Next stop the Antarctic continent, a land that no nation has claim over and no human can permanently inhabit.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Shackleton was aiming to circumnavigate the Antarctic continent when he died of a heart attack off South Georgia in 1922.

BBC: Stone returned to Ernest Shackleton's grave after 75 years

Because flights cannot cover the entire Antarctic continent, scientists have selected key sites to study that are most prone to change, NASA said.

CNN: NASA flights will study Antarctic ice changes

Every visitor to the Antarctic continent gets a lecture on dos and don'ts, like keeping proper distance from wildlife, and making sure to avoid even accidental littering.

FORBES: Go with the Floe

My wife and I had just returned from a hike up the ridge of Spigot Peak on the peninsula proper, and therefore part of the Antarctic continent itself.

FORBES: The Best Coffee Ever To Come Out Of Antarctica

Scientists say the western Antarctic peninsula -- the piece of the continent that stretches toward South America -- has warmed more than any other place on Earth over the past 50 years, rising by 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit each decade.

CNN: Massive ice shelf on verge of breakup

Marine remotely operated vehicles have captured photos of these giant crabs on the Antarctic Slope, where underwater land starts to rise up to the southernmost continent.

CNN: Ice shelf collapse: What does it mean?

This research could help scientists find out more about possible life in Lake Vostok, the largest of over 70 sub-glacial lakes on the White Continent, which lies more than four km beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

BBC: Antarctic lake's secret water