The fossil of a sea creature that lived around the earth approximately 70 million years was found around Antarctica. The remains were located about 1966 but were not able to be removed from the rock until now. Researchers uncovered the remains of what they are calling an Elasmosaurus or the real-life Loch Ness Monster. When it was alive it could […]
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1. The first confirmed sighting of the continent was in 1820. 2. Explorers first reached the South Pole in 1911. 3. Because Antarctica lies in the southern hemisphere, seasons there are the opposite of seasons in the north — summer runs from October to February and winter covers the remainder of the year. 4. Antarctica is the coldest continent; temperatures […]
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When an El Nino hits, the lives of penguins are in peril. During the 1997 El Nino the penguin population fell by a third. During Climate Change a difference in temperature of at least one degree can be a life and death situation for penguins. Researchers followed a group of about 15 breeding penguins from 1992 to 2010 on the […]
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While restoring one of the exploration huts in Antarctica, Conservators of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust discovered a 100 year old box that turned out to be a remarkable treasure. It contained 22 never-before-seen cellulose nitrate negatives documenting the life of Antarctic explorers a 100 years back. Preserved in a block of ice, this 100 year old box of negatives surprisingly […]
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Buried deep in the Antarctic ice, an observatory has spotted ghostly, nearly massless particles coming from inside our galaxy and points beyond the Milky Way. Finding these cosmic neutrinos not only confirms their existence but also sheds light on the origins of cosmic rays, the researchers said. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is made up of 86 shafts dug 8,000 feet […]
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In 2016, a Canadian novelist, Craig Russell — who is also a lawyer and a theater director in Manitoba — wrote an environmental cli-fi thriller titled “Fragment” about a major calving event along the ice shelf of Antarctica. The Yale Climate Connections website recently recommended the novel, published by Thistledown Press as a good summer read. Ironically, scientists in Antarctica are […]
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When you travel to Antarctica you are in for a trip of a lifetime. Because of its location you are required to travel with a government scientific program or have a private expedition take you there. The over 50,000 tourists that travel there every year find the sightseeing and wildlife watching most adventurous. Unless you can sail your own boat, […]
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Winter in Antarctica, it is dark all of the time. In the Antarctic summer, (between January and March, when there is plenty of daylight—twenty-four hours a day! In September, the Sun rises, and then doesn’t set again until March. Why does Antarctica have six whole months of darkness in the winter and six whole months of lightness in the summer? […]
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Sea ice is formed from ocean water that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs at about minus 1.8 degrees Celsius (28.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Most Antarctic sea ice occurs annually, meaning it forms in the winter and melts during the summer. Sea ice regulates exchanges of heat, moisture and salinity in the polar oceans. It insulates the relatively warm […]
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Today we wanted to share a little-known bit of information for any artists or writers who ever dreamed of living in the sub-zero temperatures of the Arctic. Each year since 2013, the National Science Program delves into it’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program searching through applicants who want to do just that. On average, only a handful people will get […]
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