News from the polar regions in July includes efforts to better model and predict ice sheet dynamics and climate change, volcanic activity in the Arctic, and trouble for penguins and the marine species of the Southern Ocean. Missed these stories the first time? Read on!
As part of an international scientific contest, some of the world’s […]

New York Times journalist Andrew Revkin recently wrote an interesting article about the ongoing tension between journalistic and scientific reporting of research, specifically addressing issues related to global warming and other “hot topics” in the news. With such attention given to these issues that lend themselves to alluring headlines and controversial discussions, Revkin […]

When is a rock not just a rock? When it can tell stories of the Earth’s amazing past.
The discovery of a single granite boulder near Nimrod Glacier in the Transantarctic Mountains may provide additional support for a theory that East Antarctica was once connected to the west coast of North America.
While sampling rocks to learn […]

We’re all aware that high gasoline prices have caused people to cut back on planned trips and redo household budgets. Research communities, especially those involved in Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, have to do the same thing. Such expeditions need fuel for airplanes, helicopters, and ships to reach sites in the polar regions. They depend on […]

In a recent study, some emperor penguins wore digital electrocardiogram recorders when they dove deep into the waters of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. Using these devices for the first time on penguins, researchers were able to record heart rate data beat by beat.
Among some surprises: in one lengthy dive, the penguin’s heart beat only six […]

A research team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) has found evidence of explosive volcanic eruptions deep under the ice-covered surface of the Arctic Ocean. Violent eruptions were not thought possible at great ocean depths because of the intense weight and pressure of water.
Researchers found jagged, glassy rock fragments, known as pyroclastic deposits, […]

According to news from the European Space Agency, the Wilkins Ice Shelf is “hanging by its last thread” to the  Antarctic Peninsula The researchers are studying satellite images that show continuing disintegration of the shelf and a fracture in the ice bridge connecting the shelf to land. The bridge helps stabilize the ice shelf, and […]

A volcano located on Umnak Island in the western Aleutians Islands erupted on Saturday, July 12, 2008, with little warning to the ranch family who shares the island or the Alaska Volcano Observatory, which monitors the state’s hazardous volcanoes.
The crater of the Okmok Volcano is about six miles wide and 1,600 feet deep. Seismologists maintain […]

In June 2008, Miami, Florida, artist Xavier Cortada traveled to the North Pole with sound artist Juan Carlos Espinosa to create paintings using Arctic water and install eco-art at 90 degrees North.
Cortada made a similar art trek to the South Pole in January 2007 as a recipient of an Antarctic Artists and Writers Program residency […]

In June 1988, a government scientist named James E. Hansen told a Senate committee that the greenhouse effect was changing the climate. “We have already reached the point where the greenhouse effect is important,” he said.
It is now generally agreed that Hansen’s presentation to the committee alerted other scientists, policymakers, and the general public to […]