Antarctica

• Wednesday, July 25th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentina charters Russian icebreaker for Antarctic season

  

  Argentina decided to charter a Russian icebreaker to supply its Antarctic bases this coming summer replacing its own “Almirante Irizar” which caught fire in the high seas last April and is currently on a long process of repairs and recovery, reported Wednesday the Buenos Aires press.

• Monday, July 2nd 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile rescues stranded Argentine plane in Antarctica

  The Chilean Air Force rescued over the weekend an Argentine aircraft stranded on a glacier in the Antarctic Peninsula, according to an official release.

• Friday, June 22nd 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Antarctic icebergs are “ecological hotspots” for ocean life

  

  Drifting icebergs are &quotecological hotspots&quot that enable the surrounding waters to absorb an increased volume of carbon dioxide, a study suggests. United States scientists found that minerals released from the melting ice triggered blooms of CO2-absorbing phytoplankton, reports BBC.

• Friday, June 1st 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  HMS Endurance in Portsmouth following longest deployment

  

  Portsmouth-based ice patrol ship HMS Endurance returned Friday June 1 from Antarctica where she helped gather vital information on climate change and global warming.

• Wednesday, May 30th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile to double financing of Antarctic scientific research

  Chile is planning to double Antarctic scientific research funds this coming season 2007/08 revealed this week in Punta Arenas Jose Retamales, director of the Chilean Antarctic Institute.

• Friday, May 25th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Helicopter Pilots Finish Record Pole-To-Pole Trip

  

  Two British-based pilots completed this week a record-breaking helicopter journey to both the North and South Poles, touching down at the Texas airport they left more than five months ago.

• Wednesday, May 23rd 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Conference on how increasing tourism threatens Antarctica

  Steadily growing tourism is beginning to have an adverse impact in Antarctica. This year, nearly 30,000 visitors are expected to make the trek to the southernmost continent, four times the figure just ten years ago.

• Wednesday, May 16th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Extensive snow areas of west Antarctica suffered melting

  

  A team of NASA and university scientists has found clear evidence that extensive areas of snow melted in west Antarctica in January 2005 in response to warm temperatures.

• Monday, May 14th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Stray Magellanic penguin swims 5.000 kilometres to Peru

  

  A Magellanic penguin whose natural habitat is the extreme south of Patagonia and the Falkland Islands has strayed thousands of miles and swam all the way to Peru's Paracas national reserve.

• Thursday, May 10th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Winners of North Pole race pledge funds to UN refugee agency

  

  Two intrepid young Britons have won an Arctic sprint to the magnetic North Pole which they say should boost their chances of raising $495,000 for the United Nations refugee agency