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CNN —Parts of icy Antarctica are turning green with plant life at an alarming rate as the region is gripped by extreme heat events, according to new research, sparking concerns about the changing landscape on this vast continent. Vegetation covered less than 0.4 square miles of the Antarctic Peninsula in 1986 but had reached almost 5 square miles by 2021, the study found. The rate at which the region has been greening over nearly four decades has also been speeding up, accelerating by more than 30% between 2016 and 2021. Vegetation growing on Green Island on the Antarctic Peninsula, which is warming much faster than the global average. Matt AmesburyA part of Barrientos Island that has given way to plant life.
Persons: Matt Amesbury, Dan Charman, Thomas Roland, ” Roland, , Charman, Olly Bartlett, Matthew Davey, Davey, Mary Gilbert Organizations: CNN, British Antarctic Survey, Nature, University of Exeter, University of Hertfordshire, Scottish Association for Marine Science Locations: South America, Exeter, Hertfordshire, England, Barrientos, Antarctica
The scientists project Thwaites and the Antarctic Ice Sheet could collapse within 200 years, which would have devastating consequences. Photograph of the high cliffs of Thwaites Glacier taken from the British Antarctic Survey Twin Otter aircraft. There is a concern that if Thwaites’ ice shelves collapse, it will leave towering cliffs of ice exposed to the ocean. The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica NASA/ReutersThat’s not to say Thwaites is safe. The scientists predict the whole of Thwaites and the Antarctic Ice Sheet behind it could be gone in the 23rd Century.
Persons: Thwaites —, Thwaites ’, Rob Larter, Thwaites, , Kiya Riverman, Rob Robbins, Julia Wellner, ” Wellner, Reuters That’s, Eric Rignot, Organizations: CNN, British Antarctic Survey, University of Portland, University of Houston, El, Antarctica NASA, Reuters, University of California Locations: Antarctica, Miami, London, Bangladesh, Florida, Icefin, Thwaites, Irvine, ITGC
Also known as water bears or moss piglets, tardigrades are waddling eight-legged animals with a reputation for survival. See the video, below, for yourself:This Wild West scene is a bit bizarre, but not totally surprising to experts. "I believe this tardigrade simply encountered the nematode, and it was something it could grasp which is better than flailing around helplessly." He ended up with a nematode and a batch of tardigrade eggs, visible through his microscope. AdvertisementGeldhof got into microscope videography about two years ago, after he started watching several microscope video creators on YouTube.
Persons: , tardigrade, Sandra McInnes, tardigrades, McInnes, Paul Bartels, Geldhof Organizations: Service, Business, of, Nikon's, British Antarctic Survey, Warren Wilson College, Amazon, YouTube Locations: Winthrop , Massachusetts
This is the second significant heat wave Antarctica has endured in the last two years. That unprecedented heat wave was made worse by climate change, according to a 2023 study published in Geophysical Research Letters. Climate change contributed 3.6 degrees of warming to the heat wave and could worsen similar heat waves by 9 to 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, the study found. Climate Change Institute, University of Maine Climate Change Institute, University of Maine Slide left to see temperatures observed during this heat wave and right to see what normal temperatures should be. But other research in the last few years has demonstrated that melting in East Antarctica, where this heat wave is happening, is becoming equally troubling.
Persons: David Mikolajczyk, Mikolajczyk, ” Thomas Bracegirdle, University of Maine Bracegirdle, ” Bracegirdle, it’s, Ted Scambos, Bracegirdle, Amy Butler, Butler, Organizations: CNN, East Antarctica –, Antarctic Meteorological Research, Data Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Antarctic, Reds, Institute, University of Maine, Research, University of Colorado, Northern Hemisphere, Southern, NOAA’s Chemical Sciences, Change Institute, East Antarctica, National Academy of Sciences, Locations: Antarctica, East Antarctica, Bismarck, North Dakota, University of Colorado Boulder, Northern, East, Scambos, West Antarctica
A tipping point refers to the threshold at which a series of small changes accumulate to push a system beyond a point of no return. A small increase in ocean temperatures can have a very big impact on the amount of melting, the study found. The study does not give time frames for when the tipping point might be reached, nor does it give figures for how much sea level rise can be expected. A slew of research has looked at the vulnerability of this vast continent to the impacts of the climate crisis. “With every small increase in ocean temperature, with every small increase in climate change, we get closer to these tipping points,” he said.
Persons: , Alex Bradley, Bradley, Sebnem, Eric Rignot, Ted Scambos Organizations: CNN, British Antarctic Survey, Nature, Getty, University of California, University of Colorado Locations: West Antarctica, East Antarctica, Antarctica, Anadolu, Irvine, University of Colorado Boulder
The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica — nicknamed the “Doomsday Glacier” because its collapse could cause catastrophic sea level rise — is the world’s widest glacier and roughly the size of Florida. Thwaites, which already contributes 4% to global sea level rise, holds enough ice to raise sea levels by more than 2 feet. “This process of widespread, enormous seawater intrusion will increase the projections of sea level rise from Antarctica,” he added. Sea ice around Rothera Point, on Adelaide Island to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula. The researchers also used climate models to predict the potential speed of recovery from such extreme sea ice loss and found that even after two decades, not all the ice will return.
Persons: West Antarctica —, It’s, Thwaites, glaciologists —, Irvine —, , Eric Rignot, Finland’s, Rignot, Ted Scambos, it’s, James Smith, Noel Gourmelen, Gourmelen, Steve Gibbs, ” Louise Sime Organizations: CNN, National Academy of Sciences, Global, University of California, UC Irvine, University of Colorado, British Antarctic Survey, University of Edinburgh, BAS Locations: West Antarctica, Florida, Irvine, Antarctica, University of Colorado Boulder, Thwaites, Rothera, Adelaide
Read previewLiving on the edges of the planets comes with an unexpected perk: you may pick up an exotic accent that's spoken only in Antarctica. The research provides a snapshot into how new accents are developed when communities grow in isolation, like when English speakers colonized new countries and developed new accents. Researchers tracked the twang of 26 international researchers and support staff that spent six months in the British Antarctic Survey's Rothera Research Station in May 2018. Advertisement"It was very subtle — you can't hear the changes," Jonathan Harrington, professor of phonetics and speech and an author of the study, told the BBC. "For accents to develop to the point where they are noticeable, it really takes a generational change," Harrington told the BBC.
Persons: , Richard Gray, Jonathan Harrington, Harrington Organizations: Service, BBC, Business, Antarctic, of Phonetics, Ludwig, Maximilians, University of Munich, of America Locations: Antarctica
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,
CNN —Evidence from a 2,000-foot-long ice core reveals that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet shrank suddenly and dramatically around 8,000 years ago, according to new research — providing an alarming insight into how quickly Antarctic ice could melt and send sea levels soaring. Map showing the location of the Skytrain Ice Rise, part of the Ronne Ice Shelf, from where the ice core was taken. The ice core analyzed in the study was drilled from Skytrain Ice Rise located at the edge of the ice sheet, near the point where the ice starts to float and become part of the Ronne Ice Shelf. Inside the drilling tent at Skytrain Ice Rise, scientists preparing the drill for its next drop into the borehole. University of Cambridge/British Antarctic SurveyInsulated boxes full of ice cores being loaded into the Twin Otter aircraft, Skytrain Ice Rise, Antarctica.
Persons: Eric Wolff, “ We’ve, we’ve, Wolff, Ted Scambos, , that’s, ” Wolff, Isobel Rowell, , David Thornalley, Thwaites, Scambos Organizations: CNN, West, Empire, Nature, University of Cambridge, University of Colorado, Ronne Ice Shelf, University of Cambridge / British Antarctic Survey, Ronne, Shelf, Twin, British Antarctic Survey, University College London Locations: Antarctica, University of Colorado Boulder, West Antarctica
And it’s not just the winds making the waters rough – the Drake is basically one big surge of water. We’re not gambling.”Even with that extra safety margin, though, he admits that crossing the Drake can be a hairy experience. A dangerous thrillAurora Expeditions' Greg Mortimer ship has a patented bow to make a Drake crossing more stable. “The only thing that works for me is going to the ship’s medic for a scopolamine patch,” he says. “If you were going to the moon, you’d expect the journey to be uncomfortable but it’d be worth it,” she says.
