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☆ They Came From Outer Space. Now, They’re Going Into Hiding.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Katherine Kornei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If you’re looking for meteorites, here’s a tip: Go south. Roughly 60 percent of all known meteorites have been collected there. That’s because, as temperatures rise, thousands of meteorites will sink into the continent’s ice and disappear from sight every year, according to a new study published on Monday. Rather, meteorites simply tend to be more visible on the Antarctic ice sheet than they would be, say, in your backyard. “Your eye can pick out a dark rock on a white surface super easily,” said Dr. Corrigan, who was not involved in the new research.

Persons: Cari Corrigan, ”, Corrigan Organizations: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum Locations: Antarctica

☆ He’s visited every corner of the Earth. Now he wants to try a very different challenge
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Richard Collett | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Standing on the South Pole at the start of the year with the wind whipping across the Antarctic, travel blogger Johnny Ward felt a surge of relief. Years before, in 2017, he’d become the first Irish person to visit every country in the world. Life goalIrish explorer Johnny Ward has climbed the seven summits, reached the North and South poles, and visited every country in the world. And originally I thought the freest you can be is to visit every country,” he said. Costly challengeWard cycling in south east Asia while completing the epic challenge of visiting every country in the world.

Persons: Johnny Ward, he’d, Ward, Johnny Ward “, ” Ward, ”, “, who’ve, Mount, didn’t, wasn’t, “ I’m, He’s, Mariana Trench Organizations: CNN, CNN Travel, UN, Antarctic, ” Locations: Thailand, Palestinian, Taiwan, Kosovo, Oman, Socotra, Yemen, Cairo, Cape Town, South Korea, Australia, Denali, Asia, Galway, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Spain, Florida, New York, Mauritania, Africa

☆ The ‘Doomsday Glacier’ is rapidly melting. Scientists now have evidence for when it started and why
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

They have discovered it started retreating rapidly in the 1940s, according to a new study that provides an alarming insight into future melting. The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is the world’s widest and roughly the size of Florida. “Once an ice sheet retreat is set in motion it can continue for decades, even if what started it gets no worse,” he told CNN. While similar retreats have happened much further back in the past, the ice sheet recovered and regrew, Smith said. “Further events arising more from the warming climate trend took things further, and started the widespread retreat we’re seeing today,” he told CNN.

Persons: Antarctica’s, Thwaites, Joshua Stevens, Julia Wellner, that’s, ” Wellner, you’re, James Smith, “, ”, Smith, ” Thwaites, Jeremy Harbeck, NASA Ted Scambos, Martin Truffer, Truffer, — Organizations: CNN —, National Academy of Sciences, El, West, NASA, Observatory, University of Houston, CNN, British Antarctic Survey, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Alaska Locations: West Antarctica, Florida, Pine, Antarctica, University of Alaska Fairbanks, “

☆ World’s biggest iceberg is on the move
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

London CNN —The world’s biggest iceberg – more than twice the size of Britain’s capital city - is on the move after decades of being grounded on the seafloor in Antarctica. The huge mass of ice broke away from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in 1986, calved and grounded on the Antarctic’s Weddell Sea floor almost immediately. The iceberg, named A23a, is about 400 meters (1,312 feet) thick, and almost 4,000 square kilometers (1,544 square miles) in area. Greater London, by way of comparison, is 1,572 square kilometers (607 square miles). The iceberg, carried by ocean currents, will likely head eastward, and at its current rate is traveling five kilometers (three miles) a day.

Persons: Ella Gilbert, Oliver Marsh, A23a, Gilbert, Marsh Organizations: London CNN, Ronne, British Antarctic Survey, CNN Locations: Antarctica, Weddell, Greater London

☆ A hidden feedback loop under Antarctica’s glaciers could accelerate sea level rise, scientists find
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Rachel Ramirez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Glaciers in East Antarctica could lose ice faster in the future than previously thought, scientists reported Friday, in an alarming feedback loop where glacier meltwater is triggering even more ice loss and sea level rise as the planet warms. Together, these and other recent studies paint a dire picture of a melting southern continent that poses extreme risk of life-altering sea level rise around the world. Friday’s study factored that feedback into simulations to see how much it could accelerate Antarctic melting and sea level rise. Measuring this phenomenon and accounting for it in climate models is necessary “to get a realistic picture of global sea level rise,” Greenbaum said. “Given this evidence, subglacial melt and discharge is a process that can no longer be ignored in future projections of Antarctica’s contribution to sea level rise,” De Rydt told CNN.

