Antarctica

In the middle of the Antarctic winter, during months of darkness when temperatures often dip below −30°C, the continent warmed dramatically. In July and August 2024, temperatures in parts of East Antarctica rose by up to 28°C above average and stayed high for more than two weeks. To put that…

Emperor penguins have just been declared endangered, pushed towards collapse by the reduction of sea ice. But another pressure is growing fast: a surge in Antarctic tourism that adds emissions, noise and disturbance to a species already under threat...Read More

Something strange has been swirling in the waters around Antarctica. From the 1970s until a decade ago, the floating sea ice that radiates from the continent had been expanding, even with climate change already in full swing. Then, in 2016, it suddenly and dramatically contracted — and has yet to…

Below the Antarctic ice lies a treasure trove of minerals, including copper, iron, gold, silver, platinum and cobalt. Warming temperatures due to climate change could unearth these minerals and, in turn, fuel future geopolitical conflict, potentially leading to a reversal of the current Antarctic drilling ban. If the ban is…

Emperor penguins are native to Antarctica, where record low sea ice over the last decade has dramatically changed their habitat. Populations of the world’s largest penguin have fallen so much that they have now officially moved from near threatened to endangered in the latest assessment by the IUCN Red List…

A prominent Irish communications entrepreneur argues that controlling polar infrastructure could secure an American advantage in Antarctica’s only unclaimed region. His interpretation of Antarctic law needs a truthiness check...Read More

Emperor penguins could go extinct by 2100 Stefan Christmann/naturepl.com Two of Antarctica’s most iconic species, the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) and the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella), have declined so dramatically and rapidly that they have been classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List. A third Antarctic species, the…

China has completed its first hot-water drilling test in East Antarctica, reaching a record depth of 3,413 meters and surpassing the previous international record for the excavation method. The mission, carried out on Feb. 5 as part of the 42nd Chinese Antarctic Expedition, was jointly led by the Polar Research…

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current carries more than 100 times the total flow of all the world's rivers combined. It circles Antarctica without being blocked by land, making it one of the most important drivers of the global climate system. New research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy…

A new analysis projects that as much as 120,610 square kilometers of new, ice-free land could emerge in Antarctica by 2300. (Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) A warming climate could expose a Pennsylvania-sized chunk of ice-free land in Antarctica by 2300, which could drastically reshape Antarctic geopolitics as…