NEWSWORTHY
Experts float idea of massive propping up of glaciers to avoid cataclysmic sea level rise
As global warming outpaces efforts to tame it, scientists have proposed building massive underwater structures to prevent an Antarctic glacier the size of Britain from sliding into the sea and lifting the world's oceans by several meters. The more modest of two engineering schemes — ...
Scientists probe why New Zealand's Tawaki penguins swim halfway to Antarctica and back yearly
Each year in December, penguins with long blonde eyebrows swim away from the shores of New Zealand for a two-month marathon swim halfway to Antarctica and back. The breathtaking distance was recorded by researchers, who for the first time managed to track the birds. Penguins, universally ...
A breakthrough in the study of ghostly particles called high-energy neutrinos that traverse space, zipping unimpeded through people, planets and whole galaxies, is giving scientists an audacious new way to expand our understanding of the cosmos. Researchers say that for the first time they have ...
Thaw of Antarctic ice lifts up land by up to 4 cm a year, might slow sea level rise: scientists
Antarctica's bedrock is rising surprisingly fast as a vast mass of ice melts into the oceans, a trend that might slow an ascent in sea levels caused by global warming, scientists said on Thursday. The Earth's crust in West Antarctica is rising by up to ...
Ice caps live-blogging human history
At the dawn of the 20th century, when the first humans set foot on Antarctica's seemingly pristine ice cap, pollution had beaten them there. Lead and other heavy metals quickly amassed in the ice in 1888 and beyond, leaving a record of the industrial revolution. ...
Hotter seas seen threatening catastrophic loss of marine life by 2100
Polar bears and other iconic animals could be extinct by the end of the century if ocean temperatures continue to rise at the current rate, marine biologists warned Monday. Warming temperatures caused by climate-changing emissions may result in a catastrophic loss of marine wildlife and ...
Icebergs could be tugged from Antarctica to drought-hit Cape Town to ease water crisis: experts
Marine salvage experts are floating a plan to tug icebergs from Antarctica to South Africa's drought-hit Cape Town to help solve the region's worst water shortage in a century. Salvage master Nick Sloane said he was looking for government and private investors for a scheme ...
Adventurer Yasunaga Ogita begins solo trek to South Pole without resupplies
A veteran Japanese explorer starts a solo quest to get to the South Pole without resupplying.
As climate change drives up temperatures, Earth comes ever closer to dangerous "tipping points" that could accelerate global warming beyond our capacity to reign it in, scientists warned at U.N. talks in Bonn Monday. "Climate change is here. It is dangerous. And it is about ...
The icebreaker Shirase, operated by the Maritime Self-Defense Force, left Tokyo's Harumi pier bound for Antarctica on Sunday. Most members of the 59th Antarctic expedition team will board the ship in Australia on Nov. 28. The Shirase will carry a total of about 180 crew ...
Father-son team plans Antarctic trek powered by renewable energy
With solar panels tacked to their sledges and a biofuel made from wood chips to keep them warm, a British father and son duo will attempt to reach the South Pole relying solely on green energy. Seasoned explorer Robert Swan and his 23-year-old son Barney ...
Russia and China block creation of Antarctic marine sanctuary
Hopes for a vast new marine sanctuary in pristine East Antarctica were dashed Saturday when a key conservation summit failed to reach agreement, with advocates urging "greater vision and ambition." Expectations were high ahead of the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of ...
