The first fossil egg discovered in Antarctica is also the largest soft-shelled egg ever found and the second-largest egg of any kind, after the extinct elephant bird. The more than 11-by-7-inch egg was first discovered in 2011, according to a University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) press release, but researchers only recently figured out […]
Greenland and Antarctica have raised global sea levels by more than half an inch in the last 16 years, according to data from the most advanced laser that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has ever launched into space to observe the earth. While the figures themselves are consistent with other studies, as The […]
An unusual phenomenon happened in March and April when an enormous hole in the ozone layer formed over the Arctic. Last week, though, scientists tracking the hole noticed that it has closed, as CNN reported. Unlike the infamous hole in the ozone over Antarctica, which was caused by overuse of now illegal chemicals containing chlorofluorocarbons, […]
The western Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming places on Earth. But how will that impact the unique wildlife that call it home? To find out, researchers tracked the movements of krill-eating crabeater seals in the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) to build a model of the future distribution of krill, an important food […]
For the first time, microscopic plastic pollution has been found in Antarctic sea ice samples collected more than a decade ago, suggesting that microplastic concentrations in Southern Sea ice may be higher than previously believed. A total of 96 microplastic particles from 14 different types of polymer were discovered in an ice core sample collected […]
A record-sized hole has opened in the ozone layer over the Arctic, The Guardian reported Tuesday. While both poles lose some ozone during their winters, the Arctic tends to lose much less than Antarctica, where the larger and more famous ozone hole is located, the European Space Agency (ESA) explained. This year’s anomaly is the […]
A team of scientists drilled into the ground near the South Pole to discover forest and fossils from the Cretaceous nearly 90 million years ago, which is the time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, as the BBC reported. The frozen continent was once home to a swampy rainforest and had average temperatures around 53 degrees […]
By Richard Connor Scientists have recorded Antarctica’s first documented heat wave, warning that animal and plant life on the isolated continent could be drastically affected by climate change. Australian Antarctic Program researchers recorded the heat wave event at Casey research station in East Antarctica during the 2019-2020 southern hemisphere summer. Findings by the team were […]
Emissions from the chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons used as refrigerants and aerosols didn’t just burn a hole in the ozone layer. They also shifted the Southern Hemisphere’s jet stream south towards Antarctica. Now, a study published in Nature Wednesday found that the 1987 Montreal Protocol banning those substances wasn’t just successful in helping to repair the […]