Category: Science

28 November, 2023

Scientists are warning that apparently stable glaciers in Antarctica can change rapidly and lose large quantities of ice as a result of warmer oceans. Using satellite data, a team discovered …

Read more on Scientists track rapid retreat of Antarctic glacier

20 November, 2023

A team of international researchers set sail on the RRS Sir David Attenborough today (20 November) to answer some of the big questions about how Antarctic ecosystems and sea ice …

Read more on First Antarctic research mission on polar ship

18 October, 2023

More than 200 scientists, including several from British Antarctic Survey (BAS), from 19 countries have released the first comprehensive assessment of trends in Southern Ocean ecosystems, in a report written …

Read more on Sea change: new blueprint for Southern Ocean

18 October, 2023

The shortlist has been announced for The Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) Impact Awards 2023. Four BAS projects have made the shortlist and commended list, ranging from biodiversity and ecology …

Read more on BAS shortlisted for NERC’s 2023 Impact Awards

16 October, 2023

Antarctic fur seals that were hunted to near extinction have recovered but now face dangerous decline because of a lack of food, new research suggests.   The study of fur seals, …

Read more on New threat to Antarctic fur seals

26 September, 2023

New measurements of how the boundary between onshore glacier and floating ice shelf glides back-and- forth could help predict melting The grounding line of the southern Ronne Ice Shelf in …

Read more on Antarctica’s glacial border moves for miles with the tide

25 September, 2023

British Antarctic Survey scientists are called up for their expertise this season, in a series of documentaries on radio and television. Secrets of our Universe with Tim Peake, Channel 5 …

Read more on British Antarctic Survey on Radio & TV this Autumn

4 September, 2023

Scientists studying Arctic warming have shared new evidence that sea salt aerosols from “blowing snow” play a significant role in forming clouds that reflect solar radiation back to the Earth’s …

Read more on Clouds formed with sea salt contribute to Arctic warming

30 August, 2023 Emily Newton

Dr Robbie Mallett is a sea ice scientist, currently over-wintering at Rothera Research Station in Antarctica as part of an eight-month research campaign for the NERC DEFIANT project. Robbie explains the …

Read more on Feeling the heat in Antarctica: the urgency of sea ice research

28 August, 2023

Climate change is affecting the vertical migration of zooplankton in the Arctic, with potential implications for the entire Arctic ecosystem, finds a new study, published today in Nature Climate Change. …

Read more on Retreating sea ice keeps zooplankton in the depths

24 August, 2023

Emperor penguin colonies experienced unprecedented breeding failure in a region of Antarctica where there was total sea ice loss in 2022. The discovery supports predictions that over 90% of emperor …

Read more on Loss of sea ice causes catastrophic breeding failure for emperor penguins

18 August, 2023

Today, hundreds of international scientists are sounding a clarion call for urgent expansion of Southern Ocean research in the emerging climate crisis. 300 scientists from 25 nations have been meeting …

Read more on Urgent call for more Southern Ocean research

11 August, 2023 Emily Rowlands

Where is all the ocean plastic? Eight million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean each year but only a small fraction of this (maybe even as low as 1%!) can …

Read more on A Southern Ocean plastic puzzle – where is all the ocean plastic?

17 July, 2023

In a significant milestone for Antarctic research, detailed and extensive information on ice thickness and bed topography is now available for the first time in a centralised and standardised format. …

Read more on 60 years of Antarctic ice sheet data released

10 July, 2023

How do you spot an invader you can’t see in a harsh and unforgiving environment? A team of international scientists are looking for new methods to defend the frozen continent …

Read more on DNA Detectives: New ways to spot Southern Ocean hitchhikers

4 July, 2023

Plastic pollution accumulating in international waters poses a serious risk to marine life, including a number of threatened bird species. A huge team of scientists studied the global movements of …

Read more on Threatened sea birds visit plastic pollution hot spots

30 June, 2023

An international team of researchers has sequenced the genomes of 24 Antarctic fish species to investigate how they survive the extreme cold. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, …

Read more on Fish survival in the extreme cold

27 June, 2023

Researchers have discovered a flesh-eating fish is in major decline – by looking at the stomach content of some of the world’s largest bird, albatrosses. The Patagonian Lamprey, Geotria macrostoma, …