Persons: CNN —, ” Alfred Lansing, Ernest Shackleton’s, Drake, , it’s, Mike Hill, Adam ”, Alexander Brearley, , ” “, Storm Isha, Brearley, That’s, It’s, Clelia, Fiona Stewart, Garett McIntosh, Horn, , Stanislas Devorsine, Sue Flood, Le Commandant Charcot, ” Devorsine, Devorsine, “ We’re, Jamie Lafferty, “ Drake, Greg Mortimer, Tyson Mayr, He’s, Mundy, Edwina Lonsdale, ” Lonsdale, Sylvia Earle, Lonsdale, DreamPictures, acupressure, ” Jamie Lafferty, I’ve, ” Warren Cairns, There’s Organizations: CNN, British Antarctic Survey, Atlantic, , AP, South America –, Aurora Expeditions, Institute of Polar Sciences, National Research Council of Locations: Antarctica, isn’t, South America, Ireland, Panama, Europe, South, California, New York, Cape Horn, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, , France, Cape, National Research Council of Italy, it’s, Lonsdale
Previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins have been spotted in new satellite imagery. Emperor penguins, considered “near threatened” with extinction, are the world’s largest penguins. At least some emperor penguins are moving their colonies as melting ice from climate change threatens breeding grounds, according to research released on Wednesday. “Emperor penguins have taken it upon themselves to try to find more stable sea ice,” he said. Scientists currently know of 66 emperor penguin colonies.
Persons: penguins, Peter Fretwell, hadn't, Fretwell, Daniel Zitterbart, Organizations: British Antarctic Survey, Oceanographic Institution, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Halley,
LONDON (AP) — Britain's polar research ship has crossed paths with the largest iceberg in the world — a “lucky” encounter that enabled scientists to collect seawater samples around the colossal berg as it drifts out of Antarctic waters, the British Antarctic Survey said Monday. It began drifting in recent months, and has now moved into the Southern Ocean, helped by wind and ocean currents. Scientists say it is now likely to be swept along into “iceberg alley” — a common route for icebergs to float toward the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. What we don’t know is what difference particular icebergs, their scale, and their origins can make to that process," she said. The British Antarctic Survey said its findings will help improve understanding of how climate change is affecting the Southern Ocean and the organisms that live there.
Persons: Sir David Attenborough, London —, , Andrew Meijers, , A23a hasn’t, berg, Laura Taylor Organizations: British Antarctic Survey Locations: Antarctica, New York City, London, Weddell, South Georgia, British
Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe world's largest iceberg is now sailing away from AntarcticaRecent satellite images show an iceberg roughly three times the size of New York City floating past the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. According to the British Antarctic Survey, the berg named A23a is now likely to be swept along by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current into 'iceberg alley.' Once hosting a Soviet research station, A23a split from West Antarctica's Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in 1986.
Persons: berg, A23a, Antarctica's Organizations: British Antarctic Survey, Antarctic, Ronne Ice Shelf Locations: Antarctica, New York City, Soviet
One of World's Largest Icebergs Drifting Beyond Antarctic Waters After It Was Grounded for 3 DecadesThe British Antarctic Survey says that one of the world’s largest icebergs is drifting beyond Antarctic waters after being grounded for more than three decades
Organizations: British Antarctic Survey
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
[1/2] A satellite imagery of the world's largest iceberg, named A23a, seen in Antarctica, November 15, 2023. Courtesy of European Union/Copernicus Sentinel-3/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsNov 24 - The world's largest iceberg is on the move for the first time in more than three decades, scientists said on Friday. At almost 4,000 square km (1,500 square miles), the Antarctic iceberg called A23a is roughly three times the size of New York City. This will funnel it toward the Southern Ocean on a path known as "iceberg alley" where others of its kind can be found bobbing in dark waters. "Over time it's probably just thinned slightly and got that little bit of extra buoyancy that's allowed it to lift off the ocean floor and get pushed by ocean currents," said Marsh.
