Antarctica

Deception Island is a semi-submerged volcanic caldera that provides refuge to sailors exploring the Southern Ocean's rough seas. (Image credit: NASA/LAndsat/Lauren Dauphin) QUICK FACTS Where is it? Deception Island, South Shetland Islands What's in the photo? A semi-submerged, active volcanic caldera partially covered in snow Which satellite took the photo?…

By Spooky on December 13th, 2024 Category: Travel Located in Antarctica’s McMurdo’s Dry Valleys, the shallow Don Juan Pond is the world’s saltiest body of water. With a salt content that puts the Dead Sea to shame, it remains liquid even at -58 degrees Celsius (-50 Fahrenheit). At four inches…

“Goooooood morning, my dear expedition members!” Our expedition leader, Kuba’s now familiar voice sounds from the speakers in our portal cabin on the Magellan Explorer. “We will be arriving at the South Shetland islands in the morning, and we should be seeing our first iceberg sometime in the middle of…

Bird flu has crept uncomfortably close to home in recent months. Public health experts have detected nearly five dozen known infections of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in people in the U.S. Dairy farmers are approaching a full year of exposure to the virus in their herds. And more than…

The Antarctic Peninsula is rapidly greening, with vegetation increasing tenfold since 1986 due to warming temperatures and glacial retreat. Mosses dominate the landscape, raising ecological concerns such as biodiversity loss and nonnative species invasions. Scientists highlight the need for biosecurity and detailed field research to understand these changes...Read More

Researchers probe immediate and long-term threats at two of continent’s biggest magmatic tinderboxes...Read More

Environment The last two years have seen unprecedented falls in the levels of sea ice around Antarctica, which serves as a protective wall for the continent's huge ice sheets. Researchers are now racing to understand the global impact of what could happen next By James Woodford Facebook / Meta Twitter…

Australian Antarctic Division Scientists are monitoring for signs of avian influenza in seabirds in East Antarctica, using colony site visits and remote observations, this season. Seabird ecologist Dr Louise Emmerson said avian influenza is a highly contagious virus that has caused mass mortality and illness in millions of birds world-wide.…

This photo taken on Nov. 29, 2024 shows China's research icebreaker Xuelong sailing at the new broken-through path. Currently on China's 41st Antarctic expedition, research icebreakers Xuelong and Xuelong 2, or Snow Dragon and Snow Dragon 2, carried out icebreaking operations surrounding Zhongshan Station, a Chinese research base in Antarctica…

Antarctic krill trap vast amounts of carbon from the atmosphere in the ocean floor through their sinking fecal pellets, a new study reports. The annual amount is similar to that stored by “blue carbon habitats” such as mangroves, seagrass and salt marshes, highlighting the importance of protecting krill. Global warming,…