The 90-million-year-old resin offers a rare trace of a long-lost ecosystem.

There's competition along the Antarctic radio dial. Yes, McMurdo alone now boasts three FM stations, and the nearby New Zealand base has yet another...

In 1971 I had the privilege of being deployed to the Antarctic for one year and three days. The following are excerpts from my diary in regards to my involvement with the WASA radio station at McMurdo...

George Clarke will staff the most southerly post office in the world, living among a penguin colony.

No Comment : l'Antarctica Ice Ultra ou la course de l'extrême 

Huge data encompassed into a unique georeferenced macrobenthic assemblages database

A new peer-reviewed data paper offers a comprehensive, open-access collection of georeferenced biological information about the Antarctic macrobenthic communities. The term macrobenthic refers to the visible-for-the-eye organisms that live near or on the sea bottom such as echinoderms, sponges, ascidians, crustaceans. The paper will help in coordinating biodiversity research and conservation activities on species living near the ocean bottom of the Antarctic.
The data paper "Antarctic macrobenthic communities: A compilation of circumpolar information", published in the open access journal Nature Conservation, describes data from approximately 90 different expeditions in the region since 1956 that have now been made openly available under a CC-By license. The paper provides unique georeferenced biological basic information for the planning of future coordinated research activities, for example those under the umbrella of the biology program Antarctic Thresholds – Ecosystem Resilience and Adaptation (AnT-ERA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). The information collected could be also beneficial for current conservation priorities such as the planning of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).
The expeditions were organised by several famous explorers of the Antarctic. The area covered by the paper consists of almost the entire Southern Ocean, including sites covered by a single ice-shelf. The vast majority of information is from shelf areas around the continent at water depth shallower than 800m. The information from the different sources is then attributed to the classified macrobenthic assemblages. The results are made publicly available via the "Antarctic Biodiversity Facility" (data.biodiversity.aq).
A specific feature of this paper is that the manuscript was automatically generated from the Integrated Publishing Toolkit of the Antarctic Node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (AntaBIF IPT) and then submitted to the journal Nature Conservation through a novel workflow developed by GBIF and Pensoft Publishers. (see previous press release). Data are made freely available through the AntaBIF IPT, and sea-bed images of 214 localities through the data repository for geoscience and environmental data, PANGAEA- Data Publisher for Earth and Environmental Science (sample: http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.198682).

American University's School of Communication (SOC) announced today that seasoned student journalist Gabe Castro-Root was selected to join an expedition to Antarctica where he will be reporting on the expedition.

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A new study shows that the West Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing some of the most rapid climate change on Earth, featuring dramatic increases in temperatures, retreats in glaciers and declines in sea ice. The Southern Ocean absorbs nearly half of the carbon dioxide -- the key greenhouse gas linked to climate change -- that is absorbed by all the world's oceans. The study tapped an unprecedented 25 years of oceanographic measurements in the Southern Ocean and highlights the need for more monitoring in the region. The research revealed that carbon dioxide absorption by surface waters off the West Antarctic Peninsula is linked to the stability of the upper ocean, along with the amount and type of algae present. A stable upper ocean provides algae with ideal growing conditions. During photosynthesis, algae remove carbon dioxide from the surface ocean, which in turn draws carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. From 1993 to 2017, changes in sea ice dynamics off the West Antarctic Peninsula stabilized the upper ocean, resulting in greater algal concentrations and a shift in the mix of algal species. That's led to a nearly five-fold increase in carbon dioxide absorption during the summertime. The research also found a strong north-south difference in the trend of carbon dioxide absorption. The southern portion of the peninsula, which to date has been less impacted by climate change, experienced the most dramatic increase in carbon dioxide absorption, demonstrating the poleward progression of climate change in the region.

Image credit: Drew Spacht/The Ohio State University

The U.S. lacks icebreaking capability in the Arctic and Antarctic and should build four polar icebreakers with heavy icebreaking capability to help minimize the life-cycle costs of icebreaker acquisition and operations, says a new congressionally mandated letter report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

traveled a long way back home

To tie in with this month’s SoNYC birthday celebrations, we are hosting a collection of case

Ariel Waldman is a filmmaker and Antarctic explorer who first appeared in our 2021 episode, "Through the Looking Glass." Since then, she has written a new book and returned to Antarctica with a new mission. For this bonus episode, producer Matthew Cloutier reached out to get an update.

