The general answer is no, as there are no permanent residents of Antarctica. Several contries however, do maintain permanent research stations with scientists and support personnel that number up to 5,000 in the summer and about 1,000 in the winter. Most researchers do not stay through the winter but those that do are typically there on one-year assignments.

The United States has two primary bases there: Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and McMurdo Station.

An interesting aside: the South Pole has no solar time so a station there could theoretically be in any of the world’s 24 time zones. They use New Zealand time (UTC +12) since all flights to the continent come from Christchurch.

Image source: http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/antarctica/antarctica.jpg

Image source: http://www.robertlpeters.com/

Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983), an American scientist, author, inventor and environmentalist is credited with coining the term “Spaceship Earth.” He used it to represent the need for our technology to be self-contained. Think of the earth as a spaceship… it has to produce it’s own fuel, food, and usable resources, as well as take care of its own waste products. Basically, the earth has to be as self-contained as a spaceship.

One quote attributed to Fuller: “We have not been seeing our Spaceship Earth as an integrally designed machine which to be persistently successful must be comprehended and serviced in total.” [Source: Ashworth, William. The Encyclopedia of Environmental Studies]

On another note, Fuller is perhaps most remembered for his architecture work which included design of the geodesic dome.

This interaction causes them to breakdown into molecular fragments that act as catalysts that greatly speed up the processes by which ozone breaks down in the atmosphere. The chlorine atoms undergo a series of reactions that convert two molecules of ozone into three molecules of hydrogen, thus further depleting the ozone in the atmosphere.

Why is this such a big deal? Well, since ozone filters out a lot of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, less ozone means more ultraviolet rays will reach the Earth’s surface. This eventually leads to more dangers such as skin cancer, damage to crops, damage to sea life and even materials like plastics.

Sources:
Bradford DeLong, www.greenspun.com bulletin board.
Wikipedia, Ozone Depletion.

Any rain with a pH of 5.0 or less is considered acid rain. Normal rain and snow which contains dissolved carbon dioxide has a pH of about 5.6 so it is more basic than acidic. Of course the acidity of rain is very dependent on the geographical area. The rain in a lot of Eastern Europe has a pH of 4.3 to 4.5. The eastern United States and Canada is typically between 4.2 and 4.6. The worst area in North America is around Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and the pH of the rain there is typically about 4.2.

Take a look at some of the common substances below for a comparison:

Substance pH
Sulfuric Acid 1.0
Lemon Juice 2.3
Vinegar 3.3
Acid Rain 4.3
Normal Rain 5.6
Distilled Water 7.0
Human Blood 7.4
Seawater 7.6-8.4

Source: The Handy Science Answer Book.