Updates

Bringing you hot topics, from cold places

Discover the latest updates on our activities, team and research findings. You can browse, filter by category or type, or search by keywords.

Sea ice

Antarctica's sea ice hit another low this year – understanding how ocean warming is driving the loss is key

Date: 2024
Type: Field Work
Authors: Craig Stevens
Summary: At the end of the southern summer, Antarctica’s sea ice hit its annual minimum. By at least one measure, which tracks the area of ocean that contains at least 15% of sea ice, it was a little above the record low of 2023.
Ross Sea Voyage 2024: Laura Bassi Ross Sea Voyage Photo by Lana Young

Signs found of worryingly fast Antarctic ice melt

Date: 2024
Type: Update
Authors: Radio New Zealand
Summary: Scientists returning from a voyage into Antarctic waters say they found worrying evidence about how much ice has melted and how quickly.
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New Zealand scientists return from Antarctica's ice with information that could shape future climate policy

Date: 2024
Type: Science
Authors: Newshub's Mitchell Redman
Summary: A large group of New Zealand and Italian scientists returned to Lyttelton on Saturday - after a two-month voyage through Antarctica's Ross Sea. Twenty-five Italians and 12 Kiwis were onboard the Laura Bassi - dodging icebergs and battling 185km/h winds in one of the most remote, and largely misunderstood parts of Earth.
Ross Sea Voyage 2024 RV Laura Bassi travels along the Ross Ice Shelf January 2024 Photo by Lana Young

Voyage to solve the mystery of Antarctica’s plummeting sea ice

Date: 2024
Type: Science
Authors: Stuff
Summary: A team of 12 are on board the Italian research vessel Laura Bassi, which is currently off the coast of Antarctica studying the Ross Sea.
95 288 Craig Potton

Antarctic Science Platform in the news 2022/23

Date: 2023
Type: Update
Summary: In case you missed it, here are some of the media and outreach opportunities our team was involved in during the past year. There were also public talks, school visits and publications in subscription-based magazines.
Drilling through Antarctic ice

‘Hidden world’ of marine life discovered in Antarctic ‘river’ under ice

Date: 2022
Type: Science
Authors: The Guardian
Summary: Beneath a vast Antarctic ice shelf, in a cathedral-like cavern hundreds of metres high, are swarms of little shrimp-like creatures in a newly discovered underwater ecosystem that, until recently, had remained an ice-locked secret.
Deployment of KIS-2B well pump

The search for answers in the ice

Date: 2022
Type: Science
Authors: NIWA
Summary: Jessica Rowley talks to three NIWA researchers trying to piece together what’s happening to the world’s largest ice shelf through their Antarctic Science Platform projects.
Antarctica image

More plants could begin to 'invade the Antarctic Peninsula' as the frozen continent warms

Date: 2021
Type: In the media
Authors: Lee Kenny- Stuff
Summary: In February, some of the country’s top Antarctic scientists met in Christchurch to share the latest research on the continent. Reporter LEE KENNY joined the delegates to discover what the future holds for New Zealand’s frozen neighbour.

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