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 Discover New Deep-Sea Vents in Southern Ocean
17.02.2011
On their current expedition in the Southern Ocean, University of Southampton scientists have discovered a new set of deep-sea volcanic vents on the ocean floor not far from the South Sandwich Islands. The discovery of the vents, at a depth of 520 metres, is the third made by the research…
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Arctic Climate Variation in Late Cretaceous Sheds Light on Current Climate Change Predictions
15.02.2011
A new study conducted by scientists from the University of Southampton’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and recently published in Geophysical Research Letters had a look back at organisms preserved in marine sediments to learn more about climate variation in the Arctic during a much warmer time in the…
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12,000 Years of Climate Variability and sea Surface Temperatures in Antarctica
14.02.2011
A study conducted on an ocean sediment core extracted from the seabed along the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula is increasing scientists’ understanding of sea surface temperature and climate variability in the area.
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Wildfires Turning Alaskan Forests into Carbon Source
11.02.2011
A joint Canadian-American study published in the journal Nature reported that wildfires in Alaska – which researchers believe are a consequence of climate change – are turning spruce forests into carbon generators. Wildfires release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which further contributes to climate warming. The extent of the impact…
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Mid-Pliocene Arctic Warmer than Today Due to Ocean Currents
10.02.2011
Research published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology offers a new explanation for why the Arctic was warmer than today during the Mid-Pliocene (about 3 million years ago).
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Antarctic Glacier Stream Provides New Clues on Evolution of Dissolved Organic Matter
07.02.2011
Every austral summer, a supraglacial stream forms on Cotton Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, a mostly ice-free region on Antarctica. As sediment from the surrounding mountain range builds up on the glacier, its darkened surface absorbs the sun, creating a meltwater river on Cotton Glacier, a unique feature. A…
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Arctic Sea-Ice puts the Brakes on Mercury Release
24.01.2011
In a recent study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, a French-American team has underlined the role Arctic sea-ice plays in the mercury cycle. Sea-ice can influence the breakdown and transfer of toxic forms of mercury into the atmosphere by blocking sunlight. The role of climate in the mercury cycle…
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Old Logbooks Contain Wealth of Information on Arctic Climate Change
14.01.2011
Expanding the traditional methods for tracking climate change, UK historians are examining the 18th and 19th century logbooks of whaling, navy, and Hudson Bay Co. ships to gather new information on past and present changes changes in the Arctic's climate.
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Warming Arctic Could Lead to More Tundra Fires Says New Study
18.11.2010
The Anaktuvuk River Fire, which burned over 1,000 km² of Alaskan tundra in September 2007, has become the subject of a new study recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences. The new analysis of sediment cores retrieved from the burned area revealed that the destructive event was the most…
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Drumlin Field in Iceland Gives New Insight into Glaciation and Climate
18.11.2010
A recently discovered drumlin field near the Múlajökull Glacier in Iceland could lead to new insight in past glaciations and climate on Earth, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Gothenburg and published in the scientific journal Geology.