Read more on Bird diet sampling helps uncover the lives of living fossils

19 June, 2023

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS), launches its new ten-year science strategy today (19 June) that addresses urgent scientific challenges facing our world, namely in the continents of the Arctic and …

Read more on Polar Science for a Sustainable Planet: new science strategy

12 June, 2023

Antarctic Bottom Water is the coldest, densest water mass on the planet and plays a pivotal role in regulating the ocean’s ability to store heat and capture carbon. In a …

Read more on Deep ocean waters in Antarctica are shrinking and warming

1 June, 2023

Concern is rising about tipping points in the Antarctic region. Recent heatwaves, changes in the Southern Ocean, and a reduction in the extent of Antarctic sea ice suggest that we …

Read more on Antarctic tipping points – new report

1 June, 2023 by Louise Sime, Rachel Cavanagh, Jane Francis, Oliver Marsh, Geraint Tarling, Rosie Williams

Read more on Antarctic tipping points

31 May, 2023

The ground beneath Antarctica’s most vulnerable glacier has been mapped for the first time, helping scientists to better understand how it is being affected by climate change. Analysis of the …

Read more on Ground beneath Thwaites Glacier mapped for first time

30 May, 2023

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is shrinking, with many glaciers across the region retreating and melting at an alarming rate. However, this was not always the case according to new …

Read more on Rocks beneath Antarctic Ice Sheet reveal surprising past

22 May, 2023

Natural Environment Research Council’s pioneering Pushing the Frontiers scheme has funded four projects led by scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The projects, which received grants totaling £3.8m, are part …

Read more on BAS science funded by Pushing the Frontiers scheme

19 May, 2023

GeoMAP Antarctica, an open-access and comprehensive geological mapping database of Antarctica, was released today in Nature Scientific Data. Understanding Antarctica’s geosphere is, and has been, critical for understanding the continent’s …

Read more on New map unlocks deep digital data of Antarctica’s history

15 May, 2023

Shelled pteropods, commonly known as sea butterflies, are increasingly exposed to ocean changes, but some species are more vulnerable to this threat. In a new study, published this month (11 …

Read more on Sea butterfly life cycle threatened by climate change

11 May, 2023

The 2022/23 Antarctic field season has ended, marking the conclusion of another successful year of scientific exploration in one of the world’s most remote and challenging environments. This field season, …

Read more on British Antarctic Survey completes Antarctic field season

9 May, 2023

A tiny flightless midge which has colonised Antarctica’s Signy Island is driving fundamental changes to the island’s soil ecosystem. Research by experts at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in collaboration …

Read more on Invading insects transforming Antarctic soils

8 May, 2023

A series of studies on the Southern Ocean, which encircles Antarctica, reveal how it is changing. A special issue of the Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society, led by the …

Read more on The changing Southern Ocean: Heat and carbon

25 April, 2023 Michael Dunn

No, it’s not a Penguin joke! This World Penguin Day (25 April 2023) we spoke to some of our resident experts, Mike Dunn and Peter Fretwell, to find out more …

Read more on How many penguins are in Antarctica?

29 March, 2023

A new study led by researchers at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) discovered microplastics in krill (Euphausia superba), a small shrimp-like crustacean, and salps (Salpa thompsoni), a gelatinous marine invertebrate. The …

Read more on Microplastic found in Antarctic krill and salps

21 March, 2023

A new study highlights how extreme snowfall events significantly alter the amount of ice lost by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. A team of scientists from British Antarctic Survey, along …

Read more on Extreme snowfall in West Antarctica driving sea-level rise

21 March, 2023 Huw Griffiths

We are marine biologists that study seafloor creatures, Jamie is doing a PhD investigating Antarctic sea spiders in the University of Galway and Huw works at BAS. Both of us …

Read more on Breaking records and exploring life in the abyss

13 March, 2023

ANTARCTICA – 13 March 2023. British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has released the first aerial pictures of the massive A81 iceberg that calved from the Brunt Ice Shelf in late January. …

Read more on First images of giant iceberg from Brunt Ice Shelf

28 February, 2023

Global challenges due to COVID-19 have impacted research, fieldwork, facilities and infrastructure in the polar regions, resulting in an accumulation of funded projects to be supported. NERC is committed to …

Read more on NERC update on polar research planning

22 February, 2023 Emily Newton

Last week, the team aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough produced the first significant scientific data set with the ship’s oceanography equipment – a significant milestone in the life of …

