Re: If there are no trees and plants in antarctica besides mosses and lichens,

Hello,
Thanks for the thoughtful question!
 
The the earth's atmosphere can almost be 
considered as a uniform blanket of air.  In other words, the mixture of 
gasses that make up our atmosphere is nearly constant, no matter where you 
are on the planet. Our 'air' is made up of a mixture of about 21% oxygen, 
78% nitrogen, and less than 1% argon and a bunch of other gases. This 
mixture has changed very little for thousands of years, anywhere on the 
planet.

So why does the mix stay so even?  It is the nature of gases when mixed 
together to form a very well blended, even mixture.  Air currents help 
to 'stir the mix' and keep the air blended all over the planet.

And finally, the amount of oxygen that plants release to the air (even in 
a huge forest)is very small compared to the total amount already in the 
air.  In the same way, when oxygen is taken out of the air by humans, or 
by our cars when they burn fuel, it is still a very small amount when 
compared to the amount stored in the air.

So the next time you visit Antarctia, don't worry about breathing- just 
bring a warm sweater :)

I hope that this helped!


Jay Shapiro