Latest antarctic Stories
Thin-billed prions select their molting grounds individuallyNot only land birds, but also some seabirds, cover enormous distances during migration: the sooty shearwater, for example, circumnavigates the earth one and a half times on its travels. Despite this, relatively little is known about the migratory behavior of seabirds as compared with that of their land-living counterparts. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology have studied the migratory behavior of thin-billed...
Rock formations buffer pika from warming temperaturesNew research addressing climate change questions, a priority focus of the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, documents that American pika in the Sierra Nevada and southwestern Great Basin are thriving and persist in a wider range of temperatures than previously discovered. Results were recently published in a paper titled "Distribution and Climatic Relationships of the American Pika (Ochotona princeps) in the...
Ice shelves are retreating in the southern section of the Antarctic Peninsula due to climate change. This could result in glacier retreat and sea-level rise if warming continues, threatening coastal communities and low-lying islands worldwide.Research by the U.S. Geological Survey is the first to document that every ice front in the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula has been retreating overall from 1947 to 2009, with the most dramatic changes occurring since 1990. The USGS previously...
An expedition to the Antarctic ice shelf to restore explorer Ernest Shackleton's century old expedition site has turned up five crates of whiskey and brandy that have been preserved in the ice for more than 100 years. "To our amazement we found five crates, three labeled as containing whiskey and two labeled as containing brandy," Al Fastier, of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust, told AFP. The real bonus was the unexpected discovery of the contents of the brandy crates, one labeled...
The hole in the ozone layer is now steadily closing, but its repair could actually increase warming in the southern hemisphere, according to scientists at the University of Leeds.The Antarctic ozone hole was once regarded as one of the biggest environmental threats, but the discovery of a previously undiscovered feedback shows that it has instead helped to shield this region from carbon-induced warming over the past two decades.High-speed winds in the area beneath the hole have led to the...
As an ongoing whaling dispute between Japan and Australia heats up, lawmakers of Japan's ruling party are rethinking a possible defense logistics accord between the two nations, the AFP news agency reported. The lawmakers' concerns follow harassment early this month by anti-whaling activists of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society of a Japanese whaling fleet on its annual hunt for hundreds of whales in Antarctic waters.Australia opposes the hunts, and has threatened international legal...
The 40,000 'eco-tourists' who visit the South Pole every year cause enormous greenhouse gas emissions. The visitors to the snow-covered landmass are endangering not just the Antarctic region by their actions, but also the rest of the world. Dutch researcher Machiel Lamers has investigated the impacts of increased tourism on Antarctica and how this impact could be curbed.Tourism is a 'boom industry' in Antarctica. Where, a mere 20 years or so ago, just a few hundred tourists would set off...
Plants in subarctic Quebec community don't always benefit from application of fertilizerCompanies and communities trying to restore vegetation on damaged northern landscapes should think twice about using fertilizer to stimulate growth according to new research published in the November issue of Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research.Not all plants benefit from the use of fertilizers. In fact, some do worse.Stéphane Boudreau, a Professor of Ecology at Université Laval, and two colleagues...
A new study of Pacific Ocean sediments off the coast of Chile has found that offshore waters experienced systematic oxygen depletion during the rapid warming of the Antarctic following the last "glacial maximum" period 20,000 years ago.The findings are intriguing as scientists are exploring whether climate change may be contributing to outbreaks of hypoxia "“ or extremely low oxygen levels "“ along the near-shore regions of South America and the Pacific Northwest of the United...
A futuristic powerboat left Australia on Tuesday en route to Antarctic seas on a mission to harass Japanese whalers.The vessel, named the "Ady Gil" is a futuristic looking boat that resembles something from a Batman film. It was named for the ships benefactor, Ady Gil, who helped acquire the vessel. On October 17, The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society unveiled the Ady Gil as its newest "ocean defense vessel." The boat was previously known as the Earthrace, after setting the world record for...
Latest antarctic Reference Libraries
The Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis), also known as the southern minke whale, is one of two minke whales within the Mysticeti suborder, which contains baleen and rorqual whales. It can be found in every ocean in the southern hemisphere, residing in Antarctic waters in the summer months and northern waters in the winter months, where its range overlaps that the smaller common minke whale. The Antarctic minke whale was once classified with the common minke whale as a single...
Antarctica is the Earths southernmost continent; it contains the geographic South Pole. It’s situated in the Antarctic area of the Southern Hemisphere, almost completely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is bordered by the Southern Ocean. It’s the fifth-largest continent at 5.4 million sq miles. On average, it is the driest, coldest, and windiest continent as well as having the highest average elevation of all the continents. Considered a desert, the annual precipitation is only 8...
The Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) is a large true seal in the Lobodontini tribe. It is native to Antarctica, with its range consisting of a large “ring” that surrounds Antarctica. This seal will spend most of its time in the water instead of on land. The Weddell seal appears on the IUCN Red List with a conservation status of “Least Concern”. It is estimated this seal numbers over 800,000 individuals in the wild. First discovered in 1820s by a British sealing captain...
The crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophagus) is a true seal that can be found around the whole of Antarctica. Its range also includes small areas in South America, New Zealand, Africa, and Australia. It resides on the pack ice zone for the entire year, even as it shifts seasonally, and prefers to stay in the continental shelf area in water with a depth of less than 1,968 feet. Because the populations are so wide spread and are sufficiently mixed, there have been no subspecies found. Because...
The subantarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus tropicalis) was described by John Edward Gray, in 1872, when he recovered an individual from Australia, and this was the cause of the improper name of tropicalis. This seal can be found mainly in southern areas of the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It has a wide range, but prefers to breed in areas that are more northern than the Antarctic fur seal, as its name indicates. Gough Island located in the South Atlantic and Ile Amsterdam located in the...
