Latest Antarctic Peninsula Stories

According to the UN Environmental Program, an enormous breakaway piece of Antarctica's ice shelf could amplify the already significant effects of global warming in the region.The 40-kilometer (25-mile) ice bridge "“ which was the Wilkins Ice Shelf's last bridge to the coast "“ has now completely broken off and can be seen in satellite images as a free-floating island of ice roughly the size of Jamaica. Before it starting melting in the early 1990's, Wilkins Ice Shelf had an area of...

An ice bridge in the Antarctic, which linked a shelf of ice the size of Jamaica to two islands, has collapsed.According to scientists, the rupture provides further evidence that climate change is occurring in the region.Researchers also fear that the Wilkins Ice Shelf, located on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, could be on the brink of breaking away.The bridge was regarded by scientists as an important barrier holding the shelf structure in place.The removal of the bridge will...

The Wilkins Ice Shelf is at risk of partly breaking away from the Antarctic Peninsula as the ice bridge that connects it to Charcot and Latady Islands looks set to collapse. The beginning of what appears to be the demise of the ice bridge began this week when new rifts forming along its centre axis resulted in a large block of ice breaking away. The Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) images acquired on 2 April by ESA's Envisat satellite confirm that the rifts are quickly expanding...

A U.S.-led study has found climate change on the Antarctic Peninsula -- one of the most rapidly warming spots on Earth -- is now affecting microscopic life. Researchers using detailed satellite data have discovered global warming is not only affecting just the penguins at the top of the food chain, but simultaneously life at the base of the ecosystem. The researchers from the National Science Foundation's LTER -- Long Term Ecological Research program -- led by Hugh Ducklow of the Marine...

Scientists have long established that the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming spots on Earth. Now, new research using detailed satellite data indicates that the changing climate is affecting not just the penguins at the apex of the food chain, but simultaneously the microscopic life that is the base of the ecosystem.The research was published in the March 13 edition of Science magazine by researchers with the National Science Foundation's (NSF) LTER (Long Term Ecological...

On Antarctic research bases, chefs rely on imported and often frozen food in order to feed crewmembers.The 1959 Antarctic Treaty sets aside the continent as a nature reserve devoted to peace and science and bases have, over the years, stopped eating fresh wildlife. Fresh seal brains, penguin eggs or grilled cormorant were once considered the "delicacies of the Antarctic," but are now off the menu."You have to use what you've got in the store. Frozen stuff, tinned stuff and if...

The Antarctic Peninsula juts into the Southern Ocean, reaching farther north than any other part of the continent. The southernmost reach of global warming was believed to be limited to this narrow strip of land, while the rest of the continent was presumed to be cooling or stable.Not so, according to a new analysis involving NASA data. In fact, the study has confirmed a trend suspected by some climate scientists."Everyone knows it has been warming on the Antarctic Peninsula, where there...

A large ice shelf is near collapse in Antarctica, held together only by a small strip of ice as global warming continues to alter the map of the frozen continent."We've come to the Wilkins Ice Shelf to see its final death throes," glaciologist David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) told Reuters after his red Twin Otter plane landed near the shelf's narrowest section."It really could go at any minute," he said, adding that the ice bridge could linger weeks or...

Increased rainfall on the Antarctic Peninsula is rapidly melting glaciers like the Sheldon, which has recoiled 1.2 miles in 20 years and is raising world sea levels, a leading expert announced."Rain is very corrosive to glaciers and at least in part the reason this glacier is retreating," said David Vaughan, a British Antarctic Survey glaciologist."The glacier has retreated since 1989 and left this open water. That's the same pattern for 87 percent of 400 glaciers along the...

Scientists say the Antarctic Peninsula's most fearsome land predator is a reddish bug called the Rhagidia mite.Although the continent is best known for penguins, seals and whales, the tiny mite is considered it's top predator.Now researchers are stepping up their study of these miniscule creatures in Antarctica for possible early warnings about how climate change may disrupt life around the planet in coming decades.Pete Convey, a biologist at the British Antarctic Survey, said Antarctica is...