Read more on Science Trials on the RRS Sir David Attenborough add to historic dataset

15 February, 2023

The rapid retreat of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica appears to be driven by different processes under its floating ice shelf than researchers previously understood. Novel observations from where the …

Read more on New close-up view of melting beneath Thwaites Glacier

14 February, 2023 Huw Griffiths

The RRS Sir David Attenborough has begun its polar science trials in Antarctica. A team of 30 national and international scientists, engineers and technical staff are working on the ship …

Read more on First science: aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough Science Trials

7 February, 2023

Scientists in East Antarctica drilling to find the Earth’s oldest ice have reached a key milestone after two months of fieldwork in sub-zero temperatures. The team is part of Beyond …

Read more on Oldest ice drilling campaign reaches key milestone

3 February, 2023

A team of scientists are currently conducting a major experiment over the Southern Ocean that will help to improve climate modelling. The Southern Ocean Clouds project team are performing several …

Read more on Flying campaign to improve climate modelling begins

2 February, 2023

Researchers at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) will develop new and ambitious ideas to tackle critical global environmental challenges, such as global sea-level rise from Antarctica, thanks to new funding. The …

Read more on New funding to predict future sea-level rise in Antarctica

31 January, 2023

The UK’s new polar ship RRS Sir David Attenborough begins its polar science trials in Antarctica this week. A team of 30 national and international scientists, engineers and technical staff …

Read more on RRS Sir David Attenborough begins polar science trials

20 January, 2023

Scientists have discovered a new emperor penguin colony in Antarctica using satellite mapping technology. This new colony makes a total of 66 known emperor penguin colonies around the coastline of …

Read more on New emperor penguin colony discovered

19 January, 2023

A project studying the at-sea distributions of white-chinned petrels from South Georgia is now running for a second season – and early data suggest there are important differences in foraging …

Read more on Vulnerable seabirds tracking reveals foraging patterns

16 January, 2023

This week (17 January) British Antarctic Survey and WWF are inviting the public to become ‘walrus detectives’ and get involved in the Walrus from Space project to help with vital …

Read more on ‘Walrus detectives’ sought for conservation science

20 December, 2022

An ambitious flying campaign out of British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Research Station over the Weddell Sea this month (December) aims to calibrate the data collected from two important satellites that …

Read more on Flying campaign to future-proof sea ice measurements

13 December, 2022

Nearly 60 scientists and support staff are on their way to Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. It’s part of an ambitious international effort to understand the glacier and surrounding ocean …

Read more on Fieldwork starts on Thwaites Glacier

7 December, 2022

Scientists return to East Antarctica this month (December) to locate the oldest ice on Earth. The team is part of an EU-funded research consortium from 10 European countries whose aim …

Read more on Beyond EPICA deep drilling campaign begins

30 November, 2022

Global warming and ocean acidification are threatening marine organisms, such as corals, bryozoans, molluscs, sea urchins or crustaceans, that build their skeletons and shells with calcium carbonate (chalk) according to …

Read more on Warming and acidification threatens organisms

24 November, 2022

Today, 24 November 2022, marks World Walrus Day, and British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and WWF are inviting the British public to become ‘walrus detectives’ and get involved in their Walrus …

Read more on Calling for ‘Walrus Detectives’ on World Walrus Day

23 November, 2022

Scientists on a research vessel in Antarctica watched the front of a glacier disintegrate and their measurements ‘went off the scale’. As well as witnessing disruptions on the ocean surface, …

Read more on Underwater tsunamis created by glacier calving

17 November, 2022

Next generation fixed-wing drones, capable of operating autonomously beyond the standard visual line of sight, are creating datasets of major wildlife populations around South Georgia for long-term monitoring to aid …

Read more on Drones survey wildlife populations in remote Sub-Antarctic island

15 November, 2022

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will enable ships navigating in polar ocean conditions to be more efficient using a new route planning tool created by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) researchers. The tool …

Read more on AI tool to revolutionise polar ship navigation

7 November, 2022

British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists will participate in the 27th session of the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP27), hosted by the Arab Republic of …

Read more on British Antarctic Survey at COP27

3 November, 2022

Our Antarctic field season has begun, with a challenging and ambitious range of projects to be delivered at five British Antarctic Survey (BAS) research stations and across the wider continent. …

