Results from a new climate reconstruction of how Antarctica’s ice sheets responded during the last period when atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) reached levels like those expected to occur in about 30 years, plus sediment core findings reported in a companion paper, suggest that the ice sheets are more vulnerable to rising atmospheric CO2 than previously thought. Details appear in two […]
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The warming of the world’s oceans is penetrating radar. They discovered two causing a glacier the size of California in massive undersea valleys beneath the East Antarctica to melt, and scientists fear ice sheet, one of which is 3 miles wide, its collapse could eventually cause global Those canyons allow warm, salty water sea levels to rise by as much […]
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Despite no exposure to sunlight or fresh air for more than a million years, a lake located half a mile beneath the Antarctic ice sheet sustains an entire ecosystem, scientists have confirmed—raising the prospect that life might exist in similar environments elsewhere in the universe. Researchers had long suspected the existence of tiny life-forms living below the ice pack, and […]
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Melting ice in the north and south – Artic, Antarctica, North America, South America, Europe, and Asia – are expected to raise the sea levels at an extreme rate. Scientists have been keeping track of the rise since the 1870’s and the sea levels have risen by about 8 inches. If this rise keeps going many of the coastal areas […]
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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 […]
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British teams of scientists, using satellite tracking, have found that 10.7% of glaciers in Antarctica are starting to retreat at an alarming rate of speed. Much faster than had been expected for average melts. The warm water from the oceans has contributed to the rise in sea levels.
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Antarctica’s Subterranean Ecosystem is quite interesting. In Antarctica researchers have found an undersea ecosystem under an iceberg that broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula. They say that Antarctica’s Subterranean Ecosystem has been hidden for over 120 thousand years. As the iceberg moves it will reveal about 2240 square miles of seafloor that has been hidden from light. The scientists will […]
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Sophrony Kirilov pulls hard on the strings of the heavy Russian bells from inside the world’s southernmost Eastern Orthodox church, calling to Mass anybody wanting to pray on this remote Antarctic island. The 38-year-old Russian priest is clad in a loose black robe and a vest dotted with patches of penguins and seals, marking his four years of service […]
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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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