Antarctic Ice

Antarctica is turning green "dramatically", with the trend accelerated by more than 30 per cent in recent years, compared to the past three decades, a new study has found. Researchers found that vegetation cover across the Antarctic Peninsula increased more than tenfold -- from less than a square kilometre to almost 12 square kilometres -- between 1986 and 2021. The researchers, including those at the University of Exeter, UK, used satellite data to estimate the "greening" rate of the Antarctic Peninsula in response to climate change. "This recent acceleration in the rate of change in vegetation cover (2016-2021) coincides with a marked decrease in sea-ice extent in Antarctica over the same period," the authors wrote in the study published in the journal Nature Geoscience. The study provides evidence that a widespread greening trend, across the Antarctic Peninsula, is under way and accelerating, they said. Antarctica has been shown to be warming faster than the global average, wit

In the Antarctic, sea ice typically covers the largest expanse of ocean at some point in September

June's temperature exceeded the estimated average for the pre-industrial period (1850-1900) by 1.50 degrees Celsius, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service

A subpolar plankton species found in the Atlantic water expanded far into the Arctic Ocean during the Last Interglacial, indicating that summers in the Arctic were ice-free during this period. Published in Nature Geoscience, this research analysed the microfossil content of sediment cores to determine the extent of sea ice present during the Last Interglacial, a recent period of the Earth's geological history characterised by a climate warmer than today. The Arctic sea ice, an important component of the Earth system, is disappearing fast due to climate warming, whereas the summer sea ice is anticipated to vanish entirely within this century. To gain a deeper understanding of the climate dynamics in a world without the Arctic sea ice, researchers have turned to analogues from our geological past. However, the extent of sea ice during this period has been intensely debated and there is no consensus, limiting understanding of this period and the ability of researchers to simulate it i

Scientists have found evidence that between 9,000 and 5,000 years ago, in a period termed mid-Holocene, the East Antarctic ice sheet in Queen Maud Land melted rapidly during the time when the world experienced warmer-than-present summers. They said that this ice sheet sector in East Antarctica was thinner following the end of the last ice age, when massive ice sheets previously covered North America, northern Europe and southern South America. When these ice sheets melted, they raised the sea level by more than 100 metres. For context, if absolutely all of Antarctica's present day ice melted, the seas would rise by 58 metres on average. Sixty per cent of the world's fresh water is bound up in Antarctic ice sheets. "The ice sheet in East Antarctica stores enormous amounts of water. This means that this is the biggest possible source of future sea level rise - up to 53 metres if all of the East Antarctic ice melts - and is seen as the largest source of uncertainties in the future sea

The Indian Antarctic Bill provides a regulatory framework for India's Antarctic activities through legal mechanisms

Scientists have found microplastics in freshly fallen Antarctic snow for the first time, which they said has the potential to influence the climate by accelerating melting of ice

The study found that total lake volume varies between years by as much as 200% on some ice shelves and by up to 72% across the entire ice sheet, with large differences between ice shelves

Russia has successfully launched its first satellite to monitor the Arctic's climate and environment, the country's space corporation Roscosmos said in a statement

The polar region is warming at two to three times the global average, impacting nature and humanity at a global scale

Satellite images confirm the continent's sea ice fell to its lowest maximum and minimum levels this year