Polar oceans influence the entire Earth System in all areas, including the seas around the UK. The polar oceans have an enormous capacity to store and redistribute fresh water, heat, carbon dioxide and other climatically-important substances. Oceanographic studies help make more accurate predictions about global impacts.


CONSEC

CONSEC is addressing the challenge to understand the links between the biodiversity, structure and function of Southern Ocean ecosystems and the impacts of rapid environmental changes to improve scientific knowledge …



Orkney Passage Long Term Monitoring

The densest waters in the Atlantic overturning circulation, Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), originate in the Weddell Sea, as Weddell Sea Deep Water. A large proportion is exported northward to the …


SiCLING

The polar regions are experiencing the most rapid climate change observed on Earth: temperatures are rising in some regions of the Arctic and Antarctic at more than double the global …


Arctic Summer-time Cyclones

The Arctic Summer-time Cyclone Project is a joint project of scientists from the University of Reading, University of East Anglia and the British Antarctic Survey with expertise in atmospheric dynamics, …


SIWHA

The NERC funded SIWHA_CO2 project “Sea Ice and Westerly winds during the Holocene in coastal Antarctica, to better constrain oceanic CO2 uptake” will be a breakthrough in our understanding of how …


Southern Ocean Clouds

SOC is a project of the NERC CloudSense Programme The biases observed in climate models over the Southern Ocean in surface radiation and sea surface temperature are larger than anywhere …


CUPIDO

CUPIDO aims to address: what is the role of zooplankton in promoting the transport of plastic in the ocean?
and how this plastic transport interferes with zooplankton’s ability to store carbon in the deep ocean?


SO-WISE

We are constructing observationally-constrained estimates of the state of the Weddell Gyre, including associated ice shelves and sea ice Introduction In the 25 years between 1992 and 2017, ocean melting …


NEWS STORY: Insights into icebergs

29 October, 2012

Scientists discover new mechanism at work breaking-up icebergs An international team of scientists has discovered a  previously unknown mechanism by which large tabular icebergs break up out at sea as …


NEWS STORY: Ocean sampling at Rothera

20 August, 2012

Ocean sampling: Rothera, Antarctic Peninsula: last but not least! Are the World’s oceans all the same, or are they different? OK at the most basic level, we all know that …


PRESS RELEASE: Ocean role as carbon sink

29 July, 2012

New discovery of how carbon is stored in the Southern Ocean A team of British and Australian scientists has discovered an important method of how carbon is drawn down from …


NEWS STORY: BAS on the BBC

17 July, 2012

Scientists take part in BBC expedition “Operation Iceberg” This summer two British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists head to the Arctic to take part in the BBC expedition ‘Operation Iceberg’. Oceanographers …


PRESS RELEASE: Growing evidence of carbon impact

22 February, 2011

Captain Scott’s century-old collections suggest marine life is capturing more carbon Tiny Antarctic marine creatures collected 100 years ago by Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott give new clues about …


PRESS RELEASE: Ridge contributes to melting

20 June, 2010

New research sheds light on Antarctica”s melting Pine Island Glacier New results from an investigation into Antarctica’s potential contribution to sea level rise are reported this week (Sunday 20 June) …


PRESS RELEASE: Sonar images reveal seabed

5 May, 2009

New Antarctic seabed sonar images reveal clues to sea-level rise Motorway-sized troughs and channels carved into Antarctica’s continental shelves by glaciers thousands of years ago could help scientists to predict …


PRESS RELEASE: Surveying below the ice

17 March, 2009

Robot submarine searches for signs of melting under Antarctic Ice Shelf A team of British and American scientists has successfully deployed an autonomous robot submarine on six missions beneath an …