BAS-Arctic Working Group
Working Group purpose
The Arctic Working Group is a group of more than 60 BAS scientists and operations staff who are currently working in the Arctic or have aspirations to work there. The AWG was started in 2018 to bring together researchers in different fields to share their experiences of Arctic research, to enable new collaborations, and to maximise the potential output of this group by coordinating efforts and knowledge regarding Arctic projects, funding calls and logistics.
Terms of Reference
Content coming soon
Our priorities
Content coming soon
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 …
SDOO
Abrupt warming episodes punctuate Greenland ice core records throughout the last glacial period. These events were first identified in two Greenland stable water isotope records (Dansgaard et al., 1993), and …
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 …
TEA-COSI
TEA_COSI assesses Arctic Sea-ice which has an important impact on currents and ocean circulations around the globe
UKESM-BAS
Reliable projections of the Earth’s climate are at the heart of scientific support for international efforts to address global change. There is increasing recognition that reliable projections require that physical …
ESA IAP ArcticSat project
Situational awareness in the Arctic
ICE-ARC
physicists, chemists, biologists, economists, and sociologists from 21 institutes in 11 countries across Europe assess the rapid retreat and collapse of Arctic sea-ice cover
SIOS
Svalbard Integrated Earth Observing System (SIOS) is an international infrastructure project. There are 26 partners from Europe and Asia involved. The essential objective is to establish better coordinated services for …
SEANA
Global shipping is undergoing significant changes. In January 2020 the maximum sulphur emission by ships in international waters will reduce from 3.5% to 0.5% by mass, as a result of …
Data As Art
DATA AS ART is an ongoing science & art project in development at NERC’s British Antarctic Survey (BAS). It visualises science data (in its widest definition), to create stunning and …
EISCAT Science Support
The UK EISCAT support group (UKESG) is a collaboration between the British Antarctic Survey and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, funded via the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) EISCAT, the …
Iceland Greenland seas Project
PI: Ian Renfrew (University of East Anglia) CO-I’s: Tom Bracegirdle, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Alexandra Weiss PDRA’s: Andrew Elvidge (University of East Anglia), James Pope NERC Grant: NE/N009924/1 Project Partners: Robert Pickart …
ACSIS
Major changes are occurring across the North Atlantic climate system: in the ocean and atmosphere temperatures and circulation, in sea ice thickness and extent, and in key atmospheric constituents such …
Increasing ship traffic in Inuit Nunangat
17 August, 2023
Researchers from British Antarctic Survey are heading to the Canadian Arctic this week to learn more about the impacts of increasing ship traffic in Inuit Nunangat. In recent years, climate …
Poet Laureate visits UK Arctic Research Station
14 July, 2023
The UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage CBE has travelled to the UK Arctic Research Station, where he will create new works inspired by the visit. While hosted at the UK …
Britain’s Arctic Research Station celebrates 30 years of science and monitoring climate change
28 September, 2021
The Arctic Station in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard in Norway, the UK’s permanent Arctic research facility, celebrates its 30 years anniversary this week (Tuesday 28 September) as it continues to undertake critical …
BAS celebrates International Day of Women and Girls in Science
11 February, 2022 by 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 …
Extreme warm events in the South Orkney Islands, Southern Ocean: Compounding influence of atmospheric rivers and föhn conditions
18 September, 2023 by Andrew Orr, Ella Gilbert, Hua Lu, John King, Steve Colwell, Thomas Bracegirdle, Tony Phillips
Extreme warm events in the South Orkney Islands (SOIs) are investigated using synoptic observations from Signy and Orcadas stations for 1947-1994 and 1956-2019, respectively. Defining the extremes as temperatures exceeding…Reconstructing the Antarctic ice-sheet shape at the Last Glacial Maximum using ice-core data
18 September, 2023 by Louise Sime
The Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) is the Earth’s largest store of frozen water; understanding how it changed in the past allows us to improve projections of how it, and sea…Arctic warming by abundant fine sea salt aerosols from blowing snow
4 September, 2023 by Ananth Ranjithkumar, Markus Frey, Xin Yang
The Arctic warms nearly four times faster than the global average, and aerosols play an increasingly important role in Arctic climate change. In the Arctic, sea salt is a major…Read more on Arctic warming by abundant fine sea salt aerosols from blowing snow
Extreme environments as sources of fungal endophytes mitigating climate change impacts on crops in Mediterranean-type ecosystems
4 September, 2023 by Kevin Newsham
Societal Impact Statement: Climate change is predicted to increase drought and soil salinity in Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs), posing a significant threat to global food security. Genetic modification of crops to…Communities of culturable freshwater fungi present in Antarctic lakes and detection of their low-temperature-active enzymes
1 September, 2023 by Peter Convey
We evaluated the diversity and enzymatic activities of culturable fungi recovered from cotton baits submerged for 2 years in Hennequin Lake, King George Island, and from benthic biofilms in Kroner…Investigating aerial diversity of non-fungal eukaryotes across a 40º latitudinal transect using DNA metabarcoding
1 September, 2023 by Peter Convey
The high number of bipolar and widespread bryophyte and microbial taxa in the Antarctic flora suggests the effective Long-Distance Dispersal (LDD) of spores and other propagules from lower latitudes and…Expanding Antarctic biogeography: microbial ecology of Antarctic island soils
1 September, 2023 by Peter Convey
The majority of islands surrounding the Antarctic continent are poorly characterized in terms of microbial macroecology due to their remote locations, geographical isolation and access difficulties. The 2016/2017 Antarctic Circumnavigation…Read more on Expanding Antarctic biogeography: microbial ecology of Antarctic island soils
Unsupervised machine learning detection of iceberg populations within sea ice from dual-polarisation SAR imagery
1 September, 2023 by Andrew Fleming, Anita Faul, Ben Evans, David Vaughan, Scott Hosking
Accurate quantification of iceberg populations is essential to inform estimates of Southern Ocean freshwater and heat balances as well as shipping hazards. The automated operational monitoring of icebergs remains challenging,…First record of the introduced ladybird beetle, Coccinella undecimpunctata Linnaeus (1758), on South Georgia (sub-Antarctic)
1 September, 2023 by Peter Convey
Biological invasions represent a growing threat to islands and their biodiversity across the world. The isolated sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic Ocean is a highly protected…Sequence stratigraphy of a wave-dominated, tidally influenced delta in the Danian of Seymour Island, Antarctica: An integrated sedimentological–palaeoecological approach
30 August, 2023 by Alistair Crame, Jane Francis, Rowan Whittle, Vanessa Bowman
Lower Paleocene marine siliciclastics of the Sobral Formation (Seymour Island, Antarctica) form an important component of a key southern high latitude reference section for the Maastrichtian–Eocene. The formation comprises a…Separating contributions to plasma vorticity in the high-latitude ionosphere from large-scale convection and meso-scale turbulence
29 August, 2023 by Gareth Chisham, Mervyn Freeman
Measurements of ionospheric flow vorticity can be used for studying ionospheric plasma transport processes, such as convection and turbulence, over a wide range of spatial scales. Here, we analyse probability…Sea-ice decline could keep zooplankton deeper for longer
28 August, 2023 by Gaelle Veyssiere, Jeremy Wilkinson
As Arctic sea ice deteriorates, more light enters the ocean, causing largely unknown effects on the ecosystem. Using an autonomous biophysical observatory, we recorded zooplankton vertical distribution under Arctic sea…Read more on Sea-ice decline could keep zooplankton deeper for longer
Seasonal cycles of biogeochemical fluxes in the Scotia Sea, Southern Ocean: A stable isotope approach
25 August, 2023 by Anna Belcher, Clara Manno, Kate Hendry
The biological carbon pump is responsible for much of the decadal variability in the ocean carbon dioxide (CO2) sink, driving the transfer of carbon from the atmosphere to the deep…Sea Butterflies Defend Their Homes Against an Acidic Ocean
25 August, 2023 by Clara Manno, Victoria Peck
We all know that carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced from burning fossil fuels, and that it contributes to global warming. But have you heard about the “evil twin” of global…Read more on Sea Butterflies Defend Their Homes Against an Acidic Ocean
Record low 2022 Antarctic sea ice led to catastrophic breeding failure of emperor penguins
24 August, 2023 by Norman Ratcliffe, Peter Fretwell
The spring season of 2022 saw record low sea ice extent in Antarctica that persisted throughout the year. At the beginning of December, the Antarctic sea ice extent was tracking…Contrasting impacts of non-native isopods and springtails on ecosystem processes under simulated Antarctic climate conditions
22 August, 2023 by Peter Convey
Climate change, coupled with the introduction of non-native organisms, represent major threats to the functioning of ecosystems, especially in species-poor communities such as polar terrestrial ecosystems. In this laboratory study,…The downstream impacts of dams on the seasonally flooded riverine forests of the Mekong River in northeastern Cambodia
22 August, 2023 by Michael Thorne
On the Mekong River, north of Stung Treng town in northeastern Cambodia, and below the border with Laos, lies an area of riverine seasonally flooded forest designated as an internationally…Harnessing Diesel-Degrading Potential of an Antarctic Microalga from Greenwich Island and Its Physiological Adaptation
17 August, 2023 by Peter Convey
Phytoremediation is a plant-based approach to extract, stabilise, eliminate, or render pollutants into less harmful form. The study highlights the use of a native polar microalga as a means of…Antarctic extreme events
8 August, 2023 by Caroline Holmes, Jeremy Wilkinson, Kevin Hughes, Michael Meredith, Peter Convey, Thomas Bracegirdle
There is increasing evidence that fossil-fuel burning, and consequential global heating of 1.1°C to date, has led to the increased occurrence and severity of extreme environmental events. It is well…
