Arctic sea ice is melting at a record pace - and every summer looks grimmer. This past summer saw the ice pack at its fourth-lowest level on record, and the overall trend in recent decades suggests this will only continue. "Using satellites, scientists have found that the area of sea ice coverage each September has declined by more than 40 percent since the late 1970s, a … [Read more...]
Antarctic melt could cause global coastal destruction
Parts of the vast ice sheet of East Antarctica – which collectively holds enough water to raise global sea levels by 53 metres – could begin an irreversible slide into the sea this century, causing an unstoppable process of global coastal destruction, scientists have warned. East Antarctica is widely considered to be more stable than the West Antarctic ice sheet but a study … [Read more...]
Ozone hole still gapes yearly
Every August, the ozone hole begins to grow over Antarctica, reaching its maximum size by late September. But by the New Year, it's gone again. Russell Schnell, of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory, explains the weird forces behind the ozone hole's formation—and why, in recent years, an ozone hole has capped the Arctic too. This is SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Ira Flatow. 21 … [Read more...]
Groundwater depletion accelerates sea-level rise
Groundwater depletion will soon be as important a factor in contributing to sea-level rise as the melting of glaciers other than those in Greenland and Antarctica, scientists say That's because water pumped out of the ground for irrigation, industrial uses, and even drinking must go somewhere after it's used—and, whether it runs directly into streams and rivers or evaporates … [Read more...]
A chance to save the Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean circles Antarctica and remains one of the most pristine and ecologically rich oceans on earth. Its richness has attracted a growing number of industrial fishing fleets, which are harvesting toothfish and krill, the tiny shrimplike creatures that are the foundation of the Antarctic’s marine life. Add to that a growing interest in the mineral resources of the … [Read more...]
Threat of aliens in antarctica
Antarctica’s reputation as one of the most pristine environments on earth is being threatened by foreign plants and animals that are unwittingly being brought to the icy continent in the luggage of tourists and scientists. Changing climates are making matters worse, and are making it easier for these plants to establish, to become invasive, and to ultimately disturb the … [Read more...]
The Antarctic Legacy Project
Researchers at Stellenbosch University are compiling an electronic database cum archive of the diaries, photographs and personal anecdotes of South Africans' time in the Antarctic region (Marion Island, Gough Island and Antarctica). They are asking mariners, construction workers, scientists, joiners, engineers and doctors who have worked in the Antarctic region in the past … [Read more...]
Antarctic funding to study temperature stress on Marion Island
A Stellenbosch University researcher working on aspects of climate change, Dr Susana Clusella-Trullas (pictured), has received an Antarctic Science 2010 Award to study how marine invertebrates on Marion Island in the sub-Antarctic respond to changing temperature regimes. Dr Clusella-Trullas is a core-team member of the DST-NRF Centre for Invasion Biology based at … [Read more...]
