Antarctica

• Saturday, December 20th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  UK team en route to Antarctica for South Pole race

  British television presenter Ben Fogle and UK Olympic rowing champion James Cracknell are due to arrive in Antarctica ahead of a gruelling South Pole race. Cracknell, 36, Fogle, 35, and 28-year-old Dr Ed Coats - who beat 650 applicants for his place on the team - will spend the next fortnight acclimatising to the harsh weather and terrain.

• Saturday, December 20th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  HMS Endurance, while adrift was in serious risk of grounding

  

  Early Friday the stranded Royal Navy's Ice Patrol HMS Endurance with its 113 crew and a translator arrived in Punta Arenas pulled by two Chilean tugs. She has already been docked at the Asmar ship yard where Chilean and British engineers will immediately begin with emergency repairs.

• Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Patagonia unveils it was the land of a giant, vicious raptor

  

  Scientists have discovered what they say is a completely unexpected new giant dinosaur that lived 70 million years ago in Argentina. At 5 to 6.5 meters long, depending on its tail size, Austroraptor cabazai is among the largest of the slender, carnivorous, two-legged dinosaurs called raptors, said Fernando Novas, the lead researcher behind the discovery.

• Wednesday, December 17th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Engine room flood on Falklands ship Endurance

  

  BRITISH Royal Navy Patrol Ship HMS Endurance has suffered an engine room flood off the coast of Chile.

• Tuesday, December 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  2008, tenth warmest year on record since 1850, says WMO

  

  The year 2008 is likely to rank as the 10th warmest year on record since the beginning of the instrumental climate records in 1850, according to data sources compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

• Tuesday, December 9th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Host of Man vs. Wild series injured in Antarctic expedition

  

  Adventurer and host of the popular Man vs Wild series Bear Grylls has injured his shoulder during an Antarctic expedition. According to CNN the 34-year-old former SAS soldier was being flown back to the UK to receive medical attention.

• Friday, December 5th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Antarctic cruise passengers rescued and oil leak contained

  

  All aboard a cruise ship stranded off Antarctica are “in perfect health” and 87 (82 passengers and 5 crew members) have been rescued reported on Friday the Chilean Navy. The rest of the crew remained on board to help with rescue operations.

• Tuesday, December 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  South Orkney “richer than Galapagos in sea species”

  

  The first comprehensive inventory of the sea and land animals living in a polar region has been carried out by British and German scientists. A team from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Hamburg University found that Antarctica's South Orkney Islands were surprisingly rich in life. More than 1,200 species were counted, including five new to science.

• Friday, November 28th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Uruguay sponsors Portugal to Antarctic Treaty; Chavez out

  

  Uruguay has no plans to lease or share one of its Antarctic outposts with Venezuela or to sponsor Venezuela's incorporation to the Antarctic Treaty, said Foreign Affairs Secretary Gonzalo Fernandez during a hearing before Parliament.

• Thursday, November 6th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Spain's Antarctic season 08/09 takes off in Punta Arenas

  

  On Friday the Spanish Navy oceanographic vessel Las Palmas calls in Punta Arenas to officially begin Spain's Antarctic 2008/09 season. The vessel left from Cartagena last October 8 for the twelfth Antarctic season incursion and will be operating from Punta Arenas.