Sea ice is formed from ocean water that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs at about minus 1.8 degrees Celsius (28.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Most Antarctic sea ice occurs annually, meaning it forms in the winter and melts during the summer. Sea ice regulates exchanges of heat, moisture and salinity in the polar oceans. It insulates the relatively warm […]
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Scientists have revealed that some fish that thrive in the freezing cold waters of the Antarctic actually have ice in their veins. A protein in their system called notothenioids not only keep the fish from freezing to death, but also keeps ice crystals in their veins. Although the ice crystals would melt at temperatures just slightly above freezing, the fish […]
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Research shows there may be an entire world underneath Antarctica’s ice-free Dry Valleys, which on the surface may seem hostile to life. Below the surface lies rivers of liquid salt water which flow into subsurface lakes, every drop of which could be swarming with microbial life. One of Antarctica’s most unique features, the briny, rusty-red colored Blood Falls, could possibly […]
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The fossil of a sea creature that lived around the earth approximately 70 million years was found around Antarctica. The remains were located about 1966 but were not able to be removed from the rock until now. Researchers uncovered the remains of what they are calling an Elasmosaurus or the real-life Loch Ness Monster. When it was alive it could […]
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Scientists have found some radioactive dust from a supernova that landed in Antarctica when a star exploded millions of years ago. The radioactive dust from a supernova was discovered under thousands pounds of snow. They are hoping to be able to find out a lot more about the history of our galaxy. Especially how the cosmic environment ended up surrounding […]
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CAPE LEGOUPIL, ANTARCTICA: From the ground in this extreme northern part of Antarctica, spectacularly white and blinding ice seems to extend forever. What can’t be seen is the battle raging thousands of feet below to re-shape Earth. Water is eating away at the Antarctic ice, melting it where it hits the oceans. As the ice sheets slowly thaw, water pours […]
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A team of expeditioners from Australia has found the remains of the first airplane ever taken to the Antarctic. The find was made at Camp Denison, which is where the remains of the 1912 expedition plane was found. The expedition is in Antarctica to help conserve huts used by the Australian explorer Douglas Mawson in the early twentieth century. The […]
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As a new generation of writers confronts global warming, a new book genre has emerged: “climate fiction”, or “cli-fi”. Russell: “In my secret heart, I hope that all these books that are now talking about climate change will help to move public opinion.” That’s Canadian novelist Craig Russell. In his recent book, Fragment, a shockwave sends a massive Antarctic ice […]
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Research into penguins has plunged to new depths with the release of images which provide a glimpse of life beneath the Antarctic ice. Penguin cams have been able to capture footage which reveals a look into the life of a penguin that we rarely get to see. Miniature penguin cams were attached to the backs of Adelie penguins by scientists […]
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Despite no exposure to sunlight or fresh air for more than a million years, a lake located half a mile beneath the Antarctic ice sheet sustains an entire ecosystem, scientists have confirmed—raising the prospect that life might exist in similar environments elsewhere in the universe. Researchers had long suspected the existence of tiny life-forms living below the ice pack, and […]
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