This bonus episode was previously shared only with our TED Radio Hour+ supporters. To get access to all of our bonus content, listen to the show sponsor-free and support our work at NPR, sign up for TED Radio Hour+ at plus.npr.org/ted

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University of Toronto among extensive list of global collaboratorsTORONTO, ON – International high-energy physics research project IceCube has been named the 2013 Breakthrough of the Year by British magazine Physics World. The Antarctic observatory has been selected for making the first observation of cosmic neutrinos, but also for overcoming the many challenges of creating and […]

Ice, my friends, is anything but basic.  It does strange and unexpected things, foiling even modelers. This week's #AntarcticLog reviews an essential principle or two. 

The post #AntarcticLog: Ice is cool appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

So you've always wanted to be an iceberg, to travel the world, bestowing fresh water and, just in general, being awesome? Here's how: 

The post #AntarcticLog: Being Berg  appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

Coral keeps on doing the unexpected -- as in this week's two stories from vastly different coral ecosystems. 

The post #AntarcticLog: Branching Out  appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

It's on! What's on? The Iditarod -- 98 years after the history-making dog sled run, the dogs are off again, and that means it's on. 

The post #AntarcticLog: To the dogs appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

#AntarcticLog is a series of comics by Karen Romano Young, intended to educate and inspire through sciart. You can find the originals here. Since the National Science Foundation sent me to Antarctica, I’ve written and drawn #AntarcticLog comics about once a week.  The very first shows why I started it — and why I keep going.  People often assume that because there are pictures — comics — that #AntarcticLog is …

The post #AntarcticLog: Two Hundred Fifty  appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

I've never been to Greenland or the North Pole—but one of my guilty pleasures is investigating how I'd get there if I went. This week's #AntarcticLog is a product of this kind of woolgathering. 

The post #AntarcticLog: On the trail to science appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

The poles make the difference in the size of certain animals.  Here the colossal squid speaks about why it’s so, well, colossal!

The post #AntarcticLog: Something in the water appeared first on The Plainspoken Scientist.

On 20 June 2024, AGU joined other organizations sending a letter to leaders of the appropriations committees in the House and the Senate requesting funding for two LC-130J airplanes needed for research operations in the Arctic and Antarctic.    As you advance fiscal year (FY) 2025 appropriations, we urge you to fund procurement of two LC-130J airplanes in the Defense Appropriations bill. These airplanes are critically needed to safeguard U.S. …

The post AGU joins letter requesting planes needed for Arctic and Antarctic research appeared first on The Bridge: Connecting Science and Policy.

The Antarctic ozone hole is among the largest on record, how does it affect me?

Saving sharks with electricity and cougars and grizzlies return to Manitoba

Russia and China in Antarctica: Implications for the Five Eyes 15 December 2022 — 11:00AM TO 12:00PM Anonymous (not verified) 2 December 2022 Online

This event explores Russia’s and China’s postions on the Antarctic and offers a critical assessment of their actions in the region.

Ever since the 1959 Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), signed at the height of Cold War, Antarctica has remained a demilitarized continent.

Today, even though the ATS is not in immediate danger of collapse, Antarctica and the Southern Ocean are no longer insulated from wider geopolitical tension, with China and Russia posing challenges to regional governance. 
 
This event also discusses key recommendations for the Five Eyes regarding Russian and Chinese current and future efforts at undermining the ATS and Antarctic governance. 

The discussion is informed by Mathieu Boulègue’s paper ‘Russia and China in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean: Implications for the Five Eyes’ published by the Sea Power Centre of the Royal Australian Navy.

A hole in the atmosphere's ozone layer is the seventh-smallest since recovery began in 1992, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday.

It's not clear how the juvenile male ended up so far north, but experts suggest he was motivated by his appetite

This is the first recorded sighting of an emperor penguin in Australia, experts say.

World record set at extreme Antarctica Ice Ultra race

A better picture of the hidden landscape beneath the frozen surface of Antarctica could help us understand how the ice will respond to climate change

Scientists used AI to transform tourist photos into a 3D digital map of Antarctic penguin colonies – even as researchers debate whether to harness or discourage tourism in this remote region

Scientists used AI to transform tourist photos into a 3D digital map of Antarctic penguin colonies – even as researchers debate whether to harness or discourage tourism in this remote region

The first ever piece of the Antarctic amber was found in a sediment core from the mid-shelf section of Pine Island trough in Antarctica.

The post Amber Discovered in Antarctica for the First Time appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Video impression Ross Sea Cruise

Scientists used AI to transform tourist photos into a 3D digital map of Antarctic penguin colonies – even as researchers debate whether to harness or discourage tourism in this remote region

Critical relationship between the Antarctic Ice Sheet and Earth's geology for predicting medlinkclimate change/medlink impacts has been highlighted,

Durham : Duke University Press, 2022.

