Antarctic

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Molecular fossils and machine learning have enabled scientists to build the first charts of Antarctic ocean temperatures over the past 45 million years, offering important insights into future sea level changes. …

When a report last month documented pervasive sexual harassment in the U.S. Antarctic Program, many polar researchers and USAP employees saw it as confirmation of their own experiences. They also said the 25 August report wasn’t the first time the National Science Foundation (NSF), which manages the program through contracts to private companies and commissioned the report, had been told about the problem. But those who spoke out were often ignored or punished, some Antarctic…

Antarctic expeditions have a stomach-churning underbelly of sexual harassment, and national programs are not doing enough to stop it. Credit: Derek Oyen/Unsplash In October 2017, Antarctic science had its own #MeToo moment. Science magazine published a piece on allegations of abuse of female geoscientists in Antarctica—the most remote environment in the world.…

The 200-foot-tall (60-meter-tall) front of the Getz Ice Shelf in Antarctica is scored with cracks where icebergs are likely to break off, or calve, in this 2016 photo. The first estimate of Antarctic calving has found that since 1997 ice shelves have lost as much ice from calving as from melting. Credit: NASA/GSFC/OIB/Jeremy HarbeckNew <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>NASA</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Established…

The R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer photographed from a drone at Thwaites Glacier ice front in February 2019. Credit: Alexandra Mazur/University of Gothenburg The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica—about the size of Florida—has been an elephant in the room for scientists trying to make global sea level rise predictions. …

The U.S. Antarctic research program is rife with sexual harassment and assault, according to a report released last week. Commissioned by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which manages the program, and written by an external firm, the report also found that those working in Antarctica largely don’t trust their employers to take harassment complaints seriously, to protect victims, or to punish perpetrators—and that some groups are less aware of the issue than others.…

The Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers have been retreating at an accelerated pace and have already increased global sea levels.A study finds that two major glaciers in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) are losing ice at the fastest rate for at least 5,500 years.The huge glaciers that reach deep into the core of the ice sheet might contribute up to 3.4 meters to global sea level rise over the next few centuries if they continue to retreat at their current rate.The East and West Antarctic Ice Sheets, which feed many…

Antarctica's coastal glaciers are shedding icebergs more rapidly than nature can replenish the crumbling ice, doubling previous estimates of losses from the world's largest ice sheet over the past 25 years, a satellite analysis showed on Wednesday.The first-of-its-kind study, led by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Los Angeles and published in the journal Nature, raises new concern about how fast climate change is weakening Antarctica's floating ice shelves and accelerating the rise of global sea…

The 200-foot-tall (60-meter-tall) front of the Getz Ice Shelf in Antarctica is scored with cracks where icebergs are likely to break off, or calve, in this 2016 photo. The first estimate of Antarctic calving has found that since 1997 ice shelves have lost as much ice from calving as from melting. Credit: NASA/GSFC/OIB New research on Antarctica, including the first map of iceberg calving, doubles the previous estimates of…

The warming up of the planet and its adverse effects on the life on Earth is the bleak reality today. A recent study has now added to the worries by revealing that warmer water in the ocean is moving towards the East Antarctic ice sheets and is likely to accelerate the rise in global sea level. This, according to experts, will damage the marine life and threaten human coastal settlements. Researchers were familiar with the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet and its contribution to the rising sea-level. However,…