Latest Antarctic Peninsula Stories

In an effort to seek clues to world ocean level rises in one of the most inaccessible places on earth, scientists are sending a yellow robot submarine to dive under an ice shelf in Antarctica.A U.S. research vessel will launch the 22 ft submarine to probe the underside of the ice at the end of the Pine Island glacier, which is moving faster than any other in Antarctica and already brings more water to the oceans than Europe's Rhine River.Large icebergs have been breaking off Antarctica's ice...

New rifts have developed on the Wilkins Ice Shelf that could lead to the opening of the ice bridge that has been preventing the ice shelf from disintegrating and breaking away from the Antarctic Peninsula.The ice bridge connects the Wilkins Ice Shelf to two islands, Charcot and Latady. As seen in the Envisat image here acquired on 26 November 2008, new rifts (denoted by colorful lines and dates of the events) have formed to the east of Latady Island and appear to be moving in a northerly...

Scientists from University of Edinburgh and the British Antarctic Survey said Thursday they will visit a vulnerable area of the Antarctic shelf later this year to determine if it might break apart and trigger a rise in sea levels in the coming years.The team will drill into the ice and use radars on the Larsen C ice shelf, located on the Antarctic peninsula nearest South America. In 1995, Larsen A, a chunk of the shelf, broke off. Another part, Larsen B, broke away in 2002. The remaining...

Over half of all colonies of penguins in Antarctica face a decline or total wipe out if the earth's temperature rises by just 2 degrees Celsius, a new report said on Thursday. "The problem is very serious. Antarctica and the Arctic are the most threatened regions from climate change," said Juan Casavelos, WWF's Antarctic Climate Change Coordinator.In the WWF report titled "2 deg C is Too Much" experts said unless nations slash carbon emissions, the world would warm by an...

Scientists in Britain have discovered a new global warming threat to marine life in Antarctica -- breakaway icebergs that destroy any life in their path. Shallow habitats of species such as giant sea spiders, Antarctic worms, sea urchins and corals face growing risk from icebergs as they tear up the sea floor, The Times of London reported Friday. The findings indicate climate change risks go beyond rising ocean temperatures, the British Antarctic Survey team said. Although near-shore...

Wilkins Ice Shelf has experienced further break-up with an area of about 160 km² breaking off from 30 May to 31 May 2008. ESA's Envisat satellite captured the event "“ the first ever-documented episode to occur in winter. Wilkins Ice Shelf, a broad plate of floating ice south of South America on the Antarctic Peninsula, is connected to two islands, Charcot and Latady. In February 2008, an area of about 400 km² broke off from the ice shelf, narrowing the connection down to a 6 km...

A vast ice shelf hanging on by a thin strip looks to be the next chunk to break off from the Antarctic Peninsula, the latest sign of global warming's impact on Earth's southernmost continent. Scientists are shocked by the rapid change of events. Glaciologist Ted Scambos of the University of Colorado was monitoring satellite images of the Wilkins Ice Shelf and spotted a huge iceberg measuring 25 miles by 1.5 miles (41 kilometers by 2.5 kilometers) that appeared to have broken...

British Antarctic Survey has captured dramatic satellite and video images of an Antarctic ice shelf that looks set to be the latest to break out from the Antarctic Peninsula. A large part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula is now supported only by a thin strip of ice hanging between two islands. It is another identifiable impact of climate change on the Antarctic environment. Scientists monitoring satellite images of the Wilkins Ice Shelf spotted that a huge (41 by 2.5 km)...

Krill living and feeding down to depths of 3,000 metersScientists have discovered Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) living and feeding down to depths of 3000 meters in the waters around the Antarctic Peninsula. Until now this shrimp-like crustacean was thought to live only in the upper ocean. The discovery completely changes scientists' understanding of the major food source for fish, squid, penguins, seals and whales. Reporting this week in the journal Current Biology, scientists from...

An army of voracious giant crabs is on the brink of invading the shallow seas off Antarctica, where an array of unique, almost prehistoric sealife has evolved for millions of years without any predators. Scientists warned yesterday that global warming was raising the temperature of the seas, allowing the crabs to creep ever higher up the slope leading to the continental shelf. These waters, whose temperature is about freezing point, are home to fish with anti-freeze proteins in their...