By Eric Holthaus3 January 2019 (Grist) – Right now, on the shores of Antarctica, there’s open water crashing against the largest ice shelf in the world. The annual ice-free season has begun at the Ross Ice Shelf — a month ahead of schedule. The frozen region of freshwater ice the size of France partially protects […]
By Justin McCurry and Graham Readfearn 19 December 2018 TOKYO (The Guardian) – Japan is to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and resume commercial whaling next year, a report claimed on Thursday, in a move that drew condemnation from Australia, with other anti-whaling nations expected to follow suit.Japan will inform the IWC of […]
30 July 2018 (CNRS) – The world’s biggest colony of king penguins is found in the National Nature Reserve of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF). Using high-resolution satellite images, researchers from the Chizé Centre for Biological Studies (CNRS / University of La Rochelle)1 have detected a massive 88% reduction in the size of […]
By Hannah Hickey 14 August 2018 (UW News) – More than 100 oceanic floats are now diving and drifting in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica during the peak of winter. These instruments are gathering data from a place and season that remains very poorly studied, despite its important role in regulating the global climate.A new […]
2 August 2018 (NOAA) – It’s official: 2017 was the third-warmest year on record for the globe, trailing 2016 and 2015, according to the 28th annual State of the Climate report. The planet also experienced record-high greenhouse gas concentrations as well as rises in sea level. The annual checkup for the planet, led by scientists […]
By Matt McGrath 8 July 2018 (BBC News) – Cut-price Chinese home insulation is being blamed for a massive rise in emissions of a gas, highly damaging to the Earth’s protective ozone layer. The Environmental Investigations Agency (EIA) found widespread use of CFC-11 in China, even though the chemical was fully banned back in 2010. […]
By Daniel Hurst 30 May 2018 (The Guardian) – More than 120 pregnant whales were killed during Japan’s annual “research” hunt in the Southern Ocean last summer, a new report has revealed.Of the 333 minke whales caught during the controversial 12-week expedition, 181 were female — including 53 immature ones. Figures show that of the […]
17 May 2018 (NOAA) – While North America had its coldest April since 2013, the rest of the world was downright balmy. Record and near-record-warm temperatures were felt across Europe and from Argentina to Australia, making it the third hottest April on record globally. Climate by the numbers The average global temperature for April 2018 […]
16 May 2018 (NOAA) – Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, were once considered a triumph of modern chemistry. Stable and versatile, these chemicals were used in hundreds of products, from military systems to the ubiquitous can of hairspray.Then in 1987, NOAA scientists were part of an international team that proved this family of wonder chemicals was damaging […]
24 April 2018 (University of Tasmania) – A new Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)-led study has revealed a previously undocumented process where melting glacial ice sheets change the ocean in a way that further accelerates the rate of ice melt and sea level rise.Led by IMAS PhD student Alessandro Silvano and published in […]
