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
While the Earth endured icy millions of years, early life may have survived near the equator, according to a new study of microorganisms in Antarctic meltwater ponds.Meltwater ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf in East Antarctica. Photo: Ian Hawes, University of Waikato The Antarctic is once again provi
The Thwaites Glacier is living out its last years of stability: the disintegration of its floating shelf has begun. As spectators of a predicted collapse, we witness the countdown of a colossus whose melting could raise the oceans by 65 centimetres. The icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer at the edge of
The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at the impact of an NASA backed citizen science project in Antarctica, the increase in toxins levels in the Alaskan Arctic, and melting glaciers that might trigger more volcanoes eruptions
A 2024 study claimed Antarctica's peninsula is rapidly "greening." However, two new papers challenge this and open a debate of how dramatically Antarctic science should be communicated. A striking headline emerged from a 2024 study in Nature Geoscience: the Antarctic Peninsula is undergoing a widesp
No sooner has the emperor penguin begun to reveal its secrets than it’s already disappearing. Beacon of a climate in crisis, this emblematic Antarctic bird could disappear before we even get to know it. The emperor penguin(Aptenodytes forsteri) lives exclusively around Antarctica and is distinguishe
The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at ancient permafrost thawing, a change in airline ownership, and the conclusion of Antarctic Treaty meetings without any major declarations.Svalbard airport overview, Image: Fasttailwind
Melting glaciers, tipping points, sea ice in distress. The Antarctic continent is not doing well in the face of climate change. Yet, the scientific research, as crucial it is to undersand the different implied phenomenons, is declining in number. Photo: Julia HagerDespite accelerating climate impact
Never-before-seen images filmed in Antarctica show traces of anchoring on a deep, untouched seabed. Without concluding that there is a definite impact, a study invites us to consider the potential effects of human activities on these fragile ecosystems. Giant sponge and anemones 230 m beneath the ic
A new project launching this week in Dundee brings together long-lost stories, photos and personal artefacts from Scottish whaling communities, not to glorify the industry, but to preserve its human history.Everyday objects, family photos, logbooks, and personal mementos come together in the Whalers
In a special report for Polar Journal AG, Milenio BASE Head of Communications Nadia Politis travelled to the Antarctic Peninsula to meet with the winners of the Feria Antárctica Escolar, a unique student project. For more than 20 years, a school science research contest challenges students and from
Anne Choquet, from the University Occidental in Brest, explains why UNOC 25 has forgotten the polar oceans, and why they should be treated equally. Nearly 25 times larger than France in the Arctic and 27 times larger in the Antarctic, the polar oceans are largely overlooked by UNOC. Yet the challeng
The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at competition for krill between animals and trawlers, and bubble messages trapped in ice. The humpback whales in the southern hemisphere have a krill-heavy diet. Picture : Adam ErnsterThe
A new study shows that the 30% global ocean protection target isn't enough for mobile marine megafauna, especially in polar regions as threats like warming, shipping & plastic demand urgent mitigation beyond MPAs for the survival of these polar dwellers. The global aim to protect Earth’s biodiversit
Will any remain by the end of the century? Satellite data shows a 22% decline in emperor penguin populations across a quarter of Antarctica over the past 15 years, due to climate instability. Snow Hill – Antarctica. Photo: Michael WengerOne more brick in the edifice painstakingly built by penguin sc
The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at French President’s trip to Nuuk, record-breaking Arctic heat, and a new view on an famous Polar wreck. Today’s “Polar Retrospective” reels around the largest island in the World, Greenl
Antarctic geopolitics expert William Muntean explains why the Trump administration's budget cuts will negatively impact US polar policy altogether and give countries such as Russia and China an almost insurmountable advantage in Antarctica. With its FY 2026 Budget Request for the National Science Fo
The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at how polar dreams inspire passion, at newly discovered coral gardens and hydrothermal vents and the noise pollution in polar regions.An exhibition features photos of polar-themed tattoos
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet could reach its tipping point with only minimal additional ocean warming – with long-term consequences for global sea levels. But a small window of time remains to take countermeasures. “With every decade we wait, with every (currently two tenth of a) degree of additiona
Jacqui Stuart, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Natalie Robinson, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)As Antarctic sea ice forms later and thinner, a hidden ecosystem is shifting: microalgal diversity is declining, disrupting a key food source for marine
This week's Polar Retrospective takes a look at the setting course for Iceland and Scoresby Sound by the crew of Moscatel, new research warning of vanishing summer habitat for bowhead whales and Inuit-led cruises in Nunavut. The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s pol
A study highlights the role that penguin droppings play in cloud formation and their potential impact in reducing the effects of global warming.Anyone who has ever been near a penguin colony probably remembers the overwhelming smell that emanates from it. However, it would appear that penguin droppi
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is cutting funding for polar research in the USA. Could these disruptions to Antarctic research have an impact on Antarctic protection? In an interview, Evan Bloom, a former US diplomat specializing in polar affairs, explains the implications of the US
The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at the annual meeting of the French National Committee for Arctic and Antarctic Research, Russia’s push to build a fleet of 130 Arctic vessels to expand trade with China along the Northern
