International: Antarctic/Arctic
Ice voyage will explore ocean hidden for 100,000 years
19 Feb 2019
Scientists are setting out to explore an Antarctic marine realm that was hidden from the Sun for more than 100,000 years.
Why sea-ice cover is so low (it’s not just climate change)
22 Jan 2019
Sea-ice cover in Antarctica shrank rapidly to a record low in late 2016 and has remained well below average. But what’s behind this dramatic melting and low ice cover since?
Greenland ice melt is in overdrive
7 Dec 2018
Melting on Greenland's ice sheet has gone into overdrive, with meltwater runoff increasing 50 per cent since the start of the industrial era and continuing to accelerate, new research shows.
Hunt begins for 'detergent' to clean up the sky
26 Nov 2018
Antarctic ice records pre-industrial levels of a chemical that scrubs the atmosphere of greenhouses gases.
How Antarctic melt could slow temperature rise
21 Nov 2018
Cold meltwater running off Antarctica’s ice sheets and into the ocean could dampen the pace of global temperature rise, a new study suggests.
Crucial Antarctic current is changing
19 Nov 2018
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the strongest ocean current on our planet and is vital for Earth’s health. It is also changing as the climate warms.
Shaw heads south to check out ice-melt threat
13 Nov 2018
Climate minister James Shaw is heading to Antarctica as scientists warn we already might have triggered tipping points leading to irreversible melting of the polar ice sheets.
Vehicle made from recycled plastic to explore the ice
12 Oct 2018
A vehicle powered by the sun and made out of plastic waste is set to explore Antarctica.
Frozen Arctic moves seawards in hectic melt
8 Oct 2018
Once trapped in a Russian ice cap north of Siberia, the frozen Arctic is moving fast, racing in decades from metres to kilometres a year.
New pact bans fishing across much of Arctic
5 Oct 2018
Commercial fishing will be banned across much of the Arctic under a new agreement just signed in Greenland.
What's causing Antarctica's ocean to warm up?
26 Sep 2018
The Southern Ocean around Antarctica is warming at an alarming rate - twice that of the rest of the world's oceans.
Nations scramble for power as warming opens up the Arctic
5 Sep 2018
On Monday, a Danish container ship sailed from South Korea. On September 22, it will dock in Germany. The bit in between could change the world.
Maersk moves in as warming Arctic opens up icy sea route
24 Aug 2018
Maersk, the world's largest container line, is about to test the frigid waters of the Arctic in a trial of shorter shipping lanes that could become viable as warmer temperatures open up the Northern Sea Route.
‘Natural pulses’ figure in Antarctic melting
15 Aug 2018
A 16-year study of ocean conditions in Antarctica suggests that the periodic arrival of warm currents as a result of natural variability is worsening the rate of ice mass loss from key glaciers.
Big Krill backs vast Antarctic ocean sanctuary
11 Jul 2018
The creation of the world’s biggest ocean sanctuary, protecting a huge tract of remote seas around Antarctica, has come a step closer after major fishing companies came out in favour of the plan.
Scientists eye solution to Antarctic ice loss
25 Jun 2018
Scientists hope they might have discovered a mitigating factor that could slow or even prevent the West Antarctic ice sheet’ collapsing into the ocean.
How melting Arctic could cook the tropics
22 Jun 2018
The loss of sea ice from the Arctic Ocean will alter wind patterns and ocean currents, causing changes across the planet.
Antarctic melt just the tip of the iceberg
14 Jun 2018
Antarctica has lost three trillion tonnes of ice over the past 25 years, raising sea levels 7.6mm.
Plastic waste reaches last wilderness
8 Jun 2018
Plastic and traces of hazardous chemicals have been found in one of the world’s last great wildernesses.
Modern mammoths could help stop Arctic ground emissions
17 May 2018
Geneticists from Harvard think that reintroducing mammoth-like creatures to Arctic tundra environments could help to stop the release of greenhouse gases from the ground.
Winter winds melting Antarctica ice shelf
7 May 2018
Parts of Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf are melting in the depths of winter, when temperatures typically stay well below freezing, research finds.
Boaty McBoatface to spy on melting Antarctic glacier
2 May 2018
The precarious state of a vast, remote Antarctic glacier will provide an inaugural mission for the British vessel once dubbed Boaty McBoatface and its remotely operated submarine of the same name.
Arctic currents change as did the ancient Pacific
1 May 2018
Changes in Arctic currents today appear to reflect similar changes thousands of years ago – in the North Pacific. Scientists think they may be linked.
Melting of Antarctic ice greater than thought
4 Apr 2018
Hidden underwater melt-off in the Antarctic is doubling every 20 years and could soon overtake Greenland to become the biggest source of sea-level rise.
SOUTHERN SHOCK: Where has all the ice gone?
21 Mar 2018
The absence of sea ice near Antarctica over the past six weeks has astonished scientists aboard the research vessel Tangaroa.
Antarctica needs massive engineering works
19 Mar 2018
.Mammoth engineering projects are planned in Antarctica and Greenland to help slow down the disintegration of the planet’s main glaciers.
Krill fishing poses serious threat to Antarctic
15 Mar 2018
Industrial fishing for krill in the pristine waters around Antarctica is threatening the future of one of the world’s last great wildernesses, says a new report.
Antarctic sea ice shrinks for second straight year
7 Mar 2018
Sea ice cover in Antarctica has dropped to its second-lowest on record, Australian authorities said, adding that it was not yet clear what was driving the reduction after several years of record-highs.
'Crazy' Arctic temperatures alarm scientists
5 Mar 2018
An alarming heatwave in the sunless winter Arctic is causing blizzards in Europe and forcing scientists to reconsider even their most pessimistic forecasts of climate change.
King penguins find their icy southern realm is shrinking
1 Mar 2018
King penguins – one of the most charismatic species of the Southern Ocean – are under threat from climate change.
One tiny creature threatens Antarctic wildlife
16 Feb 2018
The Antarctic, one of the last great wildernesses and home to animals such as whales, penguins and leopard seals, is being threatened by the plight of an animal just a few centimetres long.
Thawing permafrost reveals massive doses of mercury
9 Feb 2018
Rising temperatures are waking a sleeping giant in the North - the permafrost - and scientists have identified a new danger that comes with that: massive stores of mercury.
New look at Antarctic raises fears of higher sea levels
15 Dec 2017
Antarctic ice sheet models double the sea-level rise expected this century if global emissions of heat-trapping pollution remain high, according to a new study.
Why remote Antarctica is so important in a warming world
5 Dec 2017
The Antarctic Treaty was signed 58 years ago this week, protecting the continent for peace and science.
THIN ICE: Antarctic glaciers could flood the planet
24 Nov 2017
In a remote region of Antarctica known as Pine Island Bay, 2500 miles from the tip of South America, two glaciers hold human civilisation hostage.
HOT SPOTS: Ice cameras reveal Antarctica’s warm underbelly
16 Nov 2017
A new map of the warmth coming up from rocks beneath the Antarctic provides key data for scientists to model how the ice sheet could react to climate change.
Ice cracks again close Antarctic research station
2 Nov 2017
A British research station in Antarctica is being shut down for the second winter in a row following concerns over growing cracks in the 150-metre thick ice shelf on which it stands.
Sea could rise 1.3m unless coal power ends by 2050
31 Oct 2017
Sea levels could rise 1.3m this century unless coal-generated electricity is virtually eliminated by 2050, according to a new paper that contains the latest understanding of Antarctica’s contribution.
Changing climate is blurring the lines for map makers
30 Oct 2017
As soon as cartographers had finished drawing the Arctic ice sheet in 2013, their map was already out of date.
Starving penguins a sign that all is not well in Antarctica
17 Oct 2017
The awful news that all but two penguin chicks have starved to death out of a colony of almost 40,000 birds is a grim illustration of the enormous pressure Antarctic wildlife is under.
Antarctic sea ice levels hit record low - but why?
28 Sep 2017
Sea ice levels in Antarctica dropped to a record low this year, but experts say there is not a clear link to climate change.
New worry as key Antarctic glacier loses chunk of ice
27 Sep 2017
An enormous Antarctic glacier has given up an iceberg over 100 square miles in size, the second time in two years it has lost such a large piece in a process that has scientists wondering whether its behavior is changing for the worse.
Plastic chunks on Arctic icefloe show how pollution has spread
26 Sep 2017
A discovery by scientists is prompting fears that melting ice will allow more plastic to be released into the central Arctic Ocean – with huge effects on wildlife.
Melting Arctic ice cap falls to well below average
21 Sep 2017
The Arctic ice cap melted to hundreds of thousands of square miles below average this summer, according to data just released.
Global warming doubles growth of Antarctic marine fauna
5 Sep 2017
Marine life on the Antarctic seabed is likely to be far more affected by global warming than previously thought, say scientists who have conducted the most sophisticated study to date of heating impacts in the species-rich environment.
ARCTIC FIRST: Ship sails top of the world without icebreaker
29 Aug 2017
A Russian tanker has travelled through the northern sea route in record speed and without an icebreaker escort for the first time, highlighting how climate change is opening up the high Arctic.
Walruses mob beach as Arctic sea ice disappears
21 Aug 2017
A remote island off Alaska has been mobbed by thousands of Pacific walruses in the earliest known "haul out" for the species.
Scientists find 91 volcanoes below Antarctic ice sheet
14 Aug 2017
Scientists have uncovered the largest volcanic region on Earth – two kilometres below the surface of the ice sheet that covers west Antarctica.
Trillion-tonne iceberg breaks away from Antarctica
13 Jul 2017
A trillion-tonne expanse of ice that has broken off Antarctica's Larsen C shelf isn't going to raise sea level on its own, but it can't be viewed in isolation.
Changing climate could mean end of the Emperor penguin
11 Jul 2017
Antarctica's iconic Emperor penguins might not be able to handle a changing climate and could be extinct by the end of the century, a new report says.
Labor accused of ‘gaslighting’ Australians on climate crisis as fossil fuel projects keep getting approved
9 Jun 2025
‘They offer sympathy and then just go and approve massive fossil fuel projects anyway,’ one advocate says.
EPA to propose rolling back climate rule for power plants Wednesday
Thu 12 Jun 2025
It marks an escalation in President Donald Trump’s effort to purge climate initiatives from the federal government.
China's approvals of coal power plants grow after 2024 decline
Wed 11 Jun 2025
China approved 11.29 gigawatts of new coal power plants in the first three months of 2025, already exceeding the 10.34 GW approved in the first half of 2024.
Ocean current ‘collapse’ could trigger ‘profound cooling’ in northern Europe – even with global warming
Fri 13 Jun 2025
A “collapse” of key Atlantic ocean currents would cause winter temperatures to plunge across northern Europe, overriding the warming driven by human activity.
Oil giant funds computer game that promotes fossil fuels to schoolchildren
9 Jun 2025
Equinor, the company looking to develop the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea, has funded a computer game aimed at UK school children, promoting the idea that fossil fuels are part of a green energy mix.
'This is classic climate change': Canada's Saskatchewan faces worst wildfire season in decades
4 Jun 2025
There have been 207 wildfires this year as of Friday – 40 more than in the same period last year.
Carbon capture projects promise a climate fix – and a fossil fuel lifeline
Wed 11 Jun 2025
Governments across Southeast Asia are looking at carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) as a way to meet climate targets.
Vanuatu criticises Australia for extending gas project while making COP31 bid
4 Jun 2025
Vanuatu’s climate minister has expressed disappointment over Australia’s decision to extend one of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas projects and said it raises questions over its bid to co-host the COP31 summit with Pacific nations.
Death toll from Nigeria flash floods rises to 151
3 Jun 2025
At least 151 people in central Nigeria are now known to have died following flash floods that destroyed homes and displaced thousands of residents earlier this week.
Pará’s Amazon forest carbon deal in doubt as prosecutors move to block it
Fri 13 Jun 2025
The Brazilian state’s contract with foreign governments and companies has run into trouble over concerns it was premature and agreed without consulting Indigenous communities.
UN University report warns against carbon credits from REDD, tree planting, and improved forest management
Fri 13 Jun 2025
But the report stops short of recommending banning the trade in carbon temporarily stored in trees.
