Updates

Date: 2023

Type: Update

Authors: Project 3

Summary: The Ross Sea region contains one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the Southern Ocean, encompassing open ocean, pack ice and coastal habitats, including much of the world’s largest marine protected area. It also harbours diverse land-based ecosystems ranging from iconic Antarctic lakes to ancient soils that are home to unique biota. Our team of researchers in the Ross Sea Ecosystems project is working to better understand what the future may hold for these environments. We are developing new techniques and autonomous instruments for remote sensing to fill gaps in understanding of biodiversity and ecological process.

Date: 2023

Type: Update

Authors: Project 4

Summary: Sea ice extent, and the exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other gases between the atmosphere and ocean, varies from year to year, influenced by changes in atmospheric and open-ocean conditions. Understanding the difference between seasonal variability and long-term change is key to predicting Antarctica’s influence on the future global climate system. Researchers in the Sea Ice and Carbon Cycle Feedbacks project are analysing variability in sea ice and the carbon cycles in the Ross Sea region and on larger scales, including connections to atmospheric circulation and climate processes across the Southern Ocean and much of the Southern Hemisphere.

Date: 2023

Authors: Craig Stevens and Natalie Robinson

Summary: If we want to better understand the climate-regulating role of Earth’s oceans, we must increase the effort we put into observing them, with a focus on our planet’s largest heat sink, the Southern Ocean.

Date: 2023

Type: Update

Summary: Antarctic scientists concerned about dramatic sea ice retreat have today issued the following statement from the emergency summit in Wellington. They have called for urgent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions to keep the climate within liveable conditions.

Date: 2023

Type: Science

Authors: Antarctic Science Platform

Summary: Five new reconstructions of past Antarctic ice sheet dynamics have recently been published, relying on sedimentological and geochemical analyses.

Date: 2023

Authors: Inga Smith, Andrew Pauling, Greg Leonard, Maren Richter, Max Thomas, Pat Langhorne and Wolfgang Rack

Summary: After two seasons of record-breaking lows, Antarctica’s sea ice remains in dramatic decline, tracking well below any winter maximum levels observed since satellite monitoring began during the late 1970s.

Date: 2023

Type: Update

Summary: As Antarctic sea ice extent hits a record winter low, concerned scientists have called an emergency summit in Wellington next week.

Date: 2023

Type: People

Authors: Antarctic Science Platform

Summary: The Antarctic Science Platform is seeking a Deputy Director to provide strategic vision and leadership for the design, development and implementation of a second phase of research and funding.