Antarctica

• Friday, May 15th 2009 - 12:25 UTC

  Calculating the impact of the Antarctic ice sheet melting

  

  The collapse of a major Antarctic ice sheet will not raise global sea levels as much as previous projections suggest, a team of scientists has calculated. Writing in Science, the researchers said that the demise of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) would result in a sea level rise of 3.3m.
  Previous estimates had forecast a rise in the region of five to six metres.

• Tuesday, May 12th 2009 - 01:26 UTC

  UK submits extended continental shelf claim around Falklands

  

  The United Kingdom made on Tuesday 11 May 2009, its submission in respect of its extended continental shelf around the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

• Wednesday, May 6th 2009 - 13:06 UTC

  Antarctic continental shelf survey could help predict sea-level rise

  

  Motorway-sized troughs and channels carved into Antarctica's continental shelves by glaciers thousands of years ago could help scientists to predict future sea-level rise, according to a report in the May issue of the journal Geology.

• Tuesday, May 5th 2009 - 11:10 UTC

  Floating ice increasing risk for cruise vessels in Antarctica

  

  New ice break-offs with dimensions that can’t be properly noticed on the sea surface could become a serious risk for Antarctic cruise vessels in the near future, --even when they are scientifically monitored--, according to Chilean glaciologist Ricardo Jaña from the Chilean Antarctic Institute.

• Wednesday, April 29th 2009 - 11:50 UTC

  Massive Antarctic ice shelf breaking up into icebergs

  

  A massive Antarctic ice shelf is breaking up and pieces are expected to float away as icebergs over the course of the next few weeks. Scientists estimate the Wilkins Ice Shelf, which was originally about the size of Northern Ireland, had been in place for several hundred years. But satellite images taken over the past week show it has begun collapsing into the ocean as more than half a dozen similar Antarctic ice shelves have already done, said an article posted Tuesday by the European Space Agency on its website.

• Saturday, April 18th 2009 - 13:10 UTC

  Agreement on new limits for Antarctica tourism

  

  Countries with ties to Antarctica have adopted US proposals to limit tourism in the region, in a bid to protect the fragile ecosystem of the continent.

• Thursday, April 16th 2009 - 09:55 UTC

  Climate change threatens Antarctica’s emperor penguins

  

  Polar bears, the poster children for Arctic climate change, are getting competition for the title of climate change casualty from the opposite side of the globe. Antarctica’s emperor penguins may face an equally dire fate. Like polar bears, these birds depend on sea ice for breeding and feeding habitat. Also like polar bears, emperor penguins seem unlikely to adapt to the rapid rate of sea ice extent change, according to a National Academy of Science study released by the National Centre for Atmospheric Research.

• Tuesday, April 7th 2009 - 19:21 UTC

  Antarctic fuel oil ban to impact on Falklands tourism

  

  FALKLANDS, Argentine, and Chilean cruise ship tourism is likely to be negatively impacted as a result of a ban on the use and carriage of Heavy Gas Oil (HGO) in Antarctic waters by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

• Tuesday, April 7th 2009 - 12:00 UTC

  US calls for strict regulation on Antarctic tourism

  

  United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Monday for tighter regulation of Antarctic tourism as delegates from 47 countries began a review conference of the now 50-year-old Antarctic Treaty.

• Monday, April 6th 2009 - 14:41 UTC

  Antartic: Wilkins Ice Bridge Breaks

  

  An ice bridge which held a vast Antarctic ice shelf in place shattered at the weekend and could herald a wider collapse linked to global warming, a leading scientist has warned. “It's amazing how the ice has ruptured. Two days ago it was intact,” said David Vaughan, a glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey.