8 February, 2025 by Michael Meredith
Background: The west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a region of rapid environmental changes, with regional differences in climate warming along the north–south axis of the peninsula. Along the WAP, Palmer…7 February, 2025 by Louise Sime, Qinggang Gao, Rahul Sivankutty, Xu Zhang
Given relatively abundant paleo-proxies, the study of the last interglacial (LIG, ∼ 129–116 000 years ago, ka) is valuable to understanding the responses and feedback of the Southern Ocean and Antarctica in…7 February, 2025 by Hugo Rodrigues Guimaro
Cephalopods are crucial to the Southern Ocean ecosystem, connecting top predators with mid-trophic organisms, yet their ecology in the Pacific sector is not well understood. This research used stable isotope…Read more on Evidence of eastern rockhopper penguin feeding on a key commercial arrow squid species
7 February, 2025 by Philip Leat
Mechanisms regulating material transfer from subducted slabs to arc magmas remain debated, centered on metasomatized mantle wedge interactions versus mélange mobilization at the slab-mantle interface. The South Sandiwch Islands arc…Read more on Mélange dehydration and melting beneath South Sandwich Islands arc
6 February, 2025 by Patrick Keith
The Southern Ocean is experiencing major environmental and ecological changes which could drastically alter communities and impact ecosystem functioning. We still have a poor understanding of the structure of Southern…Read more on Drivers of Southern Ocean food web structure and impacts of environmental change
6 February, 2025 by Huw Griffiths, Kevin Hughes, Lloyd Peck, Peter Convey
Antarctica harbors many distinctive features of life, yet much about the diversity and functioning of Antarctica’s life remains unknown. Evolutionary histories and functional ecology are well understood only for vertebrates,…5 February, 2025 by Rebecca Peel
This thesis details the development and application of a pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) method for the quantification of microplastic pollution in terrestrial samples. Initial analysis of plastic standards using Py-GC/MS…5 February, 2025 by Hua Lu
Significant changes have occurred during the last few decades across the North Atlantic climate system, including in the atmosphere, ocean, and cryosphere. These large-scale changes play a vital role in…4 February, 2025 by David Pearce
In this review, we delineate the unique set of characteristics associated with cryosphere environments (namely, ice and permafrost) which present both challenges and opportunities for studying ancient environmental microbiomes (AEMs).…Read more on Ancient environmental microbiomes and the cryosphere
4 February, 2025 by Lloyd Peck
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an emerging tool that could be leveraged to identify the effective conservation solutions demanded by the urgent biodiversity crisis. We present the results of our horizon…Read more on The potential for AI to revolutionize conservation: a horizon scan
4 February, 2025 by Emma Boland
Climate models are increasingly used to derive localised, specific information to guide adaptation to climate change. Model projections of future scenarios are conferred credibility by evaluating model skill in reproducing…4 February, 2025 by Ananth Ranjithkumar, Markus Frey, Thomas Lachlan-Cope, Xin Yang
In the polar regions, there is significant model bias in the number concentrations and seasonality of sea salt aerosol (SSA) due to the lack of understanding of aerosol sources associated…3 February, 2025 by James Smith, Keith Makinson, Keith Nicholls, Paul Anker, Peter Davis
Thwaites Glacier is one of the fastest-changing ice-ocean systems in Antarctica. Basal melting beneath Thwaites' floating ice shelf, especially around pinning points and at the grounding line, sets the rate…Read more on Lateral Fluxes Drive Basal Melting Beneath Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf, West Antarctica
2 February, 2025 by Peter Convey
In this study, we evaluated the pathogenic potential of the fungi Aspergillus thermomutatus and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa obtained from maritime Antarctic permafrost using in vivo experiments on immunocompromised BALB/c mice. Despite…1 February, 2025 by Anne-Sophie Bonnet-Lebrun, Norman Ratcliffe
Aim: Ecologically similar species living in sympatry are expected to segregate to reduce the effects of competition where re-sources are limiting. Segregation from heterospecifics commonly occurs in space, but it…1 February, 2025 by Peter Convey
During a 2019 Chilean Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ECA 55) studying crustose coralline algae (CCA) diversity on the Antarctic Peninsula, bleaching of these algae was observed for the first time in…1 February, 2025 by Philip Hollyman, Richard Phillips
Cephalopods play a major role in marine food webs as both predators and prey. Although most of the Hg in cephalopods is present in the muscle, most studies on its…1 February, 2025 by Richard Phillips
Incidental mortality (bycatch) of seabirds in pelagic longline fisheries remains a major threat to many populations. The design and implementation of technical innovations aimed at reducing seabird bycatch rates have…1 February, 2025 by Andrew Fleming, Alexander Tate, Andreas Cziferszky, Jeremy Wilkinson, Michael Thorne
Globally, ships above a certain tonnage, as well as an increasing number of smaller vessels, rely on the AIS (Automatic Identification System) to safely navigate around other vessels, which are…29 January, 2025 by Philip Trathan
Biodiversity is critical for maintaining ecosystem function but is threatened by increasing anthropogenic pressures. In the Southern Ocean, a highly biologically productive region containing many endemic species, proactive management is…29 January, 2025 by Isobel Rowell, Jack Humby, Louise Sime, Robert Mulvaney
The fate of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is the largest cause of uncertainty in long-term sea-level projections. In the last interglacial (LIG) around 125,000 years ago, data suggest…Read more on The Ronne Ice Shelf survived the last interglacial
28 January, 2025 by Megan Malpas
Stable boundary layers (SBLs) commonly form during the Arctic polar night, but their correct representation poses a major challenge for numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems. To enable detailed model verification,…28 January, 2025 by Anna Jones, Floortje Van Den Heuvel, Markus Frey, Thomas Lachlan-Cope
In order to reduce the uncertainty of aerosol radiative forcing in global climate models, we need to better understand natural aerosol sources which are important to constrain the current and…28 January, 2025 by Rosie Williams, James Byrne, Scott Hosking, Robert Arthern
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is losing ice and its annual contribution to sea level is increasing. The future behaviour of WAIS will impact societies worldwide, yet deep uncertainty…27 January, 2025 by Jasmine Lee, Peter Convey
Antarctica is one of Earth's most untouched, inhospitable, and poorly known regions. Although knowledge of its biodiversity has increased over recent decades, a diverse, wide-ranging, and spatially explicit compilation of…Read more on The biodiversity of ice-free Antarctica database [Data paper]
26 January, 2025 by Qinggang Gao
Precessional forcing is a key driver of quaternary climate change. Based on 24 experiments covering a full precession cycle, this study explores spatio-temporal variations of both climate and isotope signals…Read more on Precession Controls on Climate and Water Isotope Signals in Northern Africa
24 January, 2025 by Joanne Johnson
Unambiguous identification of past episodes of ice sheet thinning below the modern surface and grounding line retreat inboard of present requires recovery and exposure dating of subglacial bedrock. Such efforts…22 January, 2025 by Lloyd Peck
Just and fair transitions to low-carbon and nature-positive ways of living need to occur fast enough to limit and reverse the climate and nature crises, but not so fast that…22 January, 2025 by Dani Jones
Submesoscale eddies are important features in the upper ocean where they mediate air-sea exchanges, convey heat and tracer fluxes into ocean interior, and enhance biological production. However, due to their…22 January, 2025 by Dominic Hodgson, Kevin Hughes, Peter Convey
Antarctica, Earth’s least understood and most remote continent, is threatened by human disturbances and climate-related changes, underscoring the imperative for biodiversity inventories to inform conservation. Antarctic ecosystems support unique species…21 January, 2025 by Alistair Monteath
Anthropogenic climate warming is degrading permafrost across Interior Alaska. Information from past warming events provides long-term perspectives of future trajectories, however, late Quaternary seasonal temperatures are poorly constrained. We established…20 January, 2025 by Kevin Hughes, Kudzai Hwengwere, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark
Despite being recognised as a global problem, our understanding of human-mediated antimicrobial resistance (AMR) spread to remote regions of the world is limited. Antarctica, often referred to as “the last…20 January, 2025 by Peter Convey
Invertebrates are ubiquitous. Diverse in form and function, they play crucial roles in ecosystems: for example as food for other organisms, as pollinators, and as decomposers. Invertebrate species vastly outnumber…19 January, 2025 by Caroline Holmes, Peter Fretwell
Antarctic sea ice forms a critical part of the regional and global climate system [1] and is also a critical habitat [2]. Following the first signs of decline in Antarctic…Read more on Antarctic sea ice #4: record lows between 2022 and 2025
17 January, 2025 by Freya Squires
The North Atlantic Climate System Integrated Study (ACSIS) was a large multidisciplinary research programme funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). ACSIS ran from 2016 to 2022 and…17 January, 2025 by Jonathan Adams, Joanne Johnson, Stephen Roberts
Cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating is an important technique for reconstructing glacial histories. Many of the most commonly applied cosmogenic nuclides are extracted from the mineral quartz, meaning sampling of felsic…16 January, 2025 by Louise Sime
Antarctic ice cores can help determine ice mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) during past warm periods. We compile Last Interglacial (LIG) δ18O measurements from eight Antarctic cores…16 January, 2025 by Jeremy Wilkinson
Frequency-domain electromagnetic induction (EMI) is routinely used to detect the presence of seawater due to the inherent electrical conductivity of the seawater. This approach is used to infer sea-ice thickness…16 January, 2025 by Andrew McDonald, Scott Hosking
In this paper, we explore the crucial role and challenges of computational reproducibility in geosciences, drawing insights from the Climate Informatics Reproducibility Challenge (CICR) in 2023. The competition aimed at…16 January, 2025 by Peter Davis, Robert Larter
Executive Summary: Change to Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, sometimes referred to as the “Doomsday Glacier”, over the coming decades and centuries will have profound implications for global sea-level rise…15 January, 2025 by Mark Clilverd
Subionospheric very low-frequency (VLF) radio signals are reflected by free electrons in the ionospheric D-region at about 60–90 km altitude and can propagate over long distances, which makes them useful for…Read more on Investigation of the October effect in very low-frequency (VLF) signals
15 January, 2025 by Dominic Hodgson, Stephen Roberts
Anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emissions to the atmosphere have increased the concentration of this potent neurotoxin in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The magnitude of regional variation in atmospheric Hg pollution levels…Read more on Perspectives on using peat records to reconstruct past atmospheric Hg levels
13 January, 2025 by Peter Convey
Polar marine macroalgae thrive in extreme conditions, often displaying geographic isolation and high degree of endemism. The “phycosphere” refers to the zone around the algae inhabited by microrganisms. Our study…8 January, 2025 by Lorena Romero Martinez
Diatom resting stages can remain viable in sediments for decades and germinate when exposed to suitable environmental conditions, inoculating the water column and the surface sediments with new populations of…7 January, 2025 by Alistair Monteath
The number of cryptotephra (non-visible volcanic ash) records from northeastern North America is unique in the continent. The resulting tephrostratigraphic framework includes ash deposits sourced from volcanic arcs across the…7 January, 2025 by Andrew Orr
In this study, we investigate the complex relationship between western disturbances (WDs), the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and extreme precipitation events (EPEs) in the western Himalaya (WH) during the extended…6 January, 2025 by Katrin Linse
Understanding how ecological, environmental and geographic features influence population genetic patterns provides crucial insights into a species' evolutionary history, as well as their vulnerability or resilience under climate change. In…2 January, 2025 by Thomas Bauska
