On Aug. 15, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. It will reportedly be the first time a Russian leader has set foot in Alaska since Russia sold the territory to the U.S. 178 years ago. To mark the 150th anniversar
A comprehensive modeling study shows how subglacial meltwater triggers an additional summer bloom of phytoplankton in Disko Bay. At the same time, the climate-relevant carbon sequestration increases only slightly. Ocean currents around North America and Greenland in a NASA ECCO data visualization. S
Almost a fetish animal for scientists, a star attraction on Arctic cruises and a global climate icon, the polar bear goes far beyond its role as a symbolic species. From Inuit mythology to tales of exploration, from traditional sculpture to contemporary advertising, the polar bear has never ceased t
The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at new regulations on subantarctic islands for visitors, the solution to a 66-year old Antarctic mystery, and a grim outlook for reindeer populations due to the changing climate.The changi
From September to December, a research team from Australian Antarctic Programs will be deployed on the sub-Antarctic island at 53 degrees south to assess the health of animal populations.King penguins on Heard Island. Image: Stephen Brown / Australian Antarctic Program Australia is bracing itself fo
Revealing a surprising diversity of ancient species just after the mass extinction that ended the age of dinosaurs, new fossil discoveries from North Canterbury in New Zealand show how early penguins developed powerful underwater adaptations and long, spear-like beaks. The findings affirm New Zealan
In Canada’s Yukon, the Tintina Fault has the potential for an earthquake exceeding magnitude 7.5. Dawson City lies dangerously close to the epicentre and could be severely affected by the shaking. The Tintina Fault is barely visible in Yukon’s landscape. Image: created with AI (ChatGPT) A research t
The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands had planned to implement a new ETA system for visitors but had to delay these plans now. The Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) has announced a last-minute postponement of its new Electronic Entry Permit sy
The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at a new map of Alexander Island, a new Canadian inuit-owned fishing vessel, and a new viral threat for Arctic foxes on Svalbard. The Polar Retrospective is a collaborative effort by the e
DNA analysis of 75,000-year-old bones in Norwegian Arctic caves reveals how ancient animal communities adapted to periods of warming and cooling, providing insights into how modern wildlife might react to current climate change. Samuel Walker, Bournemouth University and Sanne Boessenkool, University
As global warming profoundly transforms Arctic ecosystems, a new study reveals that lakes at high latitudes may be releasing more methane than previously thought. This greenhouse gas, far more potent than CO₂, is produced in the sediments of lakes that have become more biologically productive. A wor
In response to the new geopolitical realities from Russia and China and a divergent USA, key European nations are fundamentally rebuilding their Arctic security through new strategic alliances, policies, and military investments. As the ice melts, a new geopolitical reality is dawning in the High No
Male leopard seals sing for hours each day over many weeks and their patterned trills resemble the structure of human nursery rhymes. A new study reveals that these underwater love songs may be deliberately simple and repetitive, helping the seals stand out and be heard across vast icy waters.Restin
The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at a hidden lake flood beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet, the end of another icebreaker era in Antarctica, and traces of an ancient rift between America and Greenland.The Polar Retrospective
For nearly 30 years, an Australian observatory in the Southern Ocean has delivered crucial long-term data on carbon uptake, ecosystem change and climate trends, and its role is becoming more important than ever. A long-running observatory in the Southern Ocean has been collecting data for nearly 30
New research shows that the success of Marine Protected Areas hinges on strict enforcement, a principle facing major geopolitical and ecological challenges in the planned sanctuaries of the Arctic and Antarctic. Two major studies arrive at seemingly opposite conclusions about the effectiveness of Ma
During a winter field mission in February 2025, an international team of researchers was confronted with above-freezing temperatures, persistent rainfall, and widespread melting across the Svalbard archipelago. An anomaly that has become routine in an Arctic where winter, once reliably harsh, is giv
After the strongest earthquake recorded this year near the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, tsunami warnings were issued from Alaska all the way through the Pacific to New Zealand and even East Antarctica.The red marker shows the site of the earthquake and the Alaskan chain of islands from Attu to the A
Mila Zinkova, an independent atmospheric scientist, has just published a study in the journal Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research that pays tribute to the Terra Nova expedition. She suggests that the captain and his crew, returning from the South Pole, may well have been caught in a nine-day snow
The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at a $17 million contract between the Norwegian Polar Institute and Prinoth, at new insights into the role of ocean tides in triggering iceberg calving in Antarctica, and consequences of w
Researchers explored how the Māori lunar and environmental calendar, Maramataka, could help track environmental changes in Antarctica by observing natural signs like snow types and animal behavior. By connecting mātauranga Māori with Western science, they revealed new ways of understanding the polar
Following a dramatic decline, Arctic foxes are gradually recovering in northern Europe thanks to targeted conservation efforts. But while their numbers are rising, their genetic diversity isn’t – and targeted interventions are now underway to address the risks of inbreeding. The elegant Arctic foxes
The US icebreaker program is struggling amidst high costs and delays while a Finnish-Canadian consortium could help but is hampered by the current trade policy of the US government. While both Russia and China have stepped up their Arctic policies by also continuing to build new icebreakers and ice-
We’ve almost forgotten it, but Wordie wasn’t always a bay: it was once an ice shelf, and its slow disappearance is a textbook example of the powerful phenomenon of glacier collapse at work in Antarctica.The calving front of Fleming Glacier, which once fed the Wordie Ice Shelf before it collapsed. Im
