The Thwaites glacier is one of the most rapidly changing in Antarctica. It’s been the focus of considerable attention in recent weeks, after scientists suggested that this sector of the huge West Antarctic…
Icebergs calve from the Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
Ted Scambos, NSIDC
John Marshall, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Over recent decades, scientists have watched the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions respond in starkly different and perhaps surprising ways to the effects of increasing human influence on the Earth’s…
The Ross Sea: one of the places where sea ice extent is increasing.
Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons
This year could well see a new record set for the extent of Antarctic sea ice – hot on the heels of last year’s record, which in turn is part of a puzzling 33-year trend in increasing sea ice around Antarctica…
The Thwaites Glacier is among several in West Antarctica that is already retreating.
NASA
Antarctic climate science is having a moment – a worrying moment. Three new studies have all concluded that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has begun to collapse. This collapse will impact humanity for generations…
The significant retreat of elements of the West Antarctic ice sheet such as the Thwaites glacier recently reported in the journal Science suggests a possible sea level rise of 3 to 3.7m. This is a huge…
The astronomical instrument BICEP2 was deployed at the South Pole in 2009 to look for evidence that would support the theory of inflation, which tries to explain how the universe looked a trillionth of…
Antarctic tourism numbers are modest, but some nations seem to be eyeing up the continent’s industrial potential.
Supplied
Few places have captured the human imagination like Antarctica. It is colder than anywhere on Earth, bounded by rough seas, buffeted by intense winds, home to fauna that are found nowhere else and, as…
Breaking through the ice in Antarctica.
Mark Brandon/Flickr
Strong winds linked to climate change and the hole in the ozone layer are driving a steady increase in Antarctic sea ice, even as Arctic levels continue to shrink dramatically, a new report shows. While…
Volcanoes can help life survive in the cold.
Flickr/august allen
Antarctica was once covered in lush, subtropical forests, inhabited by diverse plants and animals including large dinosaurs. That’s going back many millions of years. These days, Antarctica is 99.7% covered…
Some emperor penguins are searching for some new ice to call home.
Wikimedia Commons
Emperor penguins have been spotted breeding on ice shelves for the first time, where previously they were thought only to breed on the much lower ice that floats on the ocean surface. It is not clear whether…
On board the wonderful Australian icebreaker Aurora australis.
Intrepid Science
Antarctica is a desolate place. That much we know, but nothing prepares you for it until you actually get there. It’s cold, windy and lonely. Everything about it is the exact opposite of my normal summer…
The very opposite of two weeks in Benidorm.
Liam Quinn
The drama and somewhat unintentional humour of first one and eventually three ships getting caught in heavy sea ice in the Southern Ocean has been closely followed since before Christmas. The images of…
Clearing snow for a helicopter rescue makes for a dramatic photo, but let’s not forget the science.
EPA/Andrew Peacock/Footloosefotography/spritiofmawson.com
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and by now you might have seen dramatic images of passengers on stranded icebreaker Akademik Shokalskiy being rescued by helicopter last Friday…
Russia’s Vostok station in Antarctica must be one of the scariest places on Earth. Temperatures regularly drop below -80C, and there is no way in or out for nine months of the year. The inhabitants become…
Tractors and quad bikes – seen here at Australia’s Mawson Station – are only two of many forms of transport used in Antarctica.
Chris Wilson/Australian Antarctic Division
Prime Minister Tony Abbott recently declared that he wanted to be known as the “infrastructure prime minister”. But what of Australia’s iciest infrastructure – that located in Antarctica? A 20-year strategic…
Penguins are a remarkable group of flightless birds. We tend to think of them as Antarctic birds, but they actually inhabit an extremely diverse range of habitats from subzero Antarctic coastline to the…
Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong