Why Australians should care about the South Pole
It's one of the remotest places on Earth and yet is still claimed by six nations – including Australia.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Antarctic
Displaying 1 - 20 of 41 articles
Antarctica may not be as isolated as we thought, and that’s a worry
A warming Earth could see invading species arrive in Antarctica via the floating "taxi service" of the sea. That could be a threat to the southern continent's delicate ecosystem.
CSIRO cuts: as redundancies are announced, the real cost is revealed
What gaps have the CSIRO cuts left in climate research?
Tipping point: how we predict when Antarctica’s melting ice sheets will flood the seas
As the world warms, Antarctica's melting ice will likely reach the point of no return.
Revealed: how giant icebergs breathe life into remote oceans
Iron and nutrients from Antarctica's bedrock are carried into the oceans – nourishing entire food webs.
Melting Antarctic ice sheets and sea level rise: a warning from the future
Why should we care if the polar ice sheets melt hundreds of years in the future? Because they are vital for maintaining our current climate.
If we burned all fossil fuels, would any of Antarctica’s ice survive?
If we burned all fossil fuels, the loss of ice in Antarctica would raise sea levels 160 to 200 feet, but even our current trajectory could lead to dramatic sea level rise.
Deception Island – the Antarctic volcano that just doesn’t make any sense
Deception is the premier tourist destination in the Antarctic. It's also the volcano that scientists are still not sure why it's there.
Shrinking of Antarctic ice shelves is accelerating
Researchers find that ice around Antarctica shrank quickly last decade, raising concerns over this buttress against melting land-based ice and future sea-level rise.
Sea Shepherd’s toothfish mission bites off more than it can chew
This morning, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessels leave port to pursue a new campaign in the Southern Ocean — but this time, it’s not all about whales. Operation Icefish will target vessels fishing…
Ozone hole closing for the year, but full recovery is decades away
Imagine an environmental crisis caused by a colourless, odourless gas, in minute concentrations, building up in the atmosphere. There is no expert consensus, but in the face of considerable uncertainty…
Japan’s new whaling program is a small win for whales, but…
This week, Japan announced a research plan for its New Scientific Whale Research Program in the Antarctic Ocean, to replace previous programs. In March this year, Japan’s previous whaling program, JARPA…
The ozone hole leaves a lasting impression on southern climate
Many people think of sunburn and skin cancer when they hear about the ozone hole. But more ultraviolet (UV) radiation isn’t the only problem. The ozone hole has also led to dramatic changes in Southern…
Is Australia’s claim to Antarctica at risk?
While Australia’s commitment to a 20-year plan for Antarctica has been welcomed by some it has also raised concerns over the nation’s ability to fulfil a credible research role in the south polar region…
A 20-year plan welcomed for Australia in the Antarctic
The Antarctic is a vast and inhospitable place with a time scale all of its own. For the scientists who travel there to carry out research, a project can sometimes take years to plan and even longer to…
First direct evidence of microbial life under 1km of Antarctic ice
Life is hardier than was thought only a few decades ago. With the help of new exploration technologies and new methods for finding and identifying organisms, our perceptions of what constitute the environmental…
Private funding could help Australia’s role in the Antarctic
The Australian government’s blueprint for the Antarctic is due out soon. Given the recent cuts in public funding for science, what hope is there for any extra monies for the polar region. And what should…
Our pollution reached Antarctica long before the great explorers
Lead pollution from Australia reached Antarctica in 1889 – long before the frozen continent’s golden age of exploration – and has remained there ever since, new research shows. In our study, published…
Data error discovery slows trend of growing Antarctic sea ice
The amount of the earth’s ocean surface covered by sea ice has been continually observed by satellites and its extent estimated since 1978. The trend has been for shrinking sea ice in the Arctic and, more…
What climate tipping points should we be looking out for?
The concept of a “tipping point” – a threshold beyond which a system shifts to a new state – is becoming a familiar one in discussions of the climate. Examples of tipping points are everywhere: a glass…
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer, Ocean and Antarctic Governance Research Program, University of Tasmania
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Earth and paleo-climate scientist, Australian National University
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Professor of Earth Sciences and Climate Change, UNSW Australia
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Antarctic Law and Policy Researcher, Polar Research and Policy Initiative, University of Tasmania
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Professor of Politics, University of Sydney
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Adjunct Professor, Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems CRC, University of Tasmania
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Professor of International Law and ARC Future Fellow, University of Sydney
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Lecturer in Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast
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Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Canterbury
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Adjunct Professor, University of Sydney
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Senior Research Fellow, Curtin University
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Senior lecturer, Australian National University
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Chair of Cognitive Psychology, University of Bristol
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Honorary Fellow, CSIRO
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Research Group Leader, CSIRO
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