The Antarctic ice sheet has lost ice twice as quickly in the past three years as when it was last surveyed between 2005 and 2010, say scientists. Results from the CryoSat-2 satellite mission, published Monday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, say the largest ice sheet on Earth is now losing 159 billion tons of ice each year.
A new study by researchers at NASA and the University of California, Irvine, finds a rapidly melting section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet appears to be in an irreversible state of decline, with nothing to stop the glaciers in this area from melting into the sea.
The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) joined member states of the Antarctic Treaty, along with observer and expert organizations, in Brasilia this week to discuss measures for the protection of the Antarctic environment.
Researchers have found a new type of avian influenza virus in a group of Adélie penguins (pygoscelies adeliae) from Antarctica. Aeron Hurt, PhD, a senior research scientist at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne, Australia, said that this is the first time that a distinct, live flu virus has been found in these birds.
One of the most significant seabird by-catches in over a decade occurred in the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) Marine Zone last week, by the Chilean longliner Antarctic Bay.
New figures released on Monday by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), estimate that 36,545 tourists will travel with IAATO members to Antarctica next season, 2014-2015. The information was reported at the first day of the 37th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in Brasilia, which IAATO attend as Invited Experts.
NASA has lately spotted a gigantic iceberg in Antarctica, identified as B31 and together with UK's BAS (British Antarctic Survey), is busy tracking the monster island of ice, which has now escaped into open waters. Despite its sheer size and mass, --experts estimate that the giant iceberg is approximately 600 square kilometres in size--, monitoring is not going to be an easy task with the coming of the Antarctic winter and ensuing darkness.
The British government will fund a new £200 million polar research ship to put UK scientists at the forefront of climate and ocean research in both Antarctica and the Arctic, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced on Friday in a speech.
The Treasury of South Georgia & The South Sandwich Islands have issued a new crown which celebrates the centennial of one of the Island group’s most well-known and recognized landmarks: the Grytviken Church.
The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) which currently has 116 members, announced that their office has moved from Providence to Newport, Rhode Island.