Antarctica

Weather systems responsible for transporting moisture from the tropics to temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere have been gradually shifting toward the South Pole for the past 40 years, a trend which could lead to increased rates of ice melt in Antarctica, according to new research. Atmospheric rivers are long,…

Home News Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) tail fluke exposed during a dive. (Image: © Michael L. Baird via Getty Images) The critically-endangered blue whale — the largest animal known to have ever existed — has returned to the waters near the remote island of South Georgia near Antarctica, almost 100…

Glaciers everywhere might be melting, but only one has earned the most terrifying nickname: the Doomsday Glacier.Officially called the Thwaites Glacier, this mass of ice nestled into the western edge of Antarctica is melting at an alarming rate. A look at maps of the region's ice loss makes this clear,…

Joe Pettit is a person of contradictions. A lover of solitude who manages teams, an engineer who writes poetry and paints, a family man who spends several months a year on remote Antarctic glaciers, installing delicate scientific instruments. It’s a rare mixture of qualities to find anywhere in the world—except,…

The proposed marine protected areas cover almost 4 million sq km of the Southern Ocean. Photo: Reuters China says it wants to be a leader in ecological governance, but has sided with Russia to block proposed protected areas in the Southern Ocean Environmentalists say the failure to protect this critical…

The A68a iceberg is less than 200 metres deep, which means it could park dangerously close to the island of South Georgia. Photo: European Space Agency / AFP The iceberg split off in 2017 from Larsen Ice Shelf, which has warmed faster than any other part of Antarctica Thousands of…

Three decades after the creation of the ATS, the Protocol on Environmental Protection was signed in Madrid in 1991, designating Antarctica as a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science.” Before 2048 — except if it is modified by unanimous agreement of all Consultative Parties — the protocol forbids all actions…

Paleontologists have described new fossils of pelagornithid birds from the middle Eocene Submeseta Formation on Seymour Island, Antarctica. An artist’s depiction of ancient albatrosses harassing a pelagornithid as penguins frolic in the oceans around Antarctica 50 million years ago. Image credit: Brian Choo. Pelagornithids are an extinct group of large…

Brian Choo/Smithsonian MagazinePaleontologists recently uncovered a bone fragment from a species of bony-toothed sea birds, called pelagornithids, that might be the largest flying bird ever discovered. Where an albatross has a wingspan of about 10-12 feet, those of the pelagornithid reached up to 20. The bird also had a terrifying…

A new international study led by Monash University climate scientists has revealed that ice loss in Antarctica persisted for many centuries after it was initiated and is expected to continue. “Our study implies that ice loss unfolding in Antarctica today is likely to continue unabated for a long time —…