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.
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Scientists Looking for Hydrothermal Vents off Antarctic Coast
04.03.2010
As described in the journal Geophysical Research Letters,scienetists have likely discovered new hydrothermal vents off the coast of Antarctica.
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Glacier Ice Loss in Alaska Overestimated; Rate Nonetheless Doubled over Past 40 Years
04.03.2010
According to a new study featured in Nature Geoscience that recalculates glacier melt in Alaska, previous studies might have largely overestimated mass loss from Alaskan glaciers over the past 40 years. The study shows that Alaskan glacier melts between 1962 and 2006 actually contributed about one-third less to sea-level rise…
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Warmer Periods May Be Typical during Transitions between Interglacial and Glacial Eras
04.03.2010
The end of the last interglacial era some 115,000 years ago showed significant climate fluctuations, according to a new study. In Central and Eastern Europe, German and Russian climate researchers were able to find that the slow transition between the two latest glacial eras featured at least two possible warming…
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Weak Ice Arches Allowing Sea Ice to Leave Arctic
02.03.2010
Large chunks of ice that clump together to form ice arches spanning the straits that lead out of the Arctic Ocean usually prevent the ice from moving around and fleeing the ocean. In recent years, however, these ice arches have been failing to form. The consequences of the resulting sea…
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Giant Iceberg from Mertz Glacier in Antarctica could Affect Ocean Conveyor Belt
26.02.2010
A 2,550 square-kilometer iceberg knocked loose from the Mertz Glacier Tongue in East Antarctica earlier this month could disrupt the ocean currents driving weather patterns around the globe, researchers found. The iceberg, which was dislodged by an older one, could disturb the area's exceptionally rich biodiversity.
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Iceberg B15-K Collides with Erkström Ice Shelf
25.02.2010
Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) for Polar and Marine Research report that the iceberg B15-K collided with the Erkström Ice Shelf in Atka Bay on 11 February 2010. Weighing 400 million tons, the 54 km-long and 5 km-wide iceberg hit the ice shelf in the vicinity of the…
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Catlin Arctic Survey to Study Arctic Ocean Acidification
25.02.2010
The Catlin Arctic Survey 2010, which is to begin in early March, will take leading research scientists to an Ice Base some 1,200 km from the North Geographic Pole to study the potential impact of rising levels of acidity in the Arctic Ocean.
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Antarctic Marine Species Settling under Where Larsen Ice Shelf Once Stood
25.02.2010
The Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) for Polar and Marine Research presented their findings of what has happened to an ecosystem previously shielded by the Larsen A/B Ice Shelf on the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula before it collapsed in 2002 as part of the United Nations General Assembly declaration…
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Global Warming Responsible for Disappearing Ice Shelves on Antarctic Peninsula
24.02.2010
The southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula is witnessing widespread ice shelf retreat as a consequence of global warming according to research by the US Geological Survey. The peninsula, which is home to five major ice shelves, has been witnessing overall ice shelf retreat from 1947 to 2009, with the…
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New Breakthroughs in Polar Research Help Understanding Climate Change
19.02.2010
The latest findings from research on Antarctica’s rich marine life are being presented this week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The results from the census, which began in 2005, provide the benchmark for future studies on how the sea-floor creatures living in Antarctic waters will…
