While territorial claims are and will likely be heated, what struck me is that the area is right near the Drake Passage, in the Weddell Sea (which is fundamental to the world’s ocean currents AFAIU).
I don’t know how oil drilling in the antarctic could affect the passage, but still, I’m not sure I would trust human oil hunger with a 10ft pole on that one.
Also interestingly, the discovery was made by Russia, which is a somewhat ominous clue about where the current “multi-polar” world and climate change are heading. Antarctica, being an actual continent that thrived with life up until only about 10-30 M yrs ago, is almost certainly full of resources.
I was about to correct you, but then thought, no, I wouldn’t put it past the US to invade the Arctic when oil is discovered in the Antarctic.
[Trump pulls out a sharpie and starts circling the wrong part of the map]
“I AM PLACING TARIFFS ON PENGUINS UNTIL THEY GIVE US THEIR OIL AND SHOW ME HOW TO DO ALL THE DANCE MOVES FROM HAPPY FEET!”
Followed by 65 year old Moms whose children haven’t spoken to in a decade making Facebook memes with a Minion with Trump’s toupee and 8 clones of the same exact frame of Pingu atop an Iceberg, next to a crop of the American Flag from Apollo 11, with an oil rig in the background.
Upper Text: Happy Feet Tariffs: The Final Frontier!
Bottom Text: Trump and Penguins Agree - LOVE America!