Researchers from the University of Melbourne and NORCE Norway Research Center, have shown the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) slowing by around 20% by 2050 in a high carbon emissions scenario. The…Continue readingMelting Antarctic ice sheets are slowing Earth’s strongest ocean current, research reveals
Tag: antarctica
The international team, led by Cardiff University researchers, show how southern migration of the westerly winds and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) towards the pole during periods of past global warming…Continue readingPast climate shifts altered Southern Ocean currents and carbon exchange: Study warns it may be happening again
The dangers of a collapse of the main Atlantic Ocean circulation, known as AMOC, have been “greatly underestimated” and would have devastating and irreversible impacts, according to an open letter released…Continue reading‘We don’t know where the tipping point is’: climate expert on potential collapse of Atlantic circulation
A report from the Environment Agency and Cefas shows Atlantic salmon stocks in England and Wales have dropped to their lowest level since records began in 1997. Once common across the…Continue readingSalmon numbers in England and Wales last year were lowest on record
Plant cover across the Antarctic peninsula has soared more than tenfold over the last few decades, as the climate crisis heats up the icy continent. Analysis of satellite data found there…Continue readingAntarctica is ‘greening’ at dramatic rate as climate heats
In July 2024, global temperatures reached unprecedented levels, breaking historical records with an average of 17.16°C. This extreme heat has led soil water to evaporate, leaving the vegetation and biodiversity more…Continue readingGlobal drought threatens food supplies and energy production
Tidal action on the underside of the Thwaites Glacier in the Antarctic will “inexorably” accelerate melting this century, according to new research by British and American scientists. The researchers warn the…Continue reading‘Doomsday’ glacier set to melt faster and swell seas as world heats up
The 11th Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research conference was held in Pucón, Chile August 19-23, 2024. Fifteen-hundred academics, researchers, and scientists specializing in Antarctica met to share cutting-edge research. Reports at…Continue readingAntarctica’s Deep Vulnerability Exposed at 11th Scientific Conference
The time has come to accept that climate policy has failed, and that the 2015 landmark Paris agreement is dead. We let it die by pretending that we could both continue…Continue readingThe overshoot myth: you can’t keep burning fossil fuels and expect scientists of the future to get us back to 1.5°C
A world where global mean surface temperature has increased 3°C will be characterized by widespread and intense heat stress, extreme weather events, ruptured and unproductive marine and terrestrial ecosystems, broken food…Continue readingEarth at risk: An urgent call to end the age of destruction and forge a just & sustainable future
A new and worrying way that large ice sheets can melt has been characterized by scientists for the first time. The research focuses on how relatively warm seawater can lap at…Continue readingNew tipping point discovered beneath the Antarctic ice sheet
Today’s rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide increase is 10 times faster than at any other point in the past 50,000 years. Previous research showed that during the last ice age, which…Continue readingChemical analysis of natural CO₂ rise over the last 50,000 years shows that today’s rate is 10 times faster
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet has been losing mass in recent decades, contributing to global sea level rise. If it were to melt entirely, global sea levels would rise by around…Continue readingFeedback loop that is melting ice shelves in West Antarctica revealed
On 18 March, 2022, scientists at the Concordia research station on the east Antarctic plateau documented a remarkable event. They recorded the largest jump in temperature ever measured at a meteorological…Continue reading‘Simply mind-boggling’: world record temperature jump in Antarctic raises fears of catastrophe
In recent years, Antarctica has experienced a series of unprecedented heat waves. On 6 February 2020, temperatures of 18.3°C were recorded, the highest ever seen on the continent, beating the previous…Continue readingClimate change is speeding up in Antarctica
The annual State of the Climate report by the UN weather and climate agency confirmed preliminary data showing 2023 was by far the hottest year ever recorded. And last year capped…Continue readingPlanet ‘on the brink’, with new heat records likely in 2024: UN
The polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica are increasingly experiencing the impacts of plastic reaching floating ice and land, not solely as larger macroplastics (>5 cm), but as microplastics (0.1…Continue reading97% of sampled Antarctic seabirds found to have ingested microplastics
There’s enough water frozen in Greenland and Antarctic glaciers that if they melted, global seas would rise by many feet. What will happen to these glaciers over the coming decades is…Continue readingAn 80-mph (129kph) speed record for glacier fracture helps reveal the physics of ice sheet collapse
Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey have uncovered the first direct evidence that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet shrunk suddenly and dramatically at the end of…Continue readingIce cores provide first documentation of rapid Antarctic ice loss in the past
In a warming climate, meltwater from Antarctica is expected to contribute significantly to rising seas. For the most part, though, research has been focused on West Antarctica, in places like the…Continue readingCurrently stable parts of East Antarctica may be closer to melting than anyone has realized
How the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) responded to warmer climates in the geologic past has obvious relevance to our understanding of what its future could be as global temperatures rise…Continue readingIce sheet collapse closer than thought
Most people expect that if a system, like someone’s body, an ecosystem, or part of the climate system, becomes stressed, it’ll respond fairly predictably—double the pressure, double the impact, and so…Continue readingClimate tipping points are nearer than you think. Our new report warns of catastrophic risk.
