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.

NRC Releases Synthesis of Reports on the State of the Polar Regions

04.04.2012

The US National Research Council (NRC) has just released a synthesis of reports from thousands of scientists from 60 countries who participated in research projects during the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007- 2008.
CryoSat Validation Mission Shows Blue Ice Region in Antarctica Rising

31.03.2012

As part of its mission to validate the data ESA’s CryoSat satellite delivers, a team of scientists recently took some field measurements in the blue ice region in the Dronning Maud Land in East Antarctica. What the team found is that the elevation of this vast region close to the…
Surface Lake in Antarctica Offers Clues to Ancient Life on Earth

31.03.2012

Stromatolites in the largest surface lake in Antarctica could help scientists better understand the conditions in which primitive life forms on Earth once thrived. A team of researchers was surprised to find stromatolites (structures that form in shallow water when the biofilms of microorganisms trap and cement grains of sediment and build…
Ice Shelves in West Antarctica Being Torn Apart

31.03.2012

A study published in the Journal of Glaciology indicates that the ice shelves of West Antarctica are being “torn apart” as the flow of the glaciers which feed into the ice shelves has been accelerating.
Arctic Sea Ice Reaches 2012 Winter Maximum

31.03.2012

Sea ice in the Arctic reached its maximum extent for the winter of 2011-2012 on 18 March, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Total extent reached 15.24 million km2, the ninth lowest maximum sea ice extent on record.
Penguin Breeding Cycles and Populations Affected by Warming along Antarctic Peninsula

26.03.2012

Rising temperatures along the western Antarctic Peninsula are affecting three different species of penguin that share the same breeding grounds in the region, according to research conducted by Prof. Heather Lynch and her colleagues at the Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York. Warming conditions have led to the…
Climate Changes Poses Risk to Antarctic Fur Seal Pups

26.03.2012

A study published in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology has found that changing weather conditions predicted by climate models might affect the metabolic rates and thus the survival rates of fur seal pups. Windier and wetter conditions predicted in the Antarctic in the coming years could force young seals…
Marine Mammals Face Increased Risk from Arctic Shipping, Say WCS and Alaska Native Groups

23.03.2012

According to conclusions from a workshop involving Alaska Native groups and the Wildlife Conservation Society, a rapid increase in shipping in the Arctic significantly increases risk posed to marine mammals and the local communities that rely on them. The workshop, held in Anchorage, Alaska 12-14 March, looked at potential impacts…
NASA’s Operation IceBridge 2012 Arctic Season Underway

20.03.2012

NASA’s Operation IceBridge to measure sea and land ice at the Poles began its mission for the 2012 Arctic season on 13 March. From now until May, a modified P-3 aircraft will fly daily missions out of Thule and Kangerlussaq in Greenland and will also make a trip to Fairbanks,…
Study Indicates Greenland Ice Sheet Could Melt Completely with 1.6°C of Warming

12.03.2012

Researchers from the Potsdam Institute of for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid suggest that the Greenland Ice Sheet might be more vulnerable to climate warming that previously believed.