Understanding the causes of past atmospheric methane (CH4) variability is important for characterizing the relationship between CH4, global climate and terrestrial biogeochemical cycling. Ice core records of atmospheric CH4 contain…Read more on Abrupt changes in biomass burning during the last glacial period
2 January, 2025 by Xu Zhang
Permafrost is a potentially important source of deglacial carbon release alongside deep-sea carbon outgassing. However, limited proxies have restricted our understanding in circumarctic regions and the last deglaciation. Tibetan Plateau…2 January, 2025 by Dave Munday, Dani Jones, Rachel Furner
Machine learning (ML) techniques have emerged as a powerful tool for predicting weather and climate systems. However, much of the progress to date focuses on predicting the short-term evolution of…Read more on The challenge of land in a neural network ocean model
2 January, 2025 by Raghul Parthipan
Atmospheric models used for weather and climate prediction are traditionally formulated in a deterministic manner. In other words, given a particular state of the resolved scale variables, the most likely…Read more on Machine learning for stochastic parametrization
1 January, 2025 by Joanne Johnson
We review successes and challenges from five recent subglacial bedrock drilling campaigns intended to find evidence for Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat during warm periods in the geologic past. Insights into…Read more on Lessons learned from shallow subglacial bedrock drilling campaigns in Antarctica
1 January, 2025 by Thomas Bauska
Beneath the surface of Antarctica lies a near perfect record of changes in the atmosphere composition over hundreds of thousands of years. This unique archive allows us to reconstruct atmospheric…1 January, 2025 by James Smith, Kelly Hogan
During Quaternary glaciations, ice sheets expanded from continental interiors across continental shelves and delivered large volumes of sediment, transported by meltwater, and icebergs to the marine environment. Glaciomarine sediments preserve…1 January, 2025 by Claire Allen, Dieter Tetzner
Here, we summarize the diatom research topics and applications that have the broadest relevance and importance for Antarctic studies. From the Southern Ocean we focus on biogeography, sea surface temperature…1 January, 2025 by Andrew Wood, Richard Phillips, Victoria Warwick-Evans
The Antarctic seasonal sea-ice zone (SIZ) is one of the most extensive and dynamic habitats on Earth. In summer, increased insolation and ice melt cause primary production to peak, sustaining…1 January, 2025 by Gareth Marshall
The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is an important pattern of Southern Hemisphere circulation variability: it accounts for between 15 and 30 or more percent of the total variability of the…1 January, 2025 by Clara Manno
Monitoring the movement of plastic into marine food webs is central to understanding and mitigating the plastic pollution crisis. Bioindicators have been a component of the environmental monitoring toolkit for…1 January, 2025 by Rebecca Peel, Stephen Roberts
Microplastic pollution is a growing environmental problem. Consequently, an emerging area of research is the analysis of these micro-particles, to identify the distribution and impacts of plastic in the environment.…1 January, 2025 by Peter Convey
Increasing global morbidity is often associated with communicable or noncommunicable diseases; however, adverse drug effects have also been linked with an increase in mortality worldwide. This has emphasized the need…Read more on Chapter 36 – Biomedical applications of algal-based products
1 January, 2025 by Lloyd Peck
We discuss the outcomes of our 16th horizon scan of issues that are novel or represent a considerable step-change and have the potential to substantially affect conservation of biological diversity…Read more on A horizon scan of biological conservation issues for 2025
1 January, 2025 by Thomas Caton Harrison
The Central England Temperature (CET) series is one of the longest instrumental climate records in the world. The CET record from 1659 represents a roughly triangular area of England extending…Read more on An Update to the Central England Temperature Series—HadCET v2.1
1 January, 2025 by David Pearce
Microorganisms have traditionally accelerated the study of ecology and evolution owing to their relatively short generation times and astronomical population sizes. Indeed, their potential in helping us to understand the…Read more on Crucial stepping stones in freshwater microbiology [News]
1 January, 2025 by David Pearce
Arctic biodiversity is under threat from both climate-induced environmental change and anthropogenic activity. However, the rapid rate of change and the challenging conditions for studying Arctic environments mean that many…1 January, 2025 by Carlos Martin Garcia
Ice rises hold valuable records revealing the ice dynamics and climatic history of Antarctic coastal areas from the Last Glacial Maximum to today. This history is often reconstructed from isochrone…Read more on Investigating the dynamic history of a promontory ice rise using radar data
1 January, 2025 by Scott Hosking
Machine learning models have been used extensively in hydrology, but issues persist with regard to their transparency, and there is currently no identifiable best practice for forcing variables in streamflow…Read more on Streamflow prediction using artificial neural networks and soil moisture proxies
1 January, 2025 by Andrew McDonald, Scott Hosking
With the state-of-the-art IceNet model, deep learning has contributed to an important aspect of climate research by leveraging a range of climate inputs to provide accurate forecasts of Arctic sea…1 January, 2025
The NERC Environmental Data Service (EDS) provides a focal point for scientific data and information spanning environmental science domains: atmosphere and climate; earth observation, polar and cryosphere; marine, terrestrial and…Read more on NERC Environmental Data Services : API 4 AI project kickoff workshop report
31 December, 2024 by Timothy Jones
Behavioural plasticity is an important mechanism allowing animals to cope with changing environments. Theory has hypothesized the existence of ‘plasticity syndromes’—positive correlations in plasticity across multiple behaviours within an individual—affording…30 December, 2024 by Aidan Hunter, Arlie McCarthy, Clara Manno, Sally Thorpe
Marine microplastic is pervasive, polluting the remotest ecosystems including the Southern Ocean. Since this region is already undergoing climatic changes, the additional stress of microplastic pollution on the ecosystem should…28 December, 2024 by Elizabeth Collingwood, Gareth Marshall, Hua Lu, John King
Improvement of subseasonal to seasonal North Atlantic winter forecasting requires better prediction of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the dominant mode of variability in the Northern Hemisphere. Despite recent research…Read more on Meridional wind in the upper stratosphere: A source of winter NAO predictability
28 December, 2024 by Jonathan Adams, Joanne Johnson, Stephen Roberts
Constraining past West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) change helps validate numerical models simulating future ice sheet dynamics. Following rapid deglaciation during the mid-Holocene, ice near Thwaites Glacier was ∼35 m…27 December, 2024 by Peter Convey
Biomass is a key parameter in ecology, as it provides insight into ecosystem functioning. Length-mass estimations are widely used for this purpose due to the relatively simple and straightforward procedures…23 December, 2024 by Julie Jupe, Kevin Hughes
The relevance of education and outreach (E&O) activities about the Antarctic Treaty has been recognized at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM) and at the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP).…21 December, 2024 by Alexander Tate, Alice Fremand
Knowledge about seafloor depth, or bathymetry, is crucial for various marine activities, including scientific research, offshore industry, safety of navigation, and ocean exploration. Mapping the central Arctic Ocean is challenging…Read more on The International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean Version 5.0
20 December, 2024 by Kate Hendry
Accelerated mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet leads to retreating glaciers and enhanced freshwater runoff to adjacent coastal regions, potentially providing additional essential nutrients, such as silicon, to downstream…20 December, 2024 by Matthew Lang
Solar-wind forecasting is critical for predicting events which can affect Earth's technological systems. Typically, forecasts combine coronal model outputs with heliospheric models to predict near-Earth conditions. Ensemble forecasting generates sets…Read more on Adapting Ensemble‐Calibration Techniques to Probabilistic Solar‐Wind Forecasting
19 December, 2024 by Andrew Meijers
Recent Antarctic sea-ice decline is a substantial source of concern, notably the record low in 2023 (ref. 1 ). Progress has been made towards establishing the causes of ice loss…Read more on Record-low Antarctic sea ice in 2023 increased ocean heat loss and storms
