Topic: British Antarctic Survey

Antarctic ice tells conflicting story about climate change's role in big melt

Two different areas of Antarctica tell two very different stories about how climate change might be affecting ice melt. The data appear to confirm that climate change impacts can be very local.

Spread of Antarctic ice: no longer a global warming paradox?

While Arctic ice shrinks to record lows, Antarctic ice has been increasing in winter. New study suggests summer melt in Antarctic is creating a surface layer of freshwater that freezes more readily in winter. 

'New' bacteria in Antarctic lake actually just contamination, say scientists

Last week, a Russian news outlet reported the discovery of a new type of microbe discovered in Antarctica's Lake Vostok. But now scientists say that the bacteria is just contamination.

Prehistoric warming linked to CO2

A study of 20,000- to 10,000-year-old Antarctic ice indicates that a rise in temperatures was driven by natural carbon dioxide emissions.   

British team abandons drilling in Antarctic lake

Technical problem, fuel shortage force suspension of scientific project to find life in Earth's remotest environment. US, Russia set to begin their Antarctic drilling projects.

Antarctica started warming 600 years ago, study finds

Centuries before fossil fuel emissions began warming the globe, Antarctica was heating up, indicates a new research published in Nature.

Antarctic Peninsula now almost as warm as 12,000 years ago

Rapid warming of the Antarctic Peninsula is bringing temperatures close to the warmth that followed the end of the last ice age, says lead researcher Richard Mulvaney, a paleoclimatologist with the British Antarctic Survey.

Gigantic 'Grand Canyon' buried beneath Antarctic ice (+video)

A humongous rift located under West Antarctica that provides a channel for warm ocean water to creep toward the interior of the ice sheet could be accelerating ice loss, say scientists.

Humongous hidden Antarctic rift could be speeding ice melt, say scientists (+video)

A huge newly discovered rift, buried a mile beneath the ice in Antarctica, could be contributing to ice loss, according to researchers. 

Global warming spells bad news for emperor penguins, study finds

Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have found that melting sea ice could lead to dramatic declines in populations of emperor penguins. 

Warm water threatens vast Anatarctic ice shelf (+video)

A new study indicates that a large ice sheet is at risk. Warm water from below is causing it to melt.

Antarctic ice melting from below, reveals satellite (+video)

Antarctica's ice shelves are being melted away by warm ocean currents underneath, shows data collected from a NASA satellite.

What's to blame for melting Antarctic ice? (+video)

Like a hot beverage melts ice cubes, scientists have determined that warm ocean currents are thinning Antarctic ice.

Study finds way more emperor penguins than previously thought

New satellite data reveals that emperor penguins are far more abundant in Antarctica than previously estimated. 

Enormous subglacial Lake Vostok could hold clues for alien life

Since drilling through miles of ice to reach the massive underground lake, scientists have begun to speculate on what exists, or lives, in the frigid freshwater.

Antarctic glacier melt explained

Antarctic glacier melt is a major cause of rising sea levels. With the help of a robotic underwater vehicle, scientists have now determined why one big glacier is disappearing.

Alien species could damage Antarctic ecosystems

Alien species, like the chironomid midge, can thrive in icy Antarctic climates and could damage the environment if they were to expand.

Mysterious mountains found hidden beneath Antarctic ice

Beneath the ice of Antarctica is a vast mountain range that rivals the Alps in its majesty.

Thar's shrimp in them thar seas! NASA finds shrimp in Antarctica.

NASA scientists were surprised to find shrimp and jellyfish below the ice in Antarctica.

Were they really predicting an ice age in the 1970s?

Which is the bigger polluter – humans or volcanoes?

EarthTalk: If you said ‘volcanoes,’ guess again. Here’s why.

It's getting warmer in Antarctica

Antarctica's Wilkins Ice Shelf eroding at an unforeseen pace

Scientists say the breakup is a harbinger of what's to come if the region continues warming.

Tiny krill are deep-sea divers

On the horizon: News from the frontiers of science

Rat populations affect shoreline ecosystem, shrimplike krill found at new depths, worms show traces of personal-care products.