Journey to the End of the Earth (Tishani Doshi) — Practice

Question 1

What was Gondwana? What is its connection to present-day India?

Accepted Answer

Gondwana was a supercontinent that existed approximately 650 million years ago in Earth's geological history. It comprised what are now South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica — all joined together in one landmass. Antarctica was at the CENTRE of Gondwana, and at that time it was warm and green, with dinosaurs and forests. INDIA'S CONNECTION: India was part of Gondwana. Approximately 140 million years ago, India broke away from the Gondwana landmass and began drifting northward across what is now the Indian Ocean. This drift took millions of years. Eventually, India collided with the Eurasian plate — and the collision, over millions of years, pushed up the Himalayan mountain range. Antarctica, which remained at the south and eventually froze, preserves the geological memory of this ancient connection.

Question 2

Why does the author think that the 'Students on Ice' programme is important? What is its significance for the future?

Accepted Answer

THE PROGRAMME: 'Students on Ice' takes high school and university students to Antarctica on a research vessel, exposing them to the realities of climate change and environmental science firsthand. Tishani Doshi joined as a guest and became convinced of its importance. WHY IT IS IMPORTANT: (1) FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE: Reading about climate change in a textbook creates abstract knowledge; STANDING on Antarctica, seeing the ice, understanding that this continent holds 90% of the world's ice — this creates visceral, embodied knowledge that stays with a person. (2) THE NEXT GENERATION: The students who go to Antarctica will be the scientists, politicians, businesspeople, and voters who will make decisions about the climate crisis in 20-30 years. If they understand the fragility of Antarctica's systems from personal experience, they are far more likely to make responsible decisions. (3) THE STAKES: If Antarctica's ice melts, sea levels rise by 60 metres — submerging every coastal city. Understanding this is not academic; it is survival. (4) URGENCY: Antarctica is changing NOW — ice shelves are breaking off, glaciers are retreating. Students who see this in person understand the urgency in a way no classroom can convey. The programme is education as testimony: show the next generation the crisis so they can respond to it.

Question 3

Why does Tishani Doshi describe Antarctica as the 'earth's memory'? What does a visit to Antarctica teach us about our past, present, and future?

Accepted Answer

ANTARCTICA AS EARTH'S MEMORY — THE GEOLOGICAL DIMENSION: Antarctica is literally the planet's geological archive. When snow falls on Antarctica, it compresses into ice, trapping air bubbles from the atmosphere at the time of snowfall. Scientists drill ICE CORES from this ice that go back 800,000 years — providing a continuous record of CO₂ levels, temperature, methane, and other atmospheric data from long before human civilisation existed. This ice is the earth's own record of its climate history: accurate, continuous, and irreplaceable. WHAT IT TELLS US ABOUT THE PAST: The ice cores show that current CO₂ levels are higher than at any point in the last 800,000 years — and that the rate of increase is faster than any natural climate change event in the record. This is the planet's own testimony that the current warming is unprecedented and human-caused. Antarctica also preserves the geological history of Gondwana — the ancient supercontinent whose breakup shaped all the continents and their life. Seeing Antarctica is seeing the origin point of India, South America, Africa, and Australia. WHAT IT TELLS US ABOUT THE PRESENT: Antarctica is changing at a visible, measurable pace. Ice shelves that existed for millennia are breaking off. Glaciers are retreating. The ozone hole above Antarctica (caused by CFCs) is a visible marker of human impact on the atmosphere. For Doshi, standing on Antarctica makes the climate crisis REAL in a way that no data alone can: 'you are a part of this history; you see where we have come from and where we could be heading.' THE FRAGILITY OF THE SYSTEM: Antarctica also teaches that the earth's systems are interdependent and fragile. The Drake Passage — the world's roughest water, with no land barrier — shows what happens when large systems meet; there is violence at the boundary. The ice that seems permanent has been building for 35 million years — and in human timescales, it could melt in centuries. WHAT IT TELLS US ABOUT THE FUTURE: 'To visit Antarctica is to understand what is at stake.' If the ice melts — 60 metres of sea level rise. Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangladesh, the Maldives, New York — all coastal cities under water. The future that Antarctica warns about is not distant science fiction; it is the physical consequence of decisions being made now. Doshi's message: taking young students to Antarctica is an act of hope — the belief that showing them the crisis, in person, will produce the next generation's commitment to solving it.

Practice — Journey to the End of the Earth (Tishani Doshi)

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