Persons: CNN —, it’s, ”, Jamin Greenbaum, Denman, Scott, Greenbaum, ” Greenbaum, Tyler Pelle, ” Pelle, Pelle, we’re, ” Jan De Rydt, ” De Rydt, “ Organizations: CNN, University of California San Diego’s Scripps, of Oceanography, Scripps, Northumbria University Locations: East Antarctica, Antarctica

☆ Bird flu detected in Antarctic for the first time, British Antarctic Survey says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Akanksha Sharma | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The first cases of bird flu have been detected in seabirds in the Antarctic, according to the British Antarctic Survey, raising fears the disease will spread rapidly through dense colonies of birds and mammals. “Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in brown skua populations on Bird Island, South Georgia – the first known cases in the Antarctic region,” the British Antarctic Survey said in a statement Monday. South Georgia is part of the British overseas territory east of South America’s tip and just above Antarctica’s main landmass. The British Antarctic Survey believes the birds carried the disease on their return from migration to South America. The British Antarctic Survey, which is responsible for the UK’s national scientific activities in Antarctica, operates two research stations on South Georgia, including one at Bird Island where the confirmed cases were identified.

Persons: OFFLU, – Organizations: CNN, British Antarctic Survey, South Georgia –, Centers for Disease Control, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations, Organisation for Animal Health Locations: South Georgia, Georgia, South, South America, Antarctica, Bird, Japan

☆ Climate change: Rapid melting of West Antarctica ice now 'unavoidable,' study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Rachel Ramirez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Rapid melting of West Antarctica’s ice shelves may now be unavoidable as human-caused global warming accelerates, with potentially devastating implications for sea level rise around the world, new research has found. Even if the world meets ambitious targets to limit global heating, West Antarctica will experience substantial ocean warming and ice shelf melting, according to the new study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change. They act like buttresses, helping hold ice back on the land, slowing its flow into the sea and providing an important defense against sea level rise. While there has been growing evidence ice loss in West Antarctica may be irreversible, there has been uncertainty about how much can be prevented through climate policies. “The thing that’s depressing is the committed nature of sea level rise, particularly for the next century,” Scambos told CNN.

Persons: ”, Kaitlin Naughten, Naughten, ” Naughten, Ted Scambos, ” Scambos, Scambos, Tiago Segabinazzi Dotto, I’ve Organizations: CNN, British Antarctic Survey, University of Colorado Boulder, “, National Oceanography, Science Media Center Locations: West Antarctica, Antarctica

No matter how much the world cuts back on carbon emissions, a key and sizable chunk of Antarctica is essentially doomed to an “unavoidable” melt, a new study found. Researchers used computer simulations to calculate future melting of protective ice shelves jutting over Antarctica’s Amundsen Sea in western Antarctica. How much melting can still be prevented by reducing emissions?” said study lead author Kaitlin Naughten, an oceanographer at the British Antarctic Survey. In each case, ocean warming was just too much for this section of the ice sheet to survive, the study found. That part of Antarctica “is doomed,” said University of California Irvine ice scientist Eric Rignot, who wasn’t part of the study.

Persons: ”, Kaitlin Naughten, it’s, Naughten, Eric Rignot, Ted Scambos, ” Naughten, Moon, Kate Marvel, ” ___ Read, Seth Borenstein Organizations: West, British Antarctic Survey, University of California, ” University of Colorado, Associated Press, Data, Twitter, AP Locations: Amundsen, Antarctica, ” West Antarctica, University of California Irvine

☆ India rolls out its first rover on the lunar surface after historic landing
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed on the lunar surface near the moon's south pole on Wednesday. The historic occasion marked the country as a global space power and only the fourth nation to achieve a lunar landing. Chandrayaan-3 has already returned several images and rolled out its Pragyan rover on the lunar surface. Meanwhile, Russia’s Luna 25 lander crashed into the moon, causing experts to question the country’s future lunar ambitions. ConsequencesEmperor penguins rely on sea ice to hatch and raise their chicks, but global warming is diminishing their habitat.