Read more on British Antarctic Survey’s 2022-2023 field season begins

27 October, 2022 by Anna Jones, Ella Gilbert, Oliver Marsh

Read more on Winter warming in Antarctica

18 October, 2022

Satellites face greater chances of collision with space debris as a result of reduced density in the upper atmosphere. Increasing levels of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere will result in …

Read more on Climate change to increase lifetime of space pollution

14 October, 2022

Scientists have discovered one million year old marine DNA in deep-sea sediments of the Scotia Sea, north of the Antarctic continent. This is the oldest DNA recovered of this kind …

Read more on Oldest marine DNA discovered in Antarctic sediments

12 October, 2022

The amazing survival strategies of polar marine creatures might help to explain how the first animals on Earth could have evolved earlier than the oldest fossils suggest according to new …

Read more on Learning about the first animals from life at the poles

11 October, 2022

How much water the mountain glaciers of the Himalayas contain and how the mighty Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica will contribute to global sea-level rise form part of the final …

Read more on Glaciers in the spotlight on BBC’s Our Frozen Planet

5 October, 2022

Deep valleys buried under the seafloor of the North Sea record how the ancient ice sheets that used to cover the UK and Europe expelled water to stop themselves from …

Read more on Ice age valleys give clues to future ice sheet change

29 September, 2022

A new study, led by British Antarctic Survey and the University of Bristol, provides the first evidence that a controversial evolutionary process may be responsible for lanternfishes becoming one of …

Read more on Study hints at how fishes in the twilight zone evolved

26 September, 2022 Martin Siegert

Professor Martin Siegert is a glaciologist at Imperial College London and co-director of the Grantham Institute. He’s co-Chair of the Diversity in Polar Science Initiative and Chair of the UK …

Read more on Blog: Socioeconomic diversity in Polar Science

21 September, 2022

Pine Island Ice Shelf in West Antarctica, which holds back enough ice to raise sea levels by 0.5 metres, could be more vulnerable to complete disintegration than previously thought. A …

Read more on Scientists expose vulnerabilities of critical Antarctic ice shelf

8 September, 2022

New equipment designed by British Antarctic Survey is helping scientists to study the impact of microplastics in the ocean. The Ocean Plastic Incubator Chamber (OPIC) exposes various types of plastics …

Read more on New kit enables study of microplastics in the ocean

5 September, 2022

New high resolution images of the the seafloor in West Antarctica show past retreat of Thwaites Glacier. They reveal that at times in its past, retreat of the massive Thwaites …

Read more on Seafloor images explain Thwaites Glacier retreat

4 September, 2022

British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and RSPB are recruiting albatross detectives to help to search for wandering albatrosses in satellite images taken from space. This is to help us learn more …

Read more on Albatrosses from space: wildlife detectives needed!

30 August, 2022 Richard Horne

We speak to a British Antarctic Survey Scientist on becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society… Professor Richard Horne FRS is the former Head of Space Weather at the British …

Read more on Read, read, read and new ideas will come to you

22 August, 2022

Scientists have unlocked the mysteries of how shark and ray species move up and down the ocean water column, in efforts to better understand them and protect their future.    …

Read more on Mysterious lives of sharks and rays revealed  

11 August, 2022

Scientists are flying research aircraft through the heart of Arctic storms this summer to better understand how weather systems are affecting polar sea ice. Arctic cyclones are the main type …

Read more on Arctic flights to shed light on sea ice and storms link

21 July, 2022

The second of six winter krill surveys in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is underway. The first winter krill survey was completed successfully on board the South Georgia …

Read more on Success for krill survey in South Georgia

19 July, 2022

Scientists have reconstructed more than 60 million years of evolutionary history to reveal how penguins became oceanic birds. An international team of 40 researchers analysed the genomes – the complete …

Read more on Study sheds light on penguin evolution

13 July, 2022

Researchers are heading to the Arctic to begin fieldwork to study walrus populations for the next stage in the Walrus from Space project.

Read more on Scientists begin work counting Arctic walrus

7 July, 2022

A new study featuring contributions from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists has predicted the top emerging threats to ocean biodiversity over the coming decades.