Many of the gravest threats to humanity are drawing closer, as carbon pollution heats the planet to ever more dangerous levels, scientists have warned. Five important natural thresholds already risk being…Continue readingEarth on verge of five catastrophic climate tipping points, scientists warn
Accelerated ice melt in west Antarctica is inevitable for the rest of the century no matter how much carbon emissions are cut, research indicates. The implications for sea level rise are…Continue readingRapid ice melt in west Antarctica now inevitable
Antarctica has likely broken a new record for the lowest annual maximum amount of sea ice around the continent, beating the previous low by a million square kilometres. The new mark…Continue readingAntarctic sea ice shrinks to lowest annual maximum level on record
Sea ice insulates the ocean, reflects heat, drives currents, supports ecosystems and protects ice shelves. It also has an annual seasonal cycle—some of the ice melts, then freezes again. Every year,…Continue readingDevastatingly low Antarctic sea ice may be the ‘new abnormal,’ study warns
Antarctica is likely warming at almost twice the rate of the rest of the world and faster than climate change models are predicting, with potentially far-reaching implications for global sea level…Continue readingAntarctica warming much faster than models predicted in ‘deeply concerning’ sign for sea levels
Greenhouse gas concentrations, global sea level and ocean heat content reached record highs in 2022, according to the 33rd annual State of the Climate report. “People are causing the largest known…Continue readingInternational report confirms record-high greenhouse gases, global sea levels in 2022
Being cautious by nature, scientists warned that in the next few decades the global emperor population will suffer significant losses. This fate appeared a long way in the future, but it…Continue readingI have studied emperor penguins for 30 years. We may witness their demise in our lifetime
Helpless emperor penguin chicks perished at multiple breeding grounds in West Antarctica late last year, drowning or freezing to death when sea ice eroded by global warming gave way under their…Continue readingWarming decimates Antarctica’s emperor penguin chicks
Over the past few weeks, a large-scale rescue operation has been under way off the coast and keys of Florida. It began as water temperatures were rising towards a peak of…Continue readingMissing ice and bleached coral: the sudden warming of the oceans
Sea ice in the Antarctic region fell to a record low this year as a result of rising global temperatures and there is no quick fix to reverse the damage done,…Continue readingNo quick fix to reverse ‘astonishing’ Antarctic sea ice loss
Antarctica is currently experiencing dramatic changes at unprecedented rates, marked by repeated extreme events. These include circum-Antarctic summer heatwaves and an autumn heatwave last year, with temperatures soaring up to 40˚C…Continue readingAntarctica’s heatwaves are a warning to humanity – and we have only a narrow window to save the planet
The beginning of July marked the planet’s hottest week in recorded history. Last month was the warmest-ever June. The arrival of a strong El Niño is likely to push global temperatures…Continue readingScientists are freaking out about surging temperatures. Why aren’t politicians?
“The world just had the hottest week on record, according to preliminary data,” the WMO said in a statement, after climate change and the early stages of the El Nino weather…Continue readingLast week the hottest worldwide on record: UN
Much of the ice lost in 2022 had been present since 2000, when high-quality records began. If this trend persists, the consequences for the climate and for Southern Ocean ecosystems could…Continue readingFractured foundations: How Antarctica’s ‘landfast’ ice is dwindling and why that’s bad news
Antarctic sea ice reached a record low for the month of June, increasing calls from scientists to intensify research and monitoring of the Earth’s polar ice caps. Since 2016, Antarctic sea…Continue readingRecord low Antarctic sea ice levels worry scientists
The slow-down of the Southern Ocean circulation, a dramatic drop in the extent of sea ice and unprecedented heatwaves are all raising concerns that Antarctica may be approaching tipping points. The…Continue readingAntarctic tipping points: The irreversible changes to come if we fail to keep warming below 2˚C
“Our data show the impacts of climate change are running ahead of schedule,” said lead author Kathryn Gunn, of the Australian Science agency CSIRO and Britain’s Southampton University. The implications could…Continue readingDangerous slowing of Antarctic ocean circulation sooner than expected
We found melting of Antarctic ice is disrupting the formation of Antarctic bottom water. The meltwater makes Antarctic surface waters fresher, less dense, and therefore less likely to sink. This puts…Continue readingAntarctic alarm bells: Observations reveal deep ocean currents are slowing earlier than predicted
“These ice-ocean interactions make the glaciers more sensitive to ocean warming,” said senior co-author Eric Rignot, UCI professor of Earth system science and NASA JPL research scientist. “These dynamics are not…Continue readingResearchers discover a cause of rapid ice melting in Greenland