Persons: CNN —, Ray, Russia’s, Bonnie Prince Charlie, “, ”, Barbora Veselá, Apptronik, Sergio Pitamitz, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, NASA, SpaceX, International, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Ray Imaging, ISRO India, University of Dundee, Solar Orbiter, —, CNN Space, Science Locations: United States, Russia, Japan, Denmark, United Kingdom, Austin , Texas, Tennessee, Monterey , California

☆ Emporer penguins: Huge colonies lost all chicks as sea ice melts
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Rachel Ramirez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —As rapidly warming global temperatures help push Antarctica’s sea ice to unprecedented lows, it’s threatening the very existence of one of the continent’s most iconic species: emperor penguins. Emperor penguins rely on stable sea ice attached to land for nesting and raising their chicks. For the past few years, scientists have been sounding the alarm about a steep decline in Antarctica’s sea ice. In mid-July, Antarctic sea ice reached the lowest level for this time of year since records began in 1945. Antarctic sea ice also helps regulate the planet’s temperature, reflecting the sun’s incoming energy back to space.

Persons: Norman Ratcliffe, ”, Ratcliffe, Julian Quinones, “, Cassandra Brooks, ” Ratcliffe Organizations: CNN, British Antarctic Survey, University of Colorado Boulder Locations: Bellingshausen, floes, Argentina, Antarctica

☆ In a Worrisome Sign, Some Emperor Penguins Had a Terrible 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Delger Erdenesanaa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Four out of five emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica’s Bellingshausen Sea region very likely lost their chicks late last year because of disappearing sea ice underneath their breeding grounds, according to a new study. Parts of this coastal region had lost all of their sea ice by November, which was probably before penguin chicks had grown waterproof adult feathers and learned to swim. It’s the first time scientists have seen a widespread failure across multiple penguin colonies in a region, researchers said. “At the moment, we’re not sure if this is just a blip,” said Norman Ratcliffe, a seabird ecologist with the British Antarctic Survey and one of the authors of the new study. “But if this becomes a consistent phenomena in the longer term, clearly it’s going to have repercussions for the species.”

Persons: “, we’re, ”, Norman Ratcliffe Organizations: British Antarctic Survey Locations: Antarctica’s Bellingshausen

☆ Antarctica is missing an Argentina-sized amount of sea ice – and scientists are scrambling to figure out why
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Antarctic sea ice has fallen to unprecedented lows for this time of year. Every year, Antarctic sea ice shrinks to its lowest levels towards the end of February, during the continent’s summer. In mid-July, Antarctica’s sea ice was 2.6 million square kilometers (1 million square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average. While natural climate variability affects the sea ice, many scientists say climate change may be a major driver for the disappearing ice. A lack of sea ice could also have significant impacts on its wildlife, including krill on which many of the region’s whales feed, and penguins and seals that rely on sea ice for feeding and resting.

Persons: Ted Scambos, ”, “, Scambos, ” Scambos, ’, Julienne, West, –, Thwaites, it’s Organizations: CNN, Northern, Data, University of Colorado, ”, Data Center, Southern Locations: Argentina, Texas , California, New Mexico , Arizona , Nevada , Utah, Colorado, University of Colorado Boulder, Antarctica

☆ We Are Breaking Heat Records Around the World
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An astonishing surge of heat across the globe has shattered temperature records from North America to Antarctica. Scientists say the past three days were quite likely the hottest in Earth’s modern history. But already, the effects of the warming have been striking and far-reaching: In areas where summers are often scorching, including Texas and India, recent triple-digit heat waves have turned deadly. The photographer Cesar Rodriguez traveled to Hermosillo, Mexico, to see how people there were reacting to some of the most intense heat on the planet. On a recent day when temperatures hit 121 degrees, one resident described it as “being thrown balls of fire.”

Persons: El, Cesar Rodriguez, ” Locations: North America, Antarctica, Texas, India, Hermosillo, Mexico

☆ ‘Ghost particle’ portrait of the Milky Way revealed
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —For the first time, astronomers have assembled a glowing portrait of the Milky Way galaxy using cosmic “ghost particles” detected by a telescope embedded in Antarctica’s ice. Over the years, astronomers have showcased stunning images of the Milky Way through electromagnetic radiation from visible light or radio waves. These tiny, high-energy cosmic particles are often referred to as ghostly because they are extremely vaporous and can pass through any kind of matter without changing. The IceCube detector is seen under a starry night sky, with the Milky Way appearing over low auroras in the background. Cosmic rays are mostly made up of protons or atomic nuclei that have been stripped from atoms, according to NASA.

