Antarctica

Later this month, representatives from 27 nations representing the Brooks has spent the last 20 years working and researching ways to understand and advance marine conservation across the globe, with a focus on Antarctica. She sat down with CU Boulder Today to explain the importance of protecting the Southern Ocean in particular as the world races to conserve biodiversity across the globe. Why are oceans so important? Increasing research suggests that our health, livelihood and literal survival depends on a healthy ocean. There's a fun statistic that every other breath you take comes from phytoplankton in the ocean. Not only that, there's increasing evidence that the ocean regulates the climate. It drives global ocean circulation and is critical to the functioning of entire earth systems. It’s also a major food source: Our food for up to 2 billion people comes from the ocean. What role does the Southern Ocean play in the global ecosystem? The Southern Ocean surrounds Antarctica, and it makes up about 10% of the global ocean. Of all the oceans, some might argue that the Southern Ocean is potentially the most important at regulating the climate. It's been storing heat and carbon––and because it's been storing so much, it's warming. Antarctica also stores freshwater in the form of ice, so it drives global ocean circulation. All of this makes the Southern Ocean a critically important area that is increasingly under stress from climate change and also from commercial fishing, o...

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Dreaming of a cruise around the Antarctic Peninsula to spot leopard seals or to watch young penguins chase each other playfully around a rookery? Hoping to plunge into below-freezing Antarctic waters or see glaciers calve from the vantage point of a kayak? You'll need to find the best time to visit Antarctica to get the once-in-a-lifetime experience you crave. Depending on what you want to do or see during your trip to Antarctica, you might favor an expedition earlier in the season or near the end. Certain months are better for camping and hiking on the continent, or for photographing whales and penguins. Some months confer longer days and warmer weather, while others may improve your chances of seeing the aurora australis, more commonly known as the southern lights. For more TPG news delivered each morning to your inbox, sign up for No matter your preference, you will certainly visit the White Continent during the austral summer. When the northern hemisphere is descending deeper into darkness, Antarctica is experiencing nearly 24 hours of sunlight — which means expeditions typically take place between late November and early to mid-March. Here are the best times to visit Antarctica for the activities likely to be on your bucket list. The best times to see wildlife The best time to visit Antarctica to see wildlife depends on the animals you most want to see, and whether you have your heart set on photographing adorable baby penguins or whales breaching. Travelers who visit...

Find out everything there is to know about Antarctica and stay updated on the latest Antarctica news with the comprehensive articles, interactive features and Antarctica pictures at LiveScience.com. Learn more about this fascinating continent as scientists continue to make amazing discoveries about Antarctica. Colossal iceberg trapped near Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' for 20 years is finally on the move By Harry Baker published 18 April 23 Iceberg B-22A, which first broke off from Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier in 2002, is finally moving away from the South Pole after being freed from its seafloor tether.

The continent of Antarctica makes up most of the Antarctic region. The Antarctic is a cold, remote area in the Southern Hemisphere encompassed by the Antarctic Convergence. The Antarctic Convergence is an uneven line of latitude where cold, northward-flowing Antarctic waters meet the warmer waters of the world’s oceans. The Antarctic covers approximately 20 percent of the Southern Hemisphere. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent in terms of total area. (It is larger than both Oceania and Europe.) Antarctica is a unique continent in that it does not have a native human population. There are no countries in Antarctica, although seven nations claim different parts of it: New Zealand, Australia, France, Norway, the United Kingdom, Chile, and Argentina. The Antarctic also includes island territories within the Antarctic Convergence. The islands of the Antarctic region are: South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands, all claimed by the United Kingdom; Peter I Island and Bouvet Island, claimed by Norway; Heard and McDonald islands, claimed by Australia; and Scott Island and the Balleny Islands, claimed by New Zealand. Physical Geography Physical Features The Antarctic Ice Sheet dominates the region. It is the largest single piece of ice on Earth. This ice sheet even extends beyond the continent when snow and ice are at their most extreme. The ice surface dramatically grows in size from about three million square kilometers (1....

Autoría • Lynda Goldsworthy Research Associate, University of Tasmania • Marcus Haward Professor • Tony Press Adjunct Professor, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania Cláusula de Divulgación Marcus Haward receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre. Lynda Goldsworthy y Tony Press no reciben salarios, ni ejercen labores de consultoría, ni poseen acciones, ni reciben financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y han declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del puesto académico citado. Nuestros socios Amid the challenges of climate change, resource extraction and pollution, the survival of species and ecosystems depends on setting aside protected areas. But plans to establish marine protected areas in East Antarctica have stalled. Next week, the 27-member The need for Antarctic marine protected areas was first discussed in response to the These areas were meant to protect a representative suite of Antarctic marine environments, such as unique seafloor communities, deepwater canyons, and highly productive coastal and oceanic food webs. They were to be developed, assessed and agreed on the basis of the best available science. A map showing the proposed East Antarctica Marine Protected Area zones. This year, the United Nations agreed to a treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas This treat...

Antarctica, Fifth largest continent on Earth. Antarctica lies concentrically around the South Pole, its landmass almost wholly covered by a vast ice sheet averaging 6,500 ft (2,000 m) thick. It is divided into two subcontinents: East Antarctica, consisting mainly of a high, ice-covered plateau, and West Antarctica, consisting largely of an archipelago of mountainous islands covered with ice. Its land area is about 5.5 million sq mi (14.2 million sq km). The southern portions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans surround it ( see Antarctic regions). Antarctica approximates a circular form, except for the outflaring Antarctic Peninsula and two principal bays, the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea. East and West Antarctica are separated by the long chain (1,900 mi [3,000 km]) of the Transantarctic Mountains. The ice sheet overlaying the continent represents about 90% of the world’s glacial ice. By far the coldest continent, it has the world’s lowest recorded temperature, −128.6 °F (−89.2 °C), measured in 1983. The climate supports only a small community of land plants, but the rich offshore food supply sustains penguins, aquatic mammals, and immense seabird rookeries. There are no permanent human inhabitants. The Russian F.G. von Bellingshausen (b. 1778—d. 1852), the Englishman Edward Bransfield (b. 1795?—d. 1852), and the American Nathaniel Palmer (b. 1799—d. 1877) all claimed first sightings of the continent in 1820. The period to c. 1900 was dominated by the exploration ...