Articles & Interviews
Sciencepoles articles look at key findings from a range of polar science and research fields. Our articles RSS feed will inform you when new articles are published on this website.
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Mark Skidmore discusses the hydrology of subglacial lakes in Antarctica
12.06.2013
Scientists have known for some time that subglacial lakes - sizeable bodies of liquid water buried deep beneath the surface of the massive Antarctic Ice Sheet - influence how the ice sheet flows in the vicinity of these bodies of water. Yet the lakes and the massive and intricate subglacial…
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Mark Skidmore offers a view into the world of subglacial lakes
14.05.2013
Unique environments buried so deep below the surface of the Antarctic Ice Sheet that sunlight cannot penetrate to them, giving the the potential to be home to new species previously unknown to science, the hundreds of subglacial lakes that have been discovered are ripe with new opportunities for scientific discovery…
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Stanislav Belikov argues in favour of greater protection of polar bears
09.04.2013
An increasing demand for luxury polar bear products is posing a significant risk to polar bear populations in the Arctic already under stress from diminishing sea ice, according to Dr. Stanislav E. Belikov from the All-Russian Research Institute for Nature Protection. Reducing the demand for these products is key for…
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Is enough being done to protect polar bears? Markus Dyck offers a response from Nunavut
01.03.2013
The polar bear is arguably the most iconic animal associated with the Arctic. Its natural habitat, the sea ice, has seen its summer minimum extent decrease at an alarming rate over the past decade, and this has many in the international community concerned, not to mention those who live in…
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Markus Dyck gives a Nunavut perspective on the state of polar bears in Canada
27.02.2013
With summer sea ice extent decreasing in recent years in the Arctic, the polar bear, whose natural habitat is the sea ice, has been receiving increasing attention in other parts of the world due to concerns over its ability to adapt and survive under the changing conditions.
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Jennifer Francis: Is a changing Arctic influencing weather in the mid-latitudes?
07.01.2013
Trends in recent years indicate that declining sea ice cover in the Arctic is having an influence on severe weather patterns in the Northern Hemisphere, according to scientists such as Dr. Jennifer Francis from Rutgers University's Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
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China spreads its polar wings: investing in infrastructure
05.12.2012
China recognizes it needs to make solid investments in its polar research infrastructure in order to continue to expand its ambitious polar research capabilities. Increasingly active in polar research, especially since the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-08, China has made investing in its polar research capabilities a top priority.
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China spreads its polar wings: research programmes at Kunlun Station
27.11.2012
China has been very proactive in increasing its polar research capacity in recent years. Already active in Antarctic research for three decades, China seized the opportunity of International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-08 to set out on an ambitious new multiyear programme of infrastructure building and scientific research in the Polar…
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Katherine Leonard: How warming oceans might be affecting ice shelves in East Antarctica
08.11.2012
Are warmer ocean currents melting ice shelves from underneath in East Antarctica? Dr. Katherine Leonard - a researcher at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos, Switzerland who also holds an appointment at the University of Colorado Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)…
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Nerilie Abram: detailing 15,000 years of Antarctic Peninsula climate history
10.10.2012
Each time a new ice core is studied, the more we learn about the Earth’s climate history and how the planet’s climate system works. A team of researchers from the UK, Australia and France were recently able to extract and study an ice core taken from the ice cap covering…