Persons: “, ’ ”, Naoko Kurahashi Neilson, Amundsen, Scott, Kurahashi Neilson, Yuya Makino, Steve Sclafani, Mirco, IceCube, ”, Chad Finley, ” Sclafani, Victor Hess, ” Kurahashi Neilson Organizations: CNN, Drexel University, National Science, Pole, NSF, Germany’s TU Dortmund University, Stockholm University, NASA Locations: Antarctica, Germany’s

‘Living on top of each other’Mission Antarctica: Each year, the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust sends a crack team to run one of the world's most remote post offices. UK Antarctic Heritage Trust Shovel your way in: It was a tough start. UK Antarctic Heritage Trust Food reserves: Unsurprisingly, fresh food is in short supply, other than what comes their way via visiting cruise ships. UK Antarctic Heritage Trust Kitted out: Those sunglasses are crucial if you don't want to risk snow blindness. UK Antarctic Heritage Trust The post office at the end of the world Prev NextThe chosen candidates beat out odds of one in a thousand – but this is not a cozy posting.

Persons: They’d, Clare Ballantyne, it’s, Ballantyne, Lucy Bruzzone, Mairi Hilton, Natalie Corbett, Camilla Nichol, Nichol, “, ”, Vicky Inglis, ‘ Cheeriness, Cheeriness, They’ll, aren’t, Says Nichol Organizations: CNN, Britain’s Royal Navy, Port, Antarctic Heritage Trust, Base, Antarctic Heritage Trust Food, Antarctic Heritage, British Antarctic Survey, International Association of Antarctica Locations: there’s, Antarctica, Inglis, Montreal, Antarctic

☆ Four alarming charts that show just how extreme the climate is right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Rachel Ramirez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Record high levels of carbon pollution in the atmosphere and record low levels of Antarctic ice. Several all-time heat records were also broken earlier this month in Siberia, as temperatures shot up above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. In 2022, the world’s oceans broke heat records for the fourth year in a row. In late February, Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest extent since records began in the 1970s, at 691,000 square miles. The decline in sea ice also poses severe harm to the continent’s species, including penguins who rely on sea ice for feeding and hatching eggs.

Persons: Brian McNoldy, vZ9eKEs22b, we’re, ” Jennifer Marlon, “ We’ve, – we’ve, Ted Scambos, “ We’re, Phil Reid, El, Climatologist Maximiliano Herrera, “, El Niño, ” Herrera, ” Scambos, Reid, Scambos, there’s, Rick Spinrad, ” Organizations: CNN, University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Yale School of, University of Colorado -, National Weather Service, Australian, of Meteorology, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Atlantic, NOAA, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, Industrial Locations: University of Colorado - Boulder, Canada, United States, Siberia, Central America, Texas, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Asia, China, El, California, Pacific, San Diego

☆ The planet's coldest, saltiest ocean waters are heating up and shrinking, new report finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Deep ocean water in the Antarctic is heating up and shrinking, with potentially far-reaching consequences for climate change and deep ocean ecosystems, according to a report. They also found that ocean waters deeper than 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) have warmed four times faster than the rest of the global ocean. They are a vital part of global ocean circulation, transporting human-caused carbon pollution into the deep ocean where it remains for centuries, said Silvano. If this deep circulation weakens, “less carbon can be absorbed by the deep ocean, limiting the ability of the ocean to mitigate global warming,” Silvano told CNN. This cold, dense water also has a vital role in supplying oxygen to deep ocean waters.

Persons: Povl, ” Alessandro Silvano, ” Silvano, ”, Holly Ayres, ” Ayres, Zhou Organizations: CNN, British Antarctic Survey, Weddell, University of Southampton, Reading University Locations: Weddell, Antarctica

☆ Earth Day 2023: The world just failed its annual health checkup
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The WMO’s annual State of the Climate Report, published Friday ahead of Earth Day, is essentially a health checkup for the world. Global sea levels climbed to the highest on record due to melting glaciers and warming oceans, which expand as they heat up. “Communities and countries which have contributed least to climate change suffer disproportionately.”A man uses a hand fan in a park in central Madrid during a heatwave, on August 2, 2022. The hottest year on record, 2016, was the result of a strong El Niño and climate change, said Baddour. “This is really a wake up call that climate change isn’t a future problem, it is a current problem.