Persons: berg, Oliver Marsh, it's, Gloria Dickie, Olga Vyshnevska, William Maclean Organizations: European, Copernicus, REUTERS Acquire, Antarctica's, Ronne Ice Shelf, British Antarctic Survey, Antarctic, Thomson Locations: Antarctica, New York City, Soviet, Weddell, A23a, South Georgia, South Africa, London
A23a, the world's biggest iceberg, is on the move 37 years after it broke off from Antarctica. Scientists will keep a close eye on it as it could threaten wildlife near South Georgia Island. AdvertisementThe world's biggest iceberg, covering about 1,500 square miles, is on the move. NASA WorldviewA23a lost its title of world's biggest iceberg in May 2021, but jumped ahead once again in October 2022, when the previous record-holder, A76, broke into three pieces, per the Guinness World Records website. A gentoo penguin with a newborn chick South Georgia.
Persons: , A23a, Andrew Fleming Organizations: Ocean, Service, BBC, British Antarctic Survey, NASA, Records, Getty Locations: Antarctica, South Georgia, Weddell, Soviet, Georgia
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
The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change on Monday, found no matter the degree of warming this century, the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will speed up as warmer water in the Amundsen Sea erodes ice shelves bordering the ocean. These ice shelves buttress ice further inland, acting as a cork in a bottle that stops their flow into the ocean. The collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is one of nine global climate 'tipping points' scientists identified in 2009. If the ice sheet were to fully melt, average global sea levels would rise by more than a metre. Antarctic Sea ice saw its lowest maximum extent on record this winter.
Persons: Lauren Dauphin, Kaitlin Naughten, Tiago Segabinazzi Dotto, Gloria Dickie, Ros Russell Organizations: NASA, REUTERS, British Antarctic Survey, West, National Oceanography, Thomson Locations: Antarctica, Handout, Amundsen, London
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
Around 10,000 penguin chicks died after an ice bed they lived on broke apart, the BBC said. The emperor penguin chicks, who had not yet developed waterproof feathers, died last October. AdvertisementAdvertisement"Emperors depend on sea ice for their breeding cycle; it's the stable platform they use to bring up their young. Smyley Island emperor penguin colony on October 28, 2022 (left) versus December 3, 2022 (right). By the end of December 2022, sea ice extent was the lowest experienced in the 45-year satellite record.
Persons: Dr, Peter Fretwell Organizations: BBC, Service, British Antarctic Survey, Copernicus Sentinel Locations: Wall, Silicon, Bellingshausen, Antarctica
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
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
Penguins are seen on an iceberg as scientists investigate the impact of climate change on Antarctica's penguin colonies, on the northern side of the Antarctic peninsula, Antarctica January 15, 2022. There's no quick fix to replacing this ice," said Caroline Holmes, polar climate scientist at British Antarctic Survey and one of the study's co-authors. The precise impact of climate change on Antarctica and the surrounding ocean has been uncertain and scientists have struggled to measure how much global warming is affecting the thickness of Antarctic ice. "Antarctica is fragile as an environment, but extreme events test that fragility," he said. "What we're deeply concerned about is the increase in intensity and frequency of extreme events and the cascading influences that they have in other areas."
Persons: Natalie Thomas, Caroline Holmes, Tim Naish, " Naish, Martin Siegert, Siegert, David Stanway, Edmund Klamann Organizations: Penguins, REUTERS, Environmental, Antarctic Survey, Antarctic Research, Australia's Victoria University of Wellington, Global, University of Exeter, Thomson Locations: Antarctica, SINGAPORE, New Zealand, Australia
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