19 December, 2024 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Robert Larter
Through the Cenozoic (66–0 Ma), the dominant mode of ocean surface circulation in the Southern Ocean transitioned from two large subpolar gyres to circumpolar circulation with a strong Antarctic Circumpolar Current…19 December, 2024 by Peter Convey
To better understand the long-distance dispersal of fungi between South America and Antarctica, we assessed aerial fungal diversity based on environmental DNA samples along a South Atlantic transect from Brazil…18 December, 2024 by Anna Belcher, Geraint Tarling, Gabriele Stowasser, Sophie Fielding
The Controls Over Mesopelagic Interior Carbon Storage (COMICS) cruise DY086 took place aboard the RRS Discovery in the South Atlantic during November and December, 2017. Physical, chemical, biogeochemical and biological…17 December, 2024 by Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert, Thomas Daggitt
The density of low energy charged particles trapped in Earth's magnetic field can influence how higher energy trapped electrons are affected by natural radio waves within the magnetic field. We…17 December, 2024 by Peter Convey
Despite increasing awareness of the threats they pose, exotic species continue to arrive in Antarctica with anthropogenic assistance, some of which inevitably have the potential to become aggressively invasive. Here,…17 December, 2024 by Xu Zhang
The Southern Ocean plays a key role in atmospheric CO2 sequestration, accounting for ~40-50% of the anthropogenic CO2 absorbed by the modern ocean (Landschützer et al., 2015; Gruber et al.,…17 December, 2024 by Kevin Hughes
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current reduces the oceanographic transport of organisms from adjacent temperate ecosystems southward. Additionally, the extreme environmental conditions in the Antarctic marine environment, in particular south of the…Read more on Marine non-native species in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica
16 December, 2024 by Tracy Moffat-Griffin
During austral winter, the southern high latitudes has some of the most intense stratospheric gravity wave (GW) activity globally. However, producing accurate representations of GW dynamics in this region in…13 December, 2024 by Nigel Meredith
Auroral precipitation is the second major energy source after solar irradiation that ionizes the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Diffuse electron aurora caused by wave-particle interaction in the inner magnetosphere (L <…11 December, 2024 by Louise Sime
Paleoclimate information has played an instrumental role in showing how fast climate can vary and how large these changes can be. It provided the first vivid demonstration of the relationships…11 December, 2024
The business and societal case for investing in resilience and adaptation is increasingly clear. Earth systems—such as ice sheets, ocean currents, and permafrost—are interconnected processes that regulate the planet’s climate,…Read more on Business on the Edge: Building Industry Resilience to Climate Hazards
10 December, 2024 by Jack Humby
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent anthropogenic contaminants, some of which are toxic and bioaccumulative. Perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSAs) can form during the atmospheric…10 December, 2024 by Madeleine Lewis
Madeleine Lewis explains how a needle and peristaltic pump system can be used to isolate supraglacial meltwater.Read more on Using a vacuum to collect glacial meltwater from ice
10 December, 2024 by Robert Mulvaney
Past climate and environmental changes can be reconstructed using paleoclimate archives such as ice cores, lake and marine sediment cores, speleothems, tree rings, and corals. The dating of these natural…8 December, 2024 by Chester Sands, George Foot, Kevin Newsham, Will Goodall-Copestake
The occurrence of mycothalli, symbioses between liverworts and fungi bearing similarities to mycorrhizas, is poorly documented in sub-Antarctica, and biogeographical patterns in Serendipita, one of the main fungal genera forming…Read more on A cosmopolitan Serendipita forms mycothalli with sub-Antarctic leafy liverworts
7 December, 2024 by Nigel Meredith, Richard Horne
Relativistic electrons cause internal charging on satellites and are a significant space weather hazard. In this study we analyze approximately 20 years of data from the US Global Positioning System…Read more on Strong Relativistic Electron Flux Events in GPS orbit