☆ Take a Plunge Under Antarctica’s Ice, With Robots
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Daniela Hernandez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Glaciologists are using robots to capture close-up views of ice shelves, floating platforms of ice that slow down the flow of ice into the ocean. They can use the measurements robots collect to improve climate models that predict sea-level rise. Icefin/NASA PSTAR RISE UP/Schmidt/Dicheck

A Covid outbreak at an American scientific research station in Antarctica has forced U.S. officials to temporarily halt all travel to the remote outpost. The agency confirmed that 10% of the research station’s population have tested positive for Covid during this recent outbreak. There are 885 people currently living and working at McMurdo Station. Though the station operates year-round, many scientists typically travel to McMurdo in November for field research during Antarctica’s summer season. It’s not yet clear what, if any, impact the outbreak could have on research and operations at the outpost.

☆ New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern makes rare trip to Antarctica
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appeared awestruck Thursday to be standing in the Antarctic hut of explorer Ernest Shackleton. “I think when you’re a kid and you read stories about Shackleton, you’d never imagine you’d have the opportunity to come. So, I feel pretty lucky,” she said from inside the hut that was built more than a century ago. Conservationists say new marine protected areas and rules to prevent overfishing in Antarctica are desperately needed, but that Russia could use its veto-like powers to once again block progress. The motivation for Russia, which did not respond to requests for comment this week, remains unclear.

☆ Emperor penguins are now a threatened species due to climate change, U.S. officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Endangered Species Act. Fish and Wildlife Service said emperor penguins should be protected under the law since the birds build colonies and raise their young on the Antarctic ice threatened by climate change. The agency’s review followed a 2011 petition by the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity to list the bird under the Endangered Species Act. Tuesday’s designation was described as a warning that emperor penguins need “urgent climate action” in order to survive by Shaye Wolf, the climate science director at the Center for Biological Diversity. The 1973 Endangered Species Act is credited with bringing several animals back from the brink of extinction, including grizzly bears, bald eagles, gray whales and others.

☆ Emperor penguins now a threatened species due to climate change, U.S. says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Clark Mindock | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Endangered Species Act. Fish and Wildlife Service said emperor penguins should be protected under the law since the birds build colonies and raise their young on the Antarctic ice threatened by climate change. The agency's review followed a 2011 petition by the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity to list the bird under the Endangered Species Act. Tuesday's designation was described as a warning that emperor penguins need “urgent climate action” in order to survive by Shaye Wolf, the climate science director at the Center for Biological Diversity. The 1973 Endangered Species Act is credited with bringing several animals back from the brink of extinction, including grizzly bears, bald eagles, gray whales and others.

☆ Don’t Believe the Hype About Antarctica’s Melting Glaciers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Steven Koonin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Alarming reports that the Antarctic ice sheet is shrinking misrepresent the science under way to understand a very complex situation. The ice sheet holds about 26.5 million gigatons of water (a gigaton is a billion metric tons, or about 2.2 trillion pounds). Much more modest ice loss is normal in Antarctica. The difference between the discharge and addition each year is the ice sheet’s annual loss. That figure has been increasing in recent decades, from 40 gigatons a year in the 1980s to 250 gigatons a year in the 2010s.

☆ Water's edge: the crisis of rising sea levels
▼ + stars: | 2014-09-04 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +20 min

But sea levels have been rising for 100 years in Baltimore.”ROCKET SCIENCEThe irony is evident at Wallops Flight Facility. Yet this bastion of climate research has been slow to apply the science of sea level rise to its own operations. Reviewers from state and federal agencies criticized the 348-page document for failing to adequately take rising sea levels into account in the project design and impact, or to temper future plans for expansion. Joshua Bundick, Wallops’s environmental planning manager, explained that he distilled the issues “down to only the highest points,” and sea level rise wasn’t among them. The cost to American taxpayers of repeated destruction of the parking lot and causeway from rising sea levels would only increase, Fish and Wildlife officials said.

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