Read more on Experts predict future biodiversity threats

5 July, 2022

Today, Tuesday 5 July, the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) announced the designation of the entire landmass of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands …

Read more on Islands given protected status

30 June, 2022 by Simeon Hill, Victoria Warwick-Evans, Geraint Tarling, Martin Collins, Sophie Fielding

Read more on Krill fishing and conservation in the Southern Ocean

30 June, 2022 by Susie Grant, Simeon Hill

Read more on Marine Protected Areas

30 June, 2022 by Gaelle Veyssiere

Read more on Sea ice at both poles

30 June, 2022 by Robert Larter

Read more on Sea-level rise

27 June, 2022

British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists will investigate critical challenges facing the UK, thanks to new funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). A £47m investment to several UK research …

Read more on Funding addresses environmental challenges

15 June, 2022

A special issue of the journal Deep-Sea Research which includes contributions from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists features a range of new research which increases our understanding of the understudied South Sandwich Islands. 

Read more on New South Sandwich Islands research

10 June, 2022

A new Data Portal is being launched today by the British Antarctic Survey and the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI), which will help to enhance the management of one of the world’s largest Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

Read more on New resource for Marine Protected Areas

10 June, 2022

A new map of the seafloor of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica provides the most accurate representation of this vast area to date. An international team of scientists, including several …

Read more on New map of Southern Ocean floor

1 June, 2022 Huw Griffiths

Huw Griffiths is a polar research scientist with British Antarctic Survey. During June PRIDE month he shares his personal experience of research as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, the …

Read more on Carrying the PRIDE message to the Polar Regions

29 March, 2022

A £5m project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to investigate the complex changes seen in sea ice around the Antarctic begins this month (March 2022) as the …

Read more on Study underway as Antarctic sea ice extent at record level

9 March, 2022

Looking for a new challenge? British Antarctic Survey has launched its latest recruitment campaign for a wide range of jobs in Antarctica for the 2022/23 Antarctic season. Antarctica is the …

Read more on Job opportunities in Antarctica

28 February, 2022

A new report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published today (28 February) has outlined the causes, impacts and solutions to climate change.

Read more on Report reveals global impact of climate change

21 February, 2022

A new study has found that the world’s second-largest ice sheet is generating huge amounts of heat. Researchers including BAS oceanographer Dr Keith Nicholls have observed extremely high rates of melting at the bottom of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Read more on Heat source melting Greenland Ice Sheet discovered

18 February, 2022

The first ice core drilling campaign of Beyond Epica-Oldest Ice has been successfully completed at the remote Little Dome C site in Antarctica – one of the most extreme places …

Read more on Drilling of oldest ice on Earth completed

16 February, 2022

British Antarctic Survey has teamed up with the National Oceanography Centre and the University of Glasgow to champion the FindAScienceBerth project, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. The project …

Read more on Connecting under-represented groups with science berths

11 February, 2022 Melody Clark

Today, 11 February, is International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a global initiative led by UNESCO and UN-Women. To celebrate, we have asked some of our female staff …

Read more on BAS celebrates International Day of Women and Girls in Science

9 February, 2022

Scientists have deployed a network of seismometers onto Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf in an experiment that will test the instrument’s ability to operate on icy moons in the Solar System. …

Read more on Antarctica as testing site ahead of mission to icy moons

8 February, 2022

New research papers from the one-year MOSAiC expedition to study the Arctic have yielded new understanding about the region. Hundreds of international researchers are currently analysing observations from the MOSAiC …

Read more on Deep insight into Arctic from MOSAiC expedition

7 February, 2022

A new study highlights there could be up to four times more fish in the mesopelagic, or ‘twilight’, zone of the Southern Ocean than previously thought. Scientists at British Antarctic …

Read more on More fish in ‘twilight zone’ than previously thought

2 February, 2022 Emily Neville

Neil Brims is the Electrician at Halley VI Research Station. In our latest blog, find out what life is like at Halley and how it feels to live at the …

Read more on Happy at Halley

20 January, 2022

Scientists monitoring the giant A68a iceberg from space reveal that a huge amount of fresh water was released as it melted around the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia.   An …

Read more on ‘Mega iceberg’ releases billions of tonnes of fresh water into ocean

14 January, 2022

The Royal Astronomical Society has awarded the 2022 Gold Medal for Geophysics to Professor Richard B Horne for his outstanding contributions to our understanding of the physics underlying space weather. …

Read more on BAS scientist awarded Gold Medal by Royal Astronomical Society