Ary Rongel in brash (Photo: Rod Strachan, British Antarctic Survey)
Early on Easter Sunday morning (8th April), British Antarctic Survey ship RRS Ernest Shackleton was alerted to assist a Brazilian navy vessel Ary Rongel from thick pack ice in the north eastern end of Bransfield Straits near the South Shetland Islands on the Antarctic Peninsula.
The Ary Rongel — an icebreaker and oceano...
News Story
Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[press release] Scientists count penguins from space
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/press/press_releases/press_release.php?id=1786
A new study using satellite mapping technology reveals there are twice as many emperor penguins in Antarctica than was previously thought. The results provide an important benchmark for monitoring the impact of environmental change on the population of this iconic bird.
Emperor penguins on the sea ice close to Halley Research Station
Reporting this week in the journal PLoS ONE, an international...
Press Release
Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] New UK Antarctic Science Conference opens for registration
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1785
The new UK Antarctic Science Conference 2012 (UKASC2012), organised by British Antarctic Survey, with funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is now accepting registrations for this year’s event. The three-day conference invites Antarctic scientists from around the UK to meet at the Kaetsu Centre in Cambridge from 12–14th September 2012. The closing date for regist...
News Story
Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] A tale of two hemispheres
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1777
Professor Eric Wolff, FRS.
This week in the journal Nature, Eric Wolff of British Antarctic Survey reviews an article by Jeremy Shakun et al. on the causes for the end of the last ice age.
In their article, Shakun and his colleagues investigate the sequence of events at the end of the last ice age, or glacial period, between 21,000 and 10,000 years ago. There are several theories of what happ...
News Story
Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] BAS scientist talks about BBC Frozen Planet at Cheltenham Science Festival
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1776
The BBC Frozen Planet series, which generated huge public interest in the polar regions, continues to engage large audiences. At the recent Missoula International Wildlife Film Festival in the US, episode 7 of the series ‘On Thin Ice’ which featured glaciologist Dr Andy Smith from British Antarctic Survey was awarded the Sapphire Award (Second Place) within the Best of Festival categor...
News Story
Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] New Laboratories arrive at Rothera Research Station
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1778
As part of an international collaboration between British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the Netherlands Polar Programme — managed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, Earth and Life Sciences Division (NWO-ALW) three new laboratories arrived at Rothera Research Station yesterday (Tuesday 2 April) onboard the RRS Ernest Shackleton.
The new Dutch laboratories are unloaded fr...
News Story
Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] Staff remember Antarctic explorer at special commemorative service
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1766
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) staff are heading to St Paul’s Cathedral, London, on Thursday 29 March to pay their respects to Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his companions who died in Antarctica exactly 100 years ago. They will join up to 2000 people to participate in a commemorative service to remember the great explorer and his men who travelled to Antarctica 100 years ago and never retu...
News Story
Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] Sensitivity of the overturning circulation in the Southern Ocean to decadal changes in wind forcing
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1765
The overturning circulation in the Southern Ocean is fundamentally
important to global climate, not least because it draws down
anthropogenic carbon from the atmosphere and stores it deep in the
ocean, thereby acting as a sink that slows the rate of global warming.
This overturning is partly wind-forced, and the strengthening of the
winds in recent decades has led to fears that this carbon si...
News Story
Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] Professor Eric Wolff awarded Lyell Medal
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1758
Our warm congratulations go to Professor Eric Wolff who has been awarded the Geological Society’s prestigious Lyell Medal for his significant contribution to science by means of his substantial body of research.
Professor Eric Wolff
Eric is a world-renowned scientist most notable for his contributions in the study of ice core palaeoclimate. He leads the BAS science programme Chemistry a...
News Story
Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] Science Minister returns from fact-finding visit to Antarctica
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1756
Universities and Science Minister David Willetts has returned from British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Research Station where he experienced first-hand how our scientists are contributing to the truly international effort to help society live with and adapt to climate change.
The visit, which took place in February marked the centenary of Captain Scott’s final expedition to the South P...
News Story
Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT
[news] Antarctic visitors inadvertently seeding invasive species
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=1757
Seeds attached to Antarctic visitors’ clothing and bags may introduce invasive alien plant species that could threaten the continent’s ecosystems, according to research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) this week.
An international team of scientists, including environmental scientist Dr. Kevin A. Hughes from the British Antarctic Survey (BA...
News Story
Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT