Meteorology and Ozone Monitoring
Long-term meteorological and ozone observations and data help determine the causes of climate change in the polar regions. Meteorology Meteorological observations are made regularly throughout the day at Halley and …
The scientific evidence that the world’s climate is changing is extensive and clear. Understanding the role of the Polar Regions in climate change is not only a huge scientific challenge but also an urgent priority for society.
The Antarctic is a pivotal part of the Earth’s climate system and a sensitive barometer of environmental change. Although remote and inhospitable, Antarctica is Earth’s most powerful natural laboratory. Understanding how the Antarctic is responding to current climate change – and what the continent was like in the past – is essential if scientists are to be able to more accurately predict future climate change and provide accurate information to politicians and policy makers.
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has for the past 60 years been responsible for most of the UK’s scientific research in Antarctica and its current five-year research strategy is focussed on deepening our understanding of climate change.
Antarctic ice cores reveal the clearest link between levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the Earth’s temperature. They show that the temperature of the climate and the levels of greenhouse gases are intimately linked. In 2004, ice core scientists at BAS working together with colleagues from other European nations successfully extracted a three-kilometre ice core from the Antarctic. This core contains a record of the Earth’s climate stretching back 800,000 years – giving us by far the oldest continuous climate record yet obtained from ice cores.
BAS geologists can look back even further in time. By studying Antarctic rocks and sediments from the sea and lake beds, they are able to get a picture of what the Antarctic was like millions of years ago when the continent was warm and supported plants and animals such as dinosaurs. Understanding how the ice sheets that currently cover the continent developed and how they have receded in the past is essential if we are to be able to predict how those ice sheets will behave in a warmer world.
Much of BAS science is done on the Antarctic Peninsula – one of the fastest warming parts of the planet. BAS glaciologists are also studying the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, parts of which are thinning rapidly. Their work is crucial to understanding whether this thinning could signal the start of the ice sheet’s collapse, an event that would cause sea levels to rise much more than currently predicted.
On sea as well as on land, BAS scientists are investigating climate change. As the waters warm around Antarctica, ecologists at BAS are looking at how penguins, seals and the other species that make up one of the world’s largest marine ecosystems are responding.
Because the causes and effects of climate change are extraordinarily complex, assembling all the pieces of the climate change jigsaw is a huge challenge. By conducting world-class science in the Antarctic, BAS is making a significant contribution to meeting this challenge.
Weddell Sea ice sheet and climate
In the south of the Weddell Sea lies the Ronne and Filchner Ice Shelves. During the coldest part of the last glacial period about 25,000 years ago, the ice in …
The role of Antarctic sea-ice in global climate
Sea-ice is frequently cited as a likely driver and propagator of abrupt climate change because of the rapid and far-reaching impact of its feedbacks. However, numerical climate models are still …
The role of the Southern Ocean in regulating atmospheric CO2 on glacial-interglacial timescales
The cause of the variability in atmospheric CO2 over glacial-interglacial timescales has been a puzzle since its discovery in the early 1980s. It is widely believed to be related to …
BEAMISH: Bed Access, Monitoring and Ice Sheet History
The polar ice sheets play a major role in controlling Earth’s sea level and climate, but our understanding of their history and motion is poor. It results that the biggest …
Climate and Ice during the Last Interglacial
During the Last Interglacial (129-116 thousand years ago, ka) CO2 and global temperature were both higher than they were before human industrialisation. By examining Last Interglacial climate, we thus gain …
Antarctic Climate over the last millennia
The Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica have warmed dramatically in recent decades, with some climate records indicating that these are among the most rapidly warming regions on Earth. The Antarctic …
Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Sea-Surface
In order to assess the impact of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) on the oceans today we are investigating the effect of decreasing upper ocean pH on calcifying zooplankton. Pteropods, …
West Antarctica wind strength and atmospheric circulation
Changes in wind strength and circulation patterns above the Antarctic Peninsula are linked to its warming and increased upwelling of warm circumpolar deep water, resulting in accelerated melting and thinning …
Late Quaternary changes in the Westerly Winds over the Southern Ocean
In this NERC-funded project, we are generating Southern Hemisphere Westerlies (SHW) proxy records from each of the three major sectors of the Southern Ocean, focusing on subantarctic islands situated in …
Arctic marine geophysics
This research focuses on investigating the glacial histories of Arctic ice sheets and ice caps using the marine geological record preserved on continental margins. By reconstructing past ice sheets, their …
ANiSEED – AmuNdsen Sea Embayment Exposure Dating
This project will reconstruct millennial-scale ice sheet change in the western Amundsen Sea Embayment, Antarctica, using high-precision exposure dating.
Filchner Ice Shelf System, Antarctica
Understanding the contribution that polar ice sheets make to global sea-level rise is recognised internationally as urgent. The mission of this five-year project is to capture new observations and data …
iStar-D The contribution to sea-level rise from the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica
iStar-D will identify the potential contribution to sea-level rise, from ice locked in the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica
EU-PolarNet
EU-PolarNet will develop and deliver a strategic framework and mechanisms to prioritise science, optimise the use of polar infrastructure and broker new partnerships
DATA AS ART
visualising BAS polar data sets to create art works that engage, inform and inspire
How warm was Greenland during the last interglacial period?
18 March, 2016
Impact of melt water on high latitude early Last Interglacial climate
10 February, 2016
Robert Mossman, Endurance and the Weddell Sea ice
1 January, 2016
Twentieth century increase in snowfall in coastal West Antarctica
3 December, 2015
Multiple causes of the Younger Dryas cold period
1 December, 2015
Feedbacks on climate in the Earth system: introduction
13 November, 2015
Föhn winds on South Georgia and their impacts on regional climate
1 November, 2015
Antarctic sea ice losses drive gains in benthic carbon drawdown
21 September, 2015
Potential for Southern Hemisphere climate surprises
1 July, 2015
Effects of regional afforestation on global climate
1 June, 2015
The ocean sampling day consortium
1 June, 2015
The Ozone Layer
18 May, 2015
It’s nearly 30 years since the discovery of the Ozone Hole drew world attention to the impact of human activity on the global environment. Why is the ozone layer important? …
The Antarctic Peninsula’s retreating ice shelves
18 May, 2015
The breakout in March 2008 of the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula is the latest drama in a region that has experienced unprecedented warming over the last 50 …
Ice cores and climate change
18 May, 2015
Slices of ice core, drilled from the depths of the Earth’s ice sheets, reveal details of the planet’s past climate. Introduction Ice cores are cylinders of ice drilled out of …
Antarctica and climate change
18 May, 2015
According to the IPCC fifth assessment report, it is extremely likely (95-100% confidence) that human activities have been the dominant driver of global climate change since the mid-20th century. Antarctica, …
Foehn jets over the Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica
1 April, 2015
An atmospheric origin of the multi-decadal bipolar seesaw
10 March, 2015
Investigating Climate Change from the Stratosphere to Space
11 February, 2015
From ice to space
1 January, 2015
Boundary mixing in Orkney Passage outflow
1 December, 2014
Environment: Social change affects Antarctic priorities
24 September, 2014
Greenland deglaciation puzzles
5 September, 2014
Challenges of deep-sea biodiversity assessments in the Southern Ocean
1 September, 2014
Environmental setting
1 August, 2014
Bryozoa
1 August, 2014
Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean
1 August, 2014
Assessing status and change in Southern Ocean ecosystems
1 August, 2014
Introduction: The Southern Ocean, carbon and climate
2 June, 2014
A fluid situation
1 May, 2014
Geothermal activity helps life survive glacial cycles
15 April, 2014
The thermal limits to life on Earth
1 April, 2014
How significant is West Antarctic warming?
28 March, 2014
Emperor penguins breeding on iceshelves
8 January, 2014
A horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2014
1 January, 2014
A 308-year record of climate variability in West Antarctica
28 October, 2013
A climatic history of West Antarctica
1 October, 2013
Entanglement of Antarctic fur seals at Bird Island, South Georgia
15 September, 2013
Mapping climate change in European temperature distributions
11 September, 2013
Polar fohn winds and warming over the Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica
1 September, 2013
East Antarctica’s Achilles heel
21 July, 2013
Ice sheets and nitrogen
5 July, 2013
Ice core methods, conductivity studies
19 June, 2013
Paleoclimate, Paleoclimate history of the Arctic
19 June, 2013
Uncertain sea levels (Letter)
15 June, 2013
Unlocking the secrets of Antarctic moss banks
1 June, 2013
Sharp rise in summer melt on Antarctic Peninsula
1 June, 2013
On estimating local climate sensitivity
28 May, 2013
Climate change and the polar regions
1 May, 2013
Antarctica: global science from a frozen continent
4 April, 2013
Communicating climate science
1 April, 2013
Editorial: Past4Future – learning from interglacials
1 March, 2013
Eemian interglacial reconstructed from a Greenland folded ice core
24 January, 2013
Contrasting climate change in the two polar regions
1 January, 2013
Summary for policymakers
1 January, 2013
Antarctica: a global change perspective
1 January, 2013
A reconciled estimate of ice sheet mass balance
19 December, 2012
Biological processes on glacier and ice sheet surfaces
18 December, 2012
Weather and climate
1 January, 2012
Implementing a Southern Ocean Observing System
1 January, 2012
The Southern Ocean Observing System
1 January, 2012
Extensive dissolution of live pteropods in the Southern Ocean
1 January, 2012
A tale of two hemispheres
1 January, 2012
Automated ice-core layer-counting with strong univariate signals
1 January, 2012
Editors’ comment
1 January, 2012
Can we predict the duration of an interglacial?
1 January, 2012
Phytoplankton phenology in the global ocean
1 January, 2012
Recent mass changes of glaciers in the Russian High Arctic
1 January, 2012
The Amundsen Sea and the Antarctic Ice Sheet
1 January, 2012
Wind-driven trends in Antarctic sea-ice drift
1 January, 2012
The Emperor strikes back
1 January, 2012
Climate of change?
1 January, 2012
Impact of climate change on Antarctic krill
1 January, 2012
The impacts of climate change on circumpolar biodiversity
1 January, 2012
Climate scientists need to study the public, too
1 January, 2012
Fixing a hole
1 January, 2012
Timing and origin of recent regional ice-mass loss in Greenland
1 January, 2012
Antarctic Ecosystems: An Extreme Environment in a Changing World
1 January, 2012
Detection and attribution of Antarctic climate change
1 January, 2012
Polar marine ecosystems
1 January, 2012
Antarctic Peninsula. A visitor’s guide
1 January, 2012
Complexity and extreme events in geosciences: an overview
1 January, 2012
Sensitivity of Pliocene ice sheets to orbital forcing
15 August, 2011
Icy response
1 January, 2011
Methane and monsoons
1 January, 2011
Climate change in the polar regions
1 January, 2011
Mixed layer lateral eddy fluxes mediated by air-sea interaction
1 January, 2011
The hole in the ozone layer
1 January, 2011
The Antarctic ozone during 2010
1 January, 2011
Rapid climate change: lessons from the recent geological past
1 January, 2011
Organisms and responses to environmental change
1 January, 2011
Climate change and ice cores
1 January, 2011
The Antarctic ozone hole during 2008 and 2009
1 January, 2011
Antarctic accumulation seasonality
1 January, 2011
The Mid-Brunhes Event and West Antarctic Ice Sheet stability
1 January, 2011
Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity in a changing world
1 January, 2011
The Twentieth Century Reanalysis Project
1 January, 2011
800,000 years of abrupt climate variability
1 January, 2011
A global continuous plankton recorder programme
1 January, 2010
History of sea ice in the Arctic
1 January, 2010
Setting the record straight on climate change
1 January, 2010
Effect of shear rupture on aggregate scale formation in sea ice
1 January, 2010
Evidence for widespread endemism among Antarctic micro-organisms
1 January, 2010
The future of ocean drilling in the Southern Ocean
1 January, 2010
A horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2010
1 January, 2010
Reflections on the ozone hole
1 January, 2010
Searching for the oldest ice
1 January, 2010
How do polar marine ecosystems respond to rapid climate change?
1 January, 2010
Antarctic clouds
1 January, 2010
Ice and ocean processes in the Bellingshausen Sea, Antarctica
1 January, 2010
Climate change: warm bath for an ice sheet
1 January, 2010
An analysis of cloud observations from Vernadsky, Antarctica
1 January, 2010
Update on CO2 emissions
1 January, 2010
Poor acclimation capacities in Antarctic marine ectotherms
1 January, 2010
Temperature and precipitation history of the Arctic
1 January, 2010
EPICA Dome C record of glacial and interglacial intensities
1 January, 2010
An International Carbon Office to assist policy-based science
1 January, 2010
Trends in the land and ocean carbon uptake
1 January, 2010
Assessing the regional disparities in geoengineering impacts
1 January, 2010
How committed are we to monitoring human impacts in Antarctica?
1 January, 2010
Palaeoclimate Southern westerlies and CO2
1 January, 2010
Macroplastics at sea around Antarctica
1 January, 2010
Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide
17 November, 2009
Unlayering the ozone. An Earth sans sunscreen
1 January, 2009
The Arctic cryosphere in the Mid-Pliocene and the future
1 January, 2009
Emperor penguins and climate change. Tough times for hot chicks
1 January, 2009
Freshwater transport at Fimbulisen, Antarctica
1 January, 2009
Ice sheets: indicators and instruments of climate change
1 January, 2009
Climate change: a cold blast of reality
1 January, 2009
Surface-ocean CO2 variability and vulnerability
1 January, 2009
Mixing on the continental slope of the southern Weddell Sea
1 January, 2009
Review. Antarctic climate change and the environment
1 January, 2009
The memory of polar ocean
1 January, 2009
Macrophysiology: a conceptual reunification
1 January, 2009
Warming on Antarctica’s western fringes
1 January, 2009
Impacts of the oceans on climate change
1 January, 2009
Closing the global budget for CO2
1 January, 2009
Antarctic biology, the International Polar Year, and beyond
1 January, 2009
Climate spectrum estimation in the presence of timescale errors
1 January, 2009
Contrasting climate change in the two polar regions
1 January, 2009
Strong wind events in the Antarctic
1 January, 2009
Impacts of local human activities on the Antarctic environment
1 January, 2009
Penguin responses to climate change in the Southern Ocean
1 January, 2009
Marine ice in Larsen Ice Shelf
1 January, 2009
Super-volcanic eruptions: noctilucent clouds
1 January, 2009
Geomagnetic and Solar Variability and Natural Climate Change
1 February, 2008
The Arctic and Antarctic: two faces of climate change
1 January, 2008
The heat is on
1 January, 2008
Saturated sink
1 January, 2008
The past 800 ka viewed through Antarctic ice cores
1 January, 2008
Cool chemistry
1 January, 2008
Ancient air in an Antarctic ice core
1 January, 2008
Minimizing our scientific footprints
1 January, 2008
The 2007 Antarctic ozone hole
1 January, 2008
The myth of the 1970s global cooling scientific consensus
1 January, 2008
Brachiopods and climate change
1 January, 2008
Antarctic climate change – why it matters to us
1 January, 2008
Pteropods in Southern Ocean ecosystems
1 January, 2008
High-latitude paleolimnology
1 January, 2008
An empirical model of the Earth’s horizontal wind fields: HWM07
1 January, 2008
West Antarctic links to sea level estimation
1 January, 2007
Perspectives on marine zooplankton lipids
1 January, 2007
Melting of floating ice and sea level rise
1 January, 2007
An Antarctic assessment of IPCC AR4 coupled models
1 January, 2007
Polar meltdown
1 January, 2007
Paleoclimatology
1 January, 2007
Ice core analysis and dating techniques
1 January, 2007
Frozen in time: the chemistry of polar ice cores
1 January, 2007
Workshop on the Antarctic wind field
1 January, 2007
Polar meteorology – understanding global impacts
1 January, 2007
Rapid climate change and the role of ocean circulation
1 January, 2007
Ozone and the polar stratosphere
1 January, 2007
Meteorological observing
1 January, 2007
Energy surveys of Antarctic research buildings
1 January, 2007
Global and regional drivers of accelerating CO2 emissions
1 January, 2007
Session on present changes and observations. Report from Chairs
1 January, 2007
The EDC3 chronology for the EPICA Dome C ice core
1 January, 2007
Toward a new generation of ice sheet models
1 January, 2007
West Antarctic Ice Sheet change since the last glacial period
1 January, 2007
Climate change
1 January, 2007
Antarctic climate variability and change
1 January, 2007
Seasonality
1 January, 2007
Observations: oceanic climate change and sea level
1 January, 2007
Marine debris
1 January, 2007
Climate change and invasibility of the Antarctic benthos
1 January, 2007
Polar regions (Arctic and Antarctic)
1 January, 2007
Synoptic-scale weather systems, fronts and jets
1 January, 2007
Temperature
1 January, 2007
Wind
1 January, 2007
Polar lows and other high latitude weather systems
1 January, 2007
European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA)
1 January, 2006
Antarctica: closer than you think
1 January, 2006
The future of ice core science
1 January, 2006
Antarctica and climate change – implications for governance
1 January, 2006
The unknown and the uncertain in Earth system modeling
1 January, 2006
Oil pollution in the Antarctic terrestrial environment
1 January, 2006
Examining Holocene stability of Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves
1 January, 2006
Physiological traits of organisms in a changing environment
1 January, 2006
The future of El Niño?
1 January, 2006
Forecasting future weather from rocks
1 January, 2006
The Antarctic: local signals, global messages
1 January, 2006
Polar systems
1 January, 2005
Distribution of soluble impurities in cold glacial ice
1 January, 2004
The EPICA challenge to the Earth system modeling community
1 January, 2004
Revealing Antarctica’s secrets
1 January, 2004
On Antarctic climate and change
1 January, 2004
The El Niño-Southern Oscillation and Antarctica
1 January, 2004
Possible descent across the ‘Tropopause’ in Antarctic winter
1 January, 2004
Cretaceous (Wealden) climates: a modelling perspective
1 January, 2004
Maastrichtian stratigraphy of Antarctica
1 January, 2004
Natural and plastic flotsam strading in the Indian Ocean
1 January, 2004
Eight glacial cycles from an Antarctic ice core
1 January, 2004
A review of stratospheric H2O and NO2
1 January, 2004
The international Antarctic weather forecasting handbook
1 January, 2004
Antarctic Climate Evolution (ACE) Research Initiative
1 January, 2003
Long-term variation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave
1 January, 2003
An ice core indicator of Antarctic sea ice production?
1 January, 2003
Whither Antarctic sea ice?
1 January, 2003
Air-ice chemical interactions (AICI)
1 January, 2003
Recent rapid regional climate warming on the Antarctic Peninsula
1 January, 2003
Galactic energy and its role in a changing Earth. (Editorial)
1 January, 2003
Case study of a Chinese dust plume reaching the French Alps
1 January, 2003
Solar activity levels in 2100
1 January, 2003
Polar marine ecosystems: major threats and future change
1 January, 2003
Rafting by five phyla on man-made flotsam in the Southern Ocean
1 January, 2003
Hermit crab real estate
1 January, 2003
Climatic control of ultraviolet radiation effects on lakes
1 January, 2003
Introduction
1 January, 2003
Conclusion and further research needs
1 January, 2003
Polar lows: mesoscale weather systems in the polar regions
1 January, 2003
Theoretical investigations
1 January, 2003
Serial development of polar lows
1 January, 2003
Forecasting of polar lows
1 January, 2003
Stable-isotope records from Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica
1 January, 2002
Environmental change and Antarctic seabird populations
1 January, 2002
Antarctic glacial history and sea-level change
1 January, 2002
Polar punches and tropical truces
1 January, 2002
Extending the ice core record beyond half a million years
1 January, 2002
Ecological responses to recent climate change
1 January, 2002
Recent temperature trends in the Antarctic
1 January, 2002
Antarctic climate
1 January, 2002
Extreme responses to climate change in Antarctic lakes
1 January, 2002
1000 year ice-core records from Berkner Island, Antarctica
1 January, 2002
Invasions by marine life on plastic debris
1 January, 2002
Weather image. Radarsat views a cyclone over the Labrador Sea
1 January, 2002
Climate change: Devil in the detail
1 January, 2001
Measurements of NOx emissions from the Antarctic snowpack
1 January, 2001
Killing Kyoto
1 January, 2001
The International Antarctic Weather Forecasting Handbook
1 January, 2001
Plant colonisation response to climate change in the Antarctic
1 January, 2001
Ice in the earth system: the view from above
1 January, 2001
Polar regions (Arctic and Antarctic)
1 January, 2001
An extreme wind event at Casey Station, Antarctica
1 January, 2001
Macrofossils from CRP-2/2A, Victoria Land Basin, Antarctica
1 January, 2000
Migration of methane sulphonate in Antarctic firn and ice
1 January, 2000
Climate change and Antarctica
1 January, 2000
Ice work
1 January, 2000
A good millennium?
1 January, 2000
History of the atmosphere from ice cores
1 January, 2000
What is the state of the Antarctic environment? (editorial)
1 January, 2000
A potent greenhouse gas identified in the atmosphere: SF5CF3
1 January, 2000
Ammonium and potassium in snow around an emperor penguin colony
1 January, 2000
Long term change – introduction
1 January, 2000
The international Antarctic weather forecasting handbook
1 January, 2000
Meteor, South Atlantic Ocean, 22 March 1999
1 January, 2000
Cutting edge
19 December, 1999
Global change and the polar regions
1 January, 1999
An assessment of three automatic depression tracking schemes
1 January, 1999
Laboratory study of the migration of methane sulphonate in firn
1 January, 1999
Climatic change and global warming: an Antarctic Case Study
1 January, 1999
Surface ablation rates on Moraine Corrie Glacier, Antarctica
1 January, 1999
Climate change from an Antarctic perspective
1 January, 1998
Background to CRP-1, Cape Roberts Project, Antarctica
1 January, 1998
Arctic sea ice heading towards second lowest on record
15 September, 2016
This year the extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic is heading towards being the second lowest on record. The Arctic sea ice minimum marks the day – typically …
New Antarctic ice discovery aids future climate predictions
16 August, 2016
A team of British climate scientists comparing today’s environment with the warm period before the last ice age has discovered a 65% reduction of Antarctic sea ice around 128,000 years …
Polar ice reveals secrets of carbon-climate feedbacks
26 July, 2016
An international team of scientists have used air bubbles in polar ice from pre-industrial times to measure the sensitivity of the Earth’s land biosphere to changes in temperature.
A recent pause in Antarctic Peninsula warming
20 July, 2016
The rapid warming of the Antarctic Peninsula, which occurred from the early-1950s to the late 1990s, has paused. Stabilisation of the ozone hole along with natural climate variability were significant in bringing about the change. Together these influences have now caused the northern part of the peninsula to enter a temporary cooling phase. Temperatures remain higher than measured during the middle of the 20th Century and glacial retreat is still taking place. However, scientists predict that if greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise at the current rate, temperatures will increase across the Antarctic Peninsula by several degrees Centigrade by the end of this century.
Ocean warming primary cause of glacier retreat
14 July, 2016
A new study has found for the first time that ocean warming is the primary cause of retreat of glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula. The Peninsula is one of the largest current contributors to sea-level rise and this new finding will enable researchers to make better predictions of ice loss from this region.
Wind-blown Antarctic sea ice helps drive ocean circulation
27 June, 2016
Antarctic sea ice is constantly on the move as powerful winds blow it away from the coast and out toward the open ocean. A new study published today in the journal Nature Geoscience (Monday 27 June) shows how that ice migration may be more important for the global ocean circulation than anyone realized.
Carbon dioxide level breached at Halley VI
16 June, 2016
Levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere – which is the leading driver of recent climate change – have reached a milestone at British Antarctic Survey’s …
FEATURED PAPER: Circulation changes off West Antarctica
17 March, 2016
The Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) is a climatological low pressure system located over the southern Pacific Ocean, off the coast of West Antarctica. Atmospheric variability in this region is larger …
NEWS STORY: Consultation – polar research priorities for Europe
17 February, 2016
Take part in an online consultation about Europe’s research priorities for the Polar Regions
NEWS STORY: Lake drainage affected climate
17 February, 2016
The catastrophic release of fresh water from a vast South American lake at the end of the last Ice Age was significant enough to change circulation in the Pacific Ocean …
FEATURED PAPER: Improving climate predictions
19 November, 2015
The Earth’s climate was warmer than today by at least 1°C during the Last Interglacial (between 129,000 and 116,000 years ago). Thus, the Last Interglacial represents an invaluable case study …
PRESS RELEASE: West Antarctica snow accumulation
4 November, 2015
West Antarctic coastal snow accumulation rose 30 percent during 20th century Annual snow accumulation on West Antarctica’s coastal ice sheet increased dramatically during the 20th century, according to a new …
NEWS STORY: New polar ship bidder selected
12 October, 2015
Government announces preferred bidder to build new polar ship Minister of State for Universities and Science, Jo Johnson announced today that the preferred bidder to build a new polar research …
NEWS STORY: Arctic sea ice 2015
17 September, 2015
Arctic sea ice 2015 On September 11, the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) reported that Arctic sea ice reached its likely minimum extent for 2015. The minimum ice …
NEWS STORY: NERC to invest £16m in Arctic Ocean change research
30 July, 2015
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has announced it will invest £16m in research to study the effects of dramatic changes in Arctic ice cover over the last three decades on …
NEWS STORY: Polar ice cores reveal volcanic eruptions
8 July, 2015
Polar ice cores reveal volcanic eruptions that changed human history Researchers find new evidence that large eruptions were responsible for cold temperature extremes recorded since early Roman times A freshly …
NEWS STORY: Frozen in to the Arctic winter
10 March, 2015
Extreme science in extreme conditions: frozen in to the Arctic winter Dr Markus Frey, a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) ice and atmospheric scientist, is living and working aboard the Norwegian …
NEWS STORY: Events in Cambridge and Manchester
6 February, 2015
‘Ice-Spy in the Antarctic’ Thursday 19 February 11.00 – 11:25 14:00 – 14:25 Cambridge Science Centre, Jesus Lane, Cambridge How do you track the ice that floats in the polar …
PRESS RELEASE: Mapping the ice from below
24 November, 2014
Underwater robot sheds new light on Antarctic sea ice The first detailed, high-resolution 3-D maps of Antarctic sea ice have been developed using an underwater robot. Scientists from the UK, …
NEWS STORY: Sea ice minimum explained
18 September, 2014
Arctic sea ice summer minimum 2014: A scientific perspective The Arctic sea ice minimum marks the day – typically in September – when sea ice reaches its smallest extent at …
NEWS STORY: Changes in winds in south
12 May, 2014
Ocean winds keep Australia dry and Antarctica cold New research explains why Antarctica is not warming as much as other continents, and why southern Australia is recording more droughts. Analysis …
NEWS STORY: Unlocking clues to past climate
1 May, 2014
Earth’s last warm phase exposed Analysis of data collected from ice cores and marine sediment cores in both polar regions has given scientists a clearer picture of how the Earth’s …
NEWS STORY: Arctic sea ice trends
13 February, 2014
British Antarctic Survey coordinates Arctic sea-ice investigation Arctic sea-ice cover is retreating at an unprecedented rate. Scientists fear we may see the complete loss of sea ice during the summer …
PRESS RELEASE: Antarctic emperor penguins
8 January, 2014
Antarctic emperor penguins may be adapting to warmer temperatures A new study of four Antarctic emperor penguin colonies suggest that unexpected breeding behaviour may be a sign that the birds …
PRESS RELEASE: Pine Island Glacier and climatic variability
2 January, 2014
Pine Island Glacier sensitive to climatic variability A new study published in Science this month suggests the thinning of Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is much more susceptible to …
NEWS STORY: World’s coldest place identified
12 December, 2013
Scientists working at the United States National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said this week they have identified the coldest place on Earth using satellite observations of surface temperature. …
NEWS STORY: Climate records from ice cores
5 December, 2013
New ice core record shows climate variability in West Antarctica A 308-year ice core record provides new data on climate variability in coastal West Antarctica and shows that a clear …
NEWS STORY: IPCC climate report published today
27 September, 2013
The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is published today. The report entitled Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, presents a synthesis of …
NEWS STORY: Storm events link identified
17 April, 2013
Jet stream influences extreme storms A new study of Europe’s extreme storm events reveals that they often occur near the jet stream – the fast flowing air currents that flow …
PRESS RELEASE: Summer melt season extending
28 March, 2013
Summer melt season is getting longer on the Antarctic Peninsula, new data show New research from the Antarctic Peninsula shows that the summer melt season has been getting longer over …
NEWS STORY: Greenland ice shows past trends
23 January, 2013
Greenland ice core reveals warm past temperatures British Antarctic Survey scientists have contributed to a new study published in Nature (Thursday 24 January) that provides surprising details on changes in …
PRESS RELEASE: Changing winds increasing sea ice cover
11 November, 2012
Why Antarctic sea ice cover has increased under the effects of climate change The first direct evidence that marked changes to Antarctic sea ice drift have occurred over the last …
PRESS RELEASE: Antarctica’s climate timeline
22 August, 2012
New climate history adds to understanding of recent Antarctic Peninsula warming Results published this week by a team of polar scientists from Britain, Australia and France adds a new dimension …
PRESS RELEASE: Air flows explain record low
11 January, 2010
New research sheds light on Earth”s coldest temperatures Results from the first detailed analysis of the lowest ever temperature recorded on the Earth’s surface can explain why it got so …
PRESS RELEASE: Warmer spells detected in ice cores
18 November, 2009
Mysteriously warm times in Antarctica A new study of Antarctica’s past climate reveals that temperatures during the warm periods between ice ages (interglacials) may have been higher than previously thought. …