SciencePoles news

Recent Polar Science and Climate Change news are featured here. Our news RSS feed will inform you when news are published on this website.

Antarctic Krill Survey Near Livingston Island Reveals Dense and Stable Populations in Shallow Waters

05.08.2010

The results of the first multiyear survey of Antarctic krill show that the coastal waters near Livingston Island have a significantly higher krill biomass density than offshore waters. In their study, published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, the team of researchers from Stony Brook University and…
Ice-free Arctic Not Very Effective as Carbon Sink

03.08.2010

While researchers in past years suggested a melting Arctic Ocean could be an ally in the struggle against rising levels of carbon dioxide, new research published in the journal Science shows this may not be the case. The results of a survey conducted in the waters of the Canada Basin…
US and Canada Embark on Joint Effort to Map Disputed Area in Beaufort Sea

28.07.2010

For the first time since they embarked on a joint Canada-US seabed mapping project, the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis St. Laurent will join the US Coast Guard cutter Healy to explore a supposedly resource-rich part of the Beaufort Sea claimed by both countries while doing research on sea ice…
Polar View Antarctic Node Recognized for Its Contribution to Marine Safety in Southern Ocean

27.07.2010

While remote, the Southern Ocean is increasingly being used as route for sea traffic by scientists, transport companies and fisheries. However conditions ranging from pack ice to icebergs are a serious threat to marine safety. Because of its remote location, the most adequate means to survey the area is satellite…
EPOCA Project to Assess Threat Posed by Arctic Ocean Acidification

27.07.2010

EPOCA, a new European scientific project working in Kongsfjord off the north-western coast of Spitsbergen (Svalbard), aims to assess the threat the increasingly acidic waters of the Arctic Ocean poses to marine ecosystems. While oceans have always contributed to mitigating the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere, the current concentrations…
Antarctic Ice Sheet Grounding Line Traced from Space

26.07.2010

Establishing the grounding line of the largest freshwater reserve on Earth – the Antarctic Ice Sheet – is important in helping scientists determine exactly how much mass the ice sheet is losing to the ocean and thus how much it’s contributing to global sea level rise. Now, the Antarctic Surface…
NOAA Heads to Arctic in Effort to Update Navigation Maps

22.07.2010

As the receding sea ice over the Arctic Ocean opens the way for new sea routes, the need to update existing maps of the Arctic is becoming more pronounced. Following requests by institutions such as the US Coast Guard or the commercial shipping industry, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration…
US Navy Joins Scientists to Study Arctic Sea Ice

22.07.2010

A newly signed agreement between civilian researchers and the US Navy revives a dormant program to use US Navy submarines to collect data on Arctic sea ice and the Arctic Ocean - areas normally difficult for scientists to reach.
Re-Examining How Baleen Whales Locate Their Prey

16.07.2010

New research detailed in the journal Marine Mammal Science shows that bowhead whales, unlike most other whales, have a previously undiscovered sense of smell. The results of a study could force a new take on the way baleen whales locate their prey.
Columbia Glacier Study Provides Better Insight in Iceberg Calving Processes

15.07.2010

Glaciers that are lifted off the sea floor and begin to float behave very erratically, according to a new study led by a Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego researcher published in Geophysical Research Letters. These floating glaciers experience significantly more calving than their…