International: Antarctic/Arctic
Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica
13 Oct 2025
Planet-heating methane is escaping from cracks in the Antarctic seabed as the region warms, with new seeps being discovered at an “astonishing rate".
Antarctic sea ice winter peak in 2025 is third smallest on record
3 Oct 2025
Provisional data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) shows that Antarctic sea ice reached a winter maximum of 17.81m square kilometres (km2) on 17 September.
Iconic Antarctic species at risk amid 'regime shift', with 'rapid and self-perpetuating changes'
22 Aug 2025
Scientists say there is emerging evidence of abrupt and potentially unstoppable changes in the Antarctic environment.
Why the recent slowdown in Arctic sea ice loss is only temporary
21 Aug 2025
Climate models suggest that when the slowdown inevitably ends, the rate of sea ice loss could rapidly accelerate.
Smoke from boreal wildfires could cool the Arctic
18 Aug 2025
But the damage such blazes cause outweighs their benefits
Nordic countries hit by ‘truly unprecedented’ heatwave
5 Aug 2025
Scientists have recorded the longest streak of temperatures higher than 30C in the region in records going back to 1961.
The struggle for control of the Arctic is accelerating - and it's riskier than ever
11 Jul 2025
As the battle for one of the world’s coldest places heats up, an increasingly fragile security balance may be breaking down, leading to an escalating arms race.
Melting glaciers and ice caps could unleash wave of volcanic eruptions, study says
9 Jul 2025
Research in Chile suggests the climate crisis makes eruptions more likely and explosive, and warns of Antarctica risk.
I just returned from Antarctica: climate change isn’t some far-off problem – it’s here and hitting hard
13 May 2025
Antarctica is often viewed as the last truly remote place on Earth – frozen, wild and untouched. But is it really as untouched as it seems?
Arctic ends winter with lowest sea ice cover on record – scientists
31 Mar 2025
The new record shows how Arctic sea ice has ‘fundamentally changed’ from earlier decades, scientists said.
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.
Companies could have profits from breaking environment laws stripped under Australian reforms
23 Oct 2025
The Albanese government wants the power to strip companies of any financial gains made from breaking environment laws, as part of a package of landmark reforms to be put before parliament in the next two weeks.
ExxonMobil sues California over climate disclosure laws
Tue 28 Oct 2025
Exxon Mobil Corporation is suing the state of California over a pair of 2023 climate disclosure laws that the company says infringe upon its free speech rights, namely by forcing it to embrace the message that large companies are uniquely to blame for climate change.
In China, climate litigation starts with the state
16 Oct 2025
With thousands of dedicated courts and more than a million recent cases, environmental and climate litigation is booming in China, but it often looks different to the trend seen elsewhere.
Norway faces European Court climate ruling over oil licences
Wed 29 Oct 2025
The European Court of Human Rights will decide on Tuesday if Norway breached its climate obligations when it awarded Arctic oil exploration licenses in 2016.
UK Prime Minister will attend Brazil climate summit
21 Oct 2025
Keir Starmer will travel to the Amazon rainforest for the COP30 United Nations climate summit next month, Downing Street has confirmed, after weeks of speculation that he would not.
Renewables are a global economic engine, not a culture war threat
2 Oct 2025
Energy companies are learning this lesson faster than Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
Most Cambodia and Laos tree cover loss in 2024 happened inside protected areas
Wed 29 Oct 2025
In Cambodia, 56% of the nation’s tree cover loss was recorded within its protected area network last year. In Laos, the figure was 64%.
Mystery heatwave warms Pacific Ocean to new record
21 Oct 2025
The waters of the north Pacific have had their warmest summer on record, according to BBC analysis of a mysterious marine heatwave that has confounded climate scientists.
Angola lowers climate ambition in blow to spirit of Paris Agreement
14 Oct 2025
Angola has scaled back its targets for reducing emissions in its new national climate plan, saying it chose “realism and implementability” over the Paris Agreement's calls for governments to set progressively more ambitious goals.
Brazil's Indigenous battle with a dry Amazon rainforest
23 Oct 2025
As pastures and thirsty crops dry up the Amazon, Indigenous people try to adapt traditional farming methods.
Most countries fail to submit new climate pledges ahead of summit
Wed 29 Oct 2025
Only 64 countries have submitted new plans to cut carbon, the UN says, despite all being required to do so ahead of next month's COP30 summit.