Changes due to global warming in the Antarctic region have become visible in recent years

London : Vintage Books, 2013.

With the coronavirus lockdown forcing us to spend more time isolated, or indoors with families or friends, what happens when people are forced to live in isolation for a whole year? We asked Beth Healey, researching the effects of physical and psychological isolation on a group of 13 crew members for the European Space Agency, how people change when totally isolated. #isolation #europeanspaceagency #antarctica

Tiny Antarctic marine creatures collected 100 years ago by British Royal Navy explorer Robert Falcon Scott are giving scientists new clues about polar environmental change.

The post Tiny creatures collected 100 years ago confirm accelerating carbon uptake in Antarctic Ocean appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian recently renewed their agreement to search for, collect and curate Antarctic meteorites in a partnership known as […]

The post NASA, Smithsonian renew hunt for Antarctic meteorites appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Antarctica is home to fewer insect species than anywhere else on earth. But it wasn’t always that way. A geologist digging in bluffs on Antarctica’s […]

The post One cold bug: Fossil beetle discovered in Antarctica appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

"The Antarctic Treaty Summit: Science-Policy Interactions in International Governance" will be convened at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 2009. More information on this event can be found at the Web site: www.atsummit50.aq/

To assess legacy lessons about managing nearly 10% of the Earth "for peaceful purposes only"

Find out how you can be involved:

www.atsummit50.aq

The post Antarctic Treaty Summit, Nov. 30-Dec. 3, 2009, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Full Text:

A new study shows that the West Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing some of the most rapid climate change on Earth, featuring dramatic increases in temperatures, retreats in glaciers and declines in sea ice. The Southern Ocean absorbs nearly half of the carbon dioxide -- the key greenhouse gas linked to climate change -- that is absorbed by all the world's oceans. The study tapped an unprecedented 25 years of oceanographic measurements in the Southern Ocean and highlights the need for more monitoring in the region. The research revealed that carbon dioxide absorption by surface waters off the West Antarctic Peninsula is linked to the stability of the upper ocean, along with the amount and type of algae present. A stable upper ocean provides algae with ideal growing conditions. During photosynthesis, algae remove carbon dioxide from the surface ocean, which in turn draws carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. From 1993 to 2017, changes in sea ice dynamics off the West Antarctic Peninsula stabilized the upper ocean, resulting in greater algal concentrations and a shift in the mix of algal species. That's led to a nearly five-fold increase in carbon dioxide absorption during the summertime. The research also found a strong north-south difference in the trend of carbon dioxide absorption. The southern portion of the peninsula, which to date has been less impacted by climate change, experienced the most dramatic increase in carbon dioxide absorption, demonstrating the poleward progression of climate change in the region.

Image credit: Drew Spacht/The Ohio State University

The U.S. lacks icebreaking capability in the Arctic and Antarctic and should build four polar icebreakers with heavy icebreaking capability to help minimize the life-cycle costs of icebreaker acquisition and operations, says a new congressionally mandated letter report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A new study has investigated the impacts of human activity on Antarctic Marine and Coastal. Alongside local effects of fishing, pollution and invasive alien species, global climate change is causing sea temperature rises and ocean acidification. Action is therefore needed at all levels to address these impacts.

Full Text:

A new study shows that the West Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing some of the most rapid climate change on Earth, featuring dramatic increases in temperatures, retreats in glaciers and declines in sea ice. The Southern Ocean absorbs nearly half of the carbon dioxide -- the key greenhouse gas linked to climate change -- that is absorbed by all the world's oceans. The study tapped an unprecedented 25 years of oceanographic measurements in the Southern Ocean and highlights the need for more monitoring in the region. The research revealed that carbon dioxide absorption by surface waters off the West Antarctic Peninsula is linked to the stability of the upper ocean, along with the amount and type of algae present. A stable upper ocean provides algae with ideal growing conditions. During photosynthesis, algae remove carbon dioxide from the surface ocean, which in turn draws carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. From 1993 to 2017, changes in sea ice dynamics off the West Antarctic Peninsula stabilized the upper ocean, resulting in greater algal concentrations and a shift in the mix of algal species. That's led to a nearly five-fold increase in carbon dioxide absorption during the summertime. The research also found a strong north-south difference in the trend of carbon dioxide absorption. The southern portion of the peninsula, which to date has been less impacted by climate change, experienced the most dramatic increase in carbon dioxide absorption, demonstrating the poleward progression of climate change in the region.

Image credit: Drew Spacht/The Ohio State University