Antarctica

• Tuesday, July 19th 2022 - 09:54 UTC

  Extreme temperatures in Antarctica and annual loss of 150 billion tons of ice

  

  By BAS Atmosphere, Ice and Climate Change team, Floor van Heuvel, Ella Gilbert, Thomas Caton-Harrison, Ryan Williams, Tom Bracegirdle

• Friday, July 8th 2022 - 10:28 UTC

  Argentina protests the designation of Protected Areas in South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

  

  The Argentine government in a protest note addressed to the United Kingdom pointed out its complete rejection of UK's intended designation of the entire landmass of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) as Specially Protected Areas.

• Wednesday, July 6th 2022 - 09:55 UTC

  South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands designated landmass Protected Areas

  

  The Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) announced on Tuesday the designation of the entire landmass of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) as Specially Protected Areas, fulfilling the commitment it made in the “Pathway to Protection”

• Wednesday, July 6th 2022 - 09:45 UTC

  BAS report, the Antarctic glaciers ice loss is “unprecedented”

  

  Two crucial glaciers in West Antarctica may be losing ice faster than they have over the last 5,000 years, according to a new study published in June. The international team, led by the University of Maine and including British Antarctic Survey (BAS) geologist Dr Joanne Johnson, examined the history of Thwaites and Pine Island Glaciers in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

• Friday, July 1st 2022 - 09:39 UTC

  Penguins at most risk off South Africa after predator whales seize the area

  

  A study released this week in the peer-reviewed African Journal of Marine Science, would show that killer orcas are behind the finding of eight white sharks dead off the coast of Gansbaai, in western South Africa in 2017.

• Thursday, June 23rd 2022 - 23:29 UTC

  Antarctic Treaty members agree to protect Shackleton's Endurance wreck 3.000 meters deep in the Weddell Sea

  

  A 500m perimeter is being implemented to aid the protection of Endurance, the ship famously lost in the Antarctic by explorer Ernest Shackleton. The vessel's position on the Weddell Sea floor was finally identified in March, 107 years after its sinking.

• Thursday, June 23rd 2022 - 17:43 UTC

  RRS Sir David Attenborough centre stage at “Poles Apart” gallery in National Maritime Museum

  

  Britain’s new polar research ship, RRS Sir David Attenborough, is centre-stage in a new gallery, ‘Poles Apart’, which opened at the Royal Museums Greenwich National Maritime Museum. The exhibition serves as a lasting reminder of the RRS Sir David Attenborough visit to Greenwich in October 2021, ahead of the UN Climate Conference held in Glasgow, and of the contribution the ship will make over its 30-year career to climate science.

• Thursday, June 23rd 2022 - 09:50 UTC

  Russia triggers toothfish conflict between US and UK over catch quotas in South Georgia

  

  A diplomatic row over fish has broken out between the UK and US in response to provocations from Russia. The feud could lead to an import ban on Patagonian toothfish, also known as Chilean sea bass, which US officials claim is being caught illegally near Antarctica, according to an information from Associated Press.

• Thursday, June 23rd 2022 - 09:39 UTC

  Midwinter Day in Antarctica, the shortest and darkest of the year

  

  British Antarctic Survey (BAS) staff in the UK and across three Antarctic wintering stations observed the shortest, darkest day of the year on the frozen continent with a host of unique celebrations.

• Wednesday, June 22nd 2022 - 09:54 UTC

  First Chilean-built icebreaker 60% complete

  

  At a total cost of around US$ 210 million, Chile's first home-built icebreaker is already 60% complete and plans to be seaworthy by the time of the XII International Naval Exhibition and Congress in Valparaíso in December, it was reported.