Search Results for: antarctica
- Life
In one lake deep under Antarctica’s ice, microbes feast on ancient carbon
Microorganisms living in a lake beneath the ice sheet in West Antarctica feed on ocean carbon that was deposited 6,000 years ago.
By Freda Kreier - Earth
A massive cavern beneath a West Antarctic glacier is teeming with life
A subglacial river has carved out the cavern beneath the Kamb Ice Stream, a West Antarctic glacier, and may be supplying nutrients necessary for life.
By Douglas Fox - Climate
How wildfires deplete the Earth’s ozone layer
Scientists detail the chain of chemical reactions that occur when wildfire smoke enters the stratosphere.
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The many challenges of exploring hidden realms
Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses the challenges of studying the invisible or inaccessible, from the seafloor to hidden caverns buried underneath solid ice.
By Nancy Shute - Climate
Here’s what happened to the Delaware-sized iceberg that broke off Antarctica
The powerful pull of currents in the Southern Ocean probably pulled apart the largest remnant of a massive iceberg that split off Antarctica in 2017.
- Climate
Rapid melting is eroding vulnerable cracks in Thwaites Glacier’s underbelly
Thwaites is melting slower than thought, but the worst of it is concentrated in underbelly cracks, threatening the Antarctica glacier’s stability.
By Douglas Fox - Climate
Greenland’s frozen hinterlands are bleeding worse than we thought
An inland swath of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream is accelerating and thinning. It could contribute much more to sea level rise than estimated.
By Nikk Ogasa - Climate
Many Antarctic glaciers are hemorrhaging ice. This one is healing its cracks
Scