International: Antarctic/Arctic
Global sea ice levels just hit a new record low
10 Mar 2025
Sea ice cover in both the Antarctic and Arctic remained far below average throughout February as global average temperatures linger near record highs.
World's largest iceberg runs aground off remote island
7 Mar 2025
The world's largest iceberg has run aground in shallow waters off the remote British island of South Georgia, home to millions of penguins and seals.
Massive methane leaks detected in Antarctica, posing potential risks for global warming
14 Feb 2025
A Spanish scientific expedition has discovered columns of gas emerging from the seabed. Geologists also warn about the possibility of huge landslides that could generate tsunamis.
Arctic geoengineering experiment shuts down over environmental risks
7 Feb 2025
US-based nonprofit Arctic Ice Project has cancelled tests in Alaska because of potential disruption to the food chain.
Arctic tundra is now emitting more carbon than it absorbs, US agency says
12 Dec 2024
The drastic shift is driven by frequent wildfires, pushing surface air temperatures to second-warmest on record since 1900.
Parts of Antarctica are turning green faster than we thought from climate change, 'shocked' scientists say
8 Oct 2024
Satellite images show the area covered by vegetation has grown dramatically and is now 10 times larger than it was four decades ago and the rate of change is speeding up.
Study of cloud movement in the Arctic could provide better understanding of climate change
12 Sep 2024
Special features of the Arctic climate, such as the strong reflection of the sun's rays off the light snow or the low position of the sun, amplify global warming in the Arctic.
Thwaites Glacier won’t collapse like dominoes as feared, study finds, but that doesn’t mean the ‘Doomsday Glacier’ is stable
28 Aug 2024
Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier got its nickname the “Doomsday Glacier” for its potential to flood coastlines around the world if it collapsed.
Antarctic temperatures rise 10C above average in near record heatwave
5 Aug 2024
Ground temperatures across great swathes of the ice sheets of Antarctica have soared an average of 10C above normal over the past month, in what has been described as a near record heatwave.
Arctic warming plays a devastating role in accelerating global heating
29 Jul 2024
Buried beneath the icy surface of the Arctic tundra lie secrets that hold the key to understanding global climate patterns and their changes over time.
Arctic 'dirty fuel' ban for ships comes into force
2 Jul 2024
A ban on the dirtiest and most climate-damaging fuel for ships has come into effect in Arctic waters.
Giant viruses discovered in arctic ice could slow sea-level rise
27 Jun 2024
Hordes of giant viruses are living on the world's second-largest body of ice — and may be slowing the impacts of climate change.
We’ve underestimated the ‘Doomsday’ glacier - and the consequences could be devastating
23 May 2024
The Thwaites Glacier, dubbed ‘Doomsday’, could trigger a two-foot rise in global sea levels if it melts completely.
‘Simply mind-boggling’: world record temperature jump in Antarctic raises fears of catastrophe
12 Apr 2024
An unprecedented leap of 38.5C in the coldest place on Earth is a harbinger of a disaster for humans and the local ecosystem.
Arctic could be ‘ice-free’ within a decade, scientists warn
8 Mar 2024
The Arctic could become ice-free for the first time on a late August or early September day in the 2020s or 2030s, according to a new peer reviewed study from researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Climate change: 'Ice bumps' reveal history of Antarctic melting
29 Feb 2024
Scientists say they now have a better idea of exactly where and when the margin of Antarctica started melting.
World's biggest iceberg three times the size of New York City is escaping Antarctica after almost 40 years
29 Nov 2023
The gigantic iceberg A23a, which broke off from Antarctica in 1986, is finally moving away from the icy continent after being stuck on the seafloor for decades.
The collapse of this Antarctic ice sheet is now 'unavoidable', even if emissions are controlled
25 Oct 2023
A study has found melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will continue to accelerate this century, at a speed three times faster than during the 20th century.
Scientists call for urgent emissions reductions as Antarctic sea ice hits record low
4 Oct 2023
New Zealand scientists are calling for an immediate and dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, in response to record low sea ice levels in Antarctica this year.
Antarctic sea-ice at 'mind-blowing' low alarms experts
19 Sep 2023
The sea-ice surrounding Antarctica is well below any previous recorded winter level, satellite data shows, a worrying new benchmark for a region that once seemed resistant to global warming.
Landmark research could open the door to climate protections
13 Sep 2023
Lawyers said it was impossible to tie a specific dose of greenhouse gases to polar bear survival. They were wrong.
Antarctica warming much faster than models predicted in ‘deeply concerning’ sign for sea levels
8 Sep 2023
Study finds ‘direct evidence’ of polar amplification on continent as scientists warn of implications of ice loss.
Arctic ocean voyage to uncover climate change impacts on ocean
28 Aug 2023
Europe’s largest wooden schooner will set sail on a pioneering research mission, to build greater scientific understanding of the marine environment in the Arctic and how climate change is affecting oceans.
‘Virtually certain’ extreme Antarctic events will get worse without drastic action, scientists warn
9 Aug 2023
Record low sea ice levels, the collapse of ice shelves, and surface temperatures 38.5C above average cited as concerns in new review.
Why is there an Argentina-sized chunk missing from the Antarctic?
31 Jul 2023
As red-hot oceans amplify deadly heat waves, storms and floods on land, exactly what’s going on beneath the waves remains a big unknown.
Antarctic sea ice levels dive in 'five-sigma event', as experts flag worsening consequences for planet
25 Jul 2023
This winter has confirmed what scientists had feared — the sea ice around Antarctica is in sharp decline, with experts now concerned it may not recover.
New methane source: groundwater springs of Norway
7 Jul 2023
Climate change has exposed a new source of methane in the Arctic: groundwater springs.
Arctic summer could be practically sea-ice-free by the 2030s
8 Jun 2023
In a new study, scientists found that the climate milestone could come about a decade sooner than anticipated, even if planet-warming emissions are gradually reduced.
Antarctic sea ice hits another record low
31 May 2023
Antarctica's sea ice is now reforming as the continent moves deeper into the austral winter, but it's currently the smallest it has ever been for this time of year on record.
The Arctic is burning — and turning up the heat on the planet
11 May 2023
The Far North (Arctic) is both a massive carbon sink and a potent environmental time bomb. The region stores a huge amount of CO2 in boreal forests and underlying soils.
Could climate change fuel war in the Arctic?
1 May 2023
Climate change is warming the Arctic up to 7 times faster than the rest of the planet. And it’s threatening peace as well as the wildlife.
‘Phenomenal’ logjam in the Canadian Arctic stores millions of tonnes of carbon: study
1 May 2023
Researchers say they have mapped the world’s largest known cumulative logjam in the Canadian Arctic and it holds millions of tonnes of carbon, representing an important but understudied part of the carbon cycle.
Climate change is transforming the Arctic
22 Dec 2022
A typhoon, smoke from wildfires and increasing rain are not what most imagine when thinking of the Arctic. Yet these are some of the climate-driven events included in a detailed annual update on the transformation of the once reliably frozen, snow-covered region which is heating up faster than any other part of the world.
Future emissions from ‘country of permafrost’ potentially devastating
18 Oct 2022
By the end of this century, permafrost in the rapidly warming Arctic will likely emit as much carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere as a large industrial nation, and potentially more than the U.S. has emitted since the start of the industrial revolution.
Greenland's culture shifts as Arctic heats up
13 Oct 2022
Icebergs bigger than city blocks loom through the mist as Kaleeraq Mathaeussen reels in halibut from the frigid waters one by one.
Zombie ice from Greenland will raise sea level 27 centimetres
1 Sep 2022
Greenland’s rapidly melting ice sheet will eventually raise global sea level by at least 27 centimeters -- more than twice as much as previously forecast — according to a recent study.
Lakes are disappearing across the Arctic as the climate crisis worsens: Study
1 Sep 2022
The Arctic has experienced loss before. As the area warms almost four times more quickly than the rest of the world, glaciers melt, wildlife dies, and habitat loss is accelerating at an unprecedented rate.
Warming climate upends Arctic mining town
23 Jun 2022
Tor Selnes owes his life to a lamp. He miraculously survived a fatal avalanche that shed light on the vulnerability of Svalbard, a region warming faster than anywhere else, to human-caused climate change.
Despite mining ban, Russia scours Antarctica for massive fossil fuel deposits
20 May 2022
The Kremlin’s mineral explorer says it has found a stunning 500 billion barrels of oil and gas below the Southern Ocean’s climate-threatened waters. Tapping these mooted reserves would not only hamper global efforts to fight the climate crisis. Known for flouting major agreements, a defiant Russia in the Antarctic could destroy the decades-long protected status of Earth’s last unmined frontier.
Scientists alarmed as east Antarctic ice shelf collapses
29 Mar 2022
A New-York-City-sized ice shelf has collapsed in East Antarctica, much to the alarm of scientists who thought the region was substantially protected from the impacts of climate change, unlike the more vulnerable western reaches of the continent.
Arctic sea ice winter peak in 2022 is 10th lowest on record
24 Mar 2022
Arctic sea ice has reached its maximum extent for the year, peaking at 14.88m square kilometres (km2) on 25 February. It is the 10th smallest winter peak in the 44-year satellite record.
Antarctica will likely set an alarming new record this year: new data
23 Feb 2022
As surging global temperatures alter the landscape of the Arctic, scientists are observing what's shaping up to be a new record at the other end of the globe.
Giant iceberg blocks scientists’ study of ‘Doomsday Glacier’
4 Feb 2022
Antarctica’s so-called Doomsday Glacier, nicknamed because it is huge and coming apart, is mostly thwarting an international effort to figure out how dangerously vulnerable it is.
Surge in Arctic temperatures melting Greenland's ice
2 Aug 2021
Greenland is experiencing its most significant melting event of the year as temperatures in the Arctic surge. The amount of ice that melted on Tuesday alone would be enough to cover the entire state of Florida in two inches of water.
Lorde urges climate action ahead of new book on Antarctica trip
27 Nov 2020
Kiwi singer Lorde has written an impassioned entreaty for the world to face the climate emergency head-on after visiting Antarctica.
Greenland’s ice loss likely to hit 12,000-year high
6 Oct 2020
By the end of this century Greenland’s ice loss will probably be higher than in any century during the last 12,000 years.
Melting Arctic needs new name to match reality
17 Sep 2020
Change in the far north is happening so fast that soon the Arctic won’t be arctic any more.
ANTARCTICA: 60% of ice shelves at risk
28 Aug 2020
Approximately 60% of Antarctica’s ice shelves could be vulnerable to fracture, accelerating the loss of the Antarctic ice sheet and increasing sea-level rise, according to a paper.
Greenland's ice sheet at 'point of no return'
18 Aug 2020
Greenland's ice sheet has reached the point of no return and would continue to melt even if the climate crisis were halted, scientists are warning.
Earth's biggest ice sheet more vulnerable than thought
28 Jul 2020
Shocking evidence suggests that the last time the East Antarctic ice sheet collapsed, it added more than three metres to sea level rise, and that it’s likely to happen again.
$800m pledge keeps Australia's green hydrogen dream alive
Fri 21 Mar 2025
The Albanese Labor government has pledged more than $800 million in production incentives to a green hydrogen development in remote Western Australia, defying mounting scepticism over the future of the country's green fuel industry.
Trump is tackling every 'emergency' except the important one: climate change
Fri 21 Mar 2025
To hear President Trump describe it, the U.S. is beset by emergencies. We allegedly have an energy emergency, a government waste emergency and a foreign trade emergency.
China's BYD launches EV charging system it says works nearly as fast as a fill up
Wed 19 Mar 2025
China's energy and auto giant BYD has announced an ultra fast EV charging system that it says is nearly as quick as a fill up at the pumps.
Germany’s €100bn climate funding
Today 10:45am
Germany’s parliament has voted to create a €500bn defence and infrastructure fund and relax “constitutionally-protected debt rules,” with “the last-minute backing of the Greens” in return for guarantees that €100bn of the funds destined for infrastructure would be allocated for climate and economic transformation investments.
UK: new national forest to see 20 million trees planted
Today 10:45am
Twenty million trees will be planted and 2,500 hectares (6,178 acres) of new woodland created in the west of England as part of a "national forest" drive, the government has announced.
Canada: Carney kills consumer carbon tax in first move as prime minister
Tue 18 Mar 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney wasted little time in removing a potent point of attack for the Conservatives in recent years: the consumer carbon tax.
India records severe heat weeks ahead of schedule
Today 10:45am
Severe heatwave conditions have begun sweeping across eastern and western India unusually early in the season, with temperatures exceeding 40°C in several regions.
Nauru sells citizenship to help fund relocations as sea levels rise
27 Feb 2025
A new 'golden passport' scheme aims to raise funds to relocate people inland as climate change raises sea levels.
How much do rich nations owe Africa for climate damage?
27 Feb 2025
Wealthy nations owe African countries some 50 times more for climate damage than the debt Africa owes them, ActionAid report says.
Peruvian farmer goes head to head with German energy giant in landmark climate case
Wed 19 Mar 2025
A landmark climate lawsuit opens in a German court Monday, as a Peruvian farmer sues a German energy giant over the threat to his home from a mountain lake overflowing with glacier meltwater.
COP29 chief exec filmed promoting fossil fuel deals
11 Nov 2024
A senior official at COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan appears to have used his role to arrange a meeting to discuss potential fossil fuel deals.
