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.

SCAR to Develop a Code of Conduct

20.08.2008

SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) delegates have just adopted a resolution creating an Action Group (AG) developing a Code of Conduct for the Exploration and Research of Subglacial Aquatic Environments (SAE). Recommendation to form this group was endorsed by the three SCAR Standing Scientific Groups (Geosciences, Life sciences and…
China-EU Collaboration in Arctic Research

14.08.2008

Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Collaboration in Arctic Research between China and the EU in May 2008, a sea glider has been deployed for the first time in an ice-free area of the Arctic Ocean from Chinese icebreaker RV Xuelong. Departed from Shanghai on July 11,…
Pacific Shellfish Swim North

11.08.2008

As temperatures in the Arctic continue to rise, shellfish, snails and other small animals originating from the north Pacific could resume the spreading they had begun 3 to 3.5 million years ago throughout the north. With the prospect of an ice-free Arctic Ocean arriving as soon as 2050, new boundaries…
New Fossils Found in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys

06.08.2008

Scientists working in Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys discovered fossilized tundra plants and insects dating 14.1 milion years ago. This discovery is particularily important in the context of other studies conducted in the Dry Valleys showing that the Antarctic climate cooled some 13.9 milion years ago. These fossils might well be…
Patagonian Glacier Gives New Insight into Southern Hemisphere Climate Change

06.08.2008

Ice cores from the San Valentin Glacier in Patagonia (Chile) has given the first evidence of influences from Antarctica and the Pacific Ocean on the climate of the Southern South America.
A Quest for Ice Worms

06.08.2008

Dan Shain and his biologist colleagues will trek over the glaciers on the south side of the Alaska Range to see if they can find ice worms living in the harsh environment there. Ice worms typically live on warmer glaciers in lower latitudes or near the coast of Alaska, not…
Surveying Marine Biodiversity in a Polar Sea

31.07.2008

A research cruise within the Scotia Arc region of the South Atlantic Ocean has conducted an unprecedented survey on marine biodiversity. The precious information revealed by these research results will be used as a reference for future scientists investigating marine biodiversity.
A Big Chunk of Ice Breaks off the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf

30.07.2008

Sattelite pictures show that nearly 20km2 of ice has broken off the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, the largest remaining ice shelf in the Arctic. The sheet is the biggest piece shed by one of Canada's six ice shelves since the Ayles shelf broke loose in 2005 from the coast of…
Antarctica Icefree Millions of Years Ago

29.07.2008

Scientists from Cardiff University analysed an exceptionally well-preserved fossil discovered in a marine rock in the vicinity of New Zealand. Their results reveal that millions of years ago higher temperatures and warmer seas prevailed worldwide with little or no ice in Antarctica.
USGS Assessment Report on Oil and Natural Gas Resources within Arctic Circle

25.07.2008

The new U.S. Geological Survey's assesment report concludes that within the boundaries of the Arctic Circle, huge quantities of oil and natural gas are technically recoverable using current technologies and industry practices. Resources are located mainly offshore. It is the first USGS assessment publicly available on petroleum and natural gas…