Antarctica

Antarctica is warmer than it should be Eyal Bartov / Alamy Since the beginning of September, temperatures in the atmosphere above Antarctica have soared by over 35°C (63°F), while wind speeds have halved and ozone depletion has suddenly stalled. This kind of upheaval should happen only once every 20 years…

This map of subglacial lakes beneath the Antarctic ice sheet shows 85 lakes newly identified in a study published in Nature in September 2025. The data for this inventory comes from ESA’s CryoSat mission, which used its radar altimetry instrument to acquire data between 2010 and 2020. Red triangles denote…

Annual mean Antarctic sea ice changes through time, according to different future atmospheric carbon dioxide scenarios. Credit: Li et al, 2025. Satellite observations have documented a pronounced decline in Antarctic sea ice extent since 2014, with especially sharp losses in recent years. Whether Antarctica's declining sea ice can recover hinges…

September 16, 2025 3 min read The Ozone Hole Is Steadily Shrinking because of Global Efforts After nearly 40 years of global efforts, the ozone hole over Antarctica is continuing to heal By Meghan Bartels edited by Andrea Thompson A 3D rendering of the ozone hole evolution in 2025. CAMS…

Partial solar eclipse at the bottom of the world closes out the year's sun and moon spectaclesRead More

GENEVA – The earth’s protective ozone layer is healing and the hole should fully disappear in coming decades, the United Nations said on Sept 16, hailing the success of concerted international action. A fresh report from the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) highlighted that the ozone hole over the Antarctic…

Firefly Aerospace launches the "Message in a Booster" mission on its Alpha rocket on April 29, 2025 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The flight ended in failure after Alpha suffered an anomaly. (Image credit: Firefly Aerospace/Sean Parker) The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cleared Firefly Aerospace to…

Johnny Diaz New York Times · 8 Sep, 2025 02:01 AM 4 mins to read Ethan Guo aimed to fly solo to all seven continents but hit legal trouble in Chile when he landed on an island off Antarctica. Photo / iStock Ethan Guo aimed to fly solo to all…

PUNTA ARENAS, Chile — An American social media influencer who has been stuck in a Chilean airbase in Antarctica for two months after landing a plane there without permission was released Saturday back to the mainland, where he was to pay $30,000 in penalties. Ethan Guo, who was 19 when…

Grasslands go by many names. In the Midwest region of the United States they’re often called prairies. In South America, they’re known as pampas. Central Eurasian grasslands are referred to as steppes, while African grasslands are savannas. What they all have in common are grasses, their naturally dominant vegetation. Grasslands…