Antarctica

• Thursday, October 8th 2009 - 04:17 UTC

  IAATO members’ passenger ships will be fitted with satellite tracking devices

  

  The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) has approved a resolution requiring members' passenger ships to be fitted with satellite tracking devices based on Iridium (Iridium Communications Inc.). The devices will report ships' positions at least once per hour when cruising in Antarctic waters.

• Thursday, October 8th 2009 - 01:00 UTC

  Rare vintage photo of first expedition to reach the South Pole

  

  The only known vintage print of the first expedition to reach the South Pole has been uncovered at the National Library of Australia. The small brown photograph shows Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen's arrival at the pole in 1911.

• Wednesday, October 7th 2009 - 09:46 UTC

  NASA Operation Ice Bridge takes off from Punta Arenas

  

  Starting next Monday and operating from Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile NASA will fly its largest aircraft, --a DC-8, a 157-foot-long airborne laboratory-- to study changes in Antarctica’s sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers as part of its Operation Ice Bridge.

• Tuesday, September 29th 2009 - 10:45 UTC

  Chile documents its Antarctica roots for bicentennial celebrations

  

  A documentary “Antarctica Secreta” (Secret Antarctica) which explores and promises abundant evidence of Chile’s long established roots in Antarctica, dating back to over a hundred years, is expected to be ready for its launching August next year, on time for the country’s bicentennial celebrations.

• Friday, September 25th 2009 - 02:44 UTC

  Ice loss in polar caps far more extensive reveals study from BAS

  

  The thinning of ice sheets in Greenland and western Antarctica is far more extensive than was previously thought, according to new research published online in the British journal Nature.

• Friday, September 18th 2009 - 23:36 UTC

  South Georgia expects 15% drop in cruise visitors this summer

  

  Early indications are that 63 tour ships are due to visit South Georgia in the coming season, seven visits down on last season, according to the South Georgia Newsletter, August edition.

• Thursday, September 17th 2009 - 13:30 UTC

  Antarctica ozone hole predicted to be the smallest in recent years

  

  The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica this year should reach 25 million square kilometers, or two million square kilometers less than in 2008, announced Wednesday the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

• Wednesday, September 16th 2009 - 06:51 UTC

  HMS Endurance to be replaced; crew could face disciplinary action

  

  British sailors could face court-martial action over HMS Endurance's near-sinking in the South Atlantic, reveals The Newscan. Royal Navy chiefs are carrying out a disciplinary probe after finishing an inquiry into the accident off Chile.

• Tuesday, September 15th 2009 - 02:30 UTC

  Scientists confirm link between declining CO2 levels and Antarctica ice cap

  

  The link between declining CO2 levels in the earth's atmosphere and the formation of the Antarctic ice caps some 34 million years ago has been confirmed for the first time in a major research study.

• Friday, September 4th 2009 - 07:50 UTC

  Sooty albatross set breeding record in South Shetland Islands

  

  A small group of light-mantled sooty albatrosses has set a new breeding record. The birds have created a colony on King George Island, one of the South Shetland Islands located in Antarctica.