The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are now losing more than three times as much ice a year as they were 30 years ago, according to a new comprehensive international study.…Continue reading‘Devastating’ melt of Greenland, Antarctic ice sheets found
In 2022 the summer minimum was less than 2 million square km for the first time since satellite records began. This summer, the minimum was even lower—just 1.7 million square km.Continue readingAntarctica’s heart of ice has skipped a beat: Science briefing calls for action
The groundbreaking modeling study published by Australian and American researchers at the end of March for the first time includes a detailed assessment of the likely impact of melting ice, revealing…Continue readingNew Research Sparks Concerns That Ocean Circulation Will Collapse
Ice sheets can retreat up to 600 meters a day during periods of climate warming, 20 times faster than the highest rate of retreat previously measured.Continue readingIce sheets can collapse faster than previously thought possible
New research by Australian scientists suggests 40% slowdown in just three decades could alter world’s climate for centuries.Continue readingMelting Antarctic ice predicted to cause rapid slowdown of deep ocean current by 2050
Parts of Earth’s ice sheets that could lift global oceans by meters will likely crumble with another half degree Celsius of warming, and are fragile in ways not previously understood, according…Continue readingClimate, ice sheets & sea level: the news is not good
More and more scientists are now admitting publicly that they are scared by the recent climate extremes, such as the floods in Pakistan and west Africa, the droughts and heatwaves in…Continue readingWhy scientists are using the word scary over the climate crisis
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), a system of ocean currents that carry warm water from the tropics into the North Atlantic, and transport cold water from the northern to the…Continue readingScientists discover mechanism that can cause collapse of great Atlantic circulation system
Pine Island Ice Shelf in West Antarctica, which holds back enough ice to raise sea levels by 0.5 meters, could be more vulnerable to complete disintegration than previously thought. A new…Continue readingScientists expose vulnerabilities of critical Antarctic ice shelf
Major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now inevitable, scientists have found, even if the fossil fuel burning that is driving the climate crisis were to…Continue readingMajor sea-level rise is ‘now inevitable’
The world’s biggest ice sheet could cause “several meters” of sea-level rise over centuries if the global temperature rises more than 2°C, according to a British study. Researchers at Durham University…Continue readingWorld’s biggest ice sheet could cause massive sea rise without action
As Antarctica’s slow rivers of ice hit the sea, they float, forming ice shelves. These shelves extend the glaciers into the ocean until they calve into icebergs. But they also play…Continue readingIce shelves hold back Antarctica’s glaciers from adding to sea levels, but they’re crumbling
The eastern two thirds of Antarctica is covered by an ice sheet so large that if it melted the sea would rise by 52 meters (170 feet). An estimated 1 billion…Continue readingTroubling new research about East Antarctica
Antarctic ice sheets are melting, the continent’s climate is changing, and the Southern Ocean is warming, becoming more acidic and losing oxygen. Locally, changing climates are already affecting the region’s iconic…Continue readingAntarctic is changing dramatically, with global consequences
The coldest location on the planet has experienced an episode of warm weather this week unlike any ever observed, with temperatures over the eastern Antarctic ice sheet soaring 50 to 90˚F…Continue readingIt’s 70˚F (40˚C) warmer than normal in eastern Antarctica. Scientists are flabbergasted.
The remote continent is becoming increasingly accessible—during the 2019-20 season, the number of sightseeing visitors reached 74,000, with the vast majority travelling by ship. All activity in Antarctica—be it powered drills…Continue readingEach Antarctic tourist effectively melts 83 metric tons of snow
The Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers, in the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica, have experienced enhanced ocean-induced ice-shelf melt, glacier acceleration, ice thinning and grounding-line retreat in the past 30…Continue readingStudy – Rapid glacier retreat rates observed in West Antarctica
The last time carbon dioxide levels were where they are today, at more than 415 parts per million, was 4 million years ago, and the result of the associated warming due…Continue readingScientist says time is running out for West Antarctic ice sheet
Scientists have discovered a series of worrying weaknesses in the ice shelf holding back one of Antarctica’s most dangerous glaciers, suggesting that this important buttress against sea level rise could shatter…Continue readingButressing of Thwaites glacier in Antarctica expected to fail within 10 years
After the natural warming that followed the last Ice Age, there were repeated periods when masses of icebergs broke off from Antarctica into the Southern Ocean. A new data-model study led…Continue readingAntarctic ice sheet destabilized within a decade