Stuck.
During her trip, the narrator had many great experiences. But the best one was when the ship got stuck in a thick sheet of ice and she got to walk on ice that was just one meter thick. Now she had to walk on Frozen ocean along with 51 others. They were wearing Gore-Tex and Glares.
Now she thinks that how this whole planet is so delicately balanced and how these ambitious students have the power to save this planet. If we still keep ignoring climate change and don’t change our ways now the results can be disastrous.
Conclusion.
The whole lesson is about the writer’s learnings and observations from Antarctica. It is high time that we realize the impact and consequences of climate change. it is very easy to disregard it while sitting in your home but not so much when you go to Antarctica and see the icebergs melting in front of your eyes.
It is necessary to spread awareness about it, especially among youngsters as they are the future policymakers and action takers. Humans in order to advance quicker have put everything at stake. The rapidly growing industries and Megacities have led to the global temperatures rising. In this never-ending rat race, it is high time to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
Journey to the end of the Earth Summary-Word Meanings.
- Expansive – Covering a wide space.
- Vessel – A large Ship.
- Akademik Shokalskiy –
- Ecoshpheres – the parts of the universe habitable by living organisms.
- Horizon – The line where Earth’s surface and sky appear to meet.
- Profound – Very Intense.
- Immensity – Extremely Large size.
- Isolation – Separateness.
- Amalgamated – Combined.
- Supercontinent – All the continents when they were near each other.
- Gondwana – A Southern Supercontinent consisting of India, South America, Antarctica, and Africa.
- Hosting – Containing.
- Flora and Fauna – All plant and animal life.
- Thrived – To grow and develop.
- Grasp – To understand.
- Mind-Boggling – Overwhelming.
- Jamming – Squeeze into something.
- Buckle – Bend.
- Crust – Hard outer layer.
- passage – Way.
- Frigid – Very Cold.
- Desolate – Without People.
- Prospect – A possibility.
- Devoid – Without
- Metabolic – a chemical process that converts food into energy.
- Microscopic – Very Small.
- Markers – Signs.
- Midges – A small mosquito.
- Debates – Discussions.
- Gangplank – A board that is used to walk between a Ship and shore.
- Biodiversity – Variety of living things.
- Sunning – Enjoying the sunlight.
- The Equator – An imaginary line dividing the world into two halves.
- Landmass – A large land.
- Million – 10 Lakhs.
- Giant – Huge.
- Evolution – Slow Development.
- Carbon Records – Information about Earth’s Level of carbon dioxide.
- Repercussion – Result.
- Mites – Insects.
- Ubiquitous – Something that is present everywhere.
- Floes – Floating sheets of ice.
- Mammoths – Elephant-like animals that existed millions of years ago.
- Wooly Rhinos – Rhinos covered in wool that existed millions of years ago.
- Epiphanies – A very emotional moment.
- Parable – A short story.
- Blase – Without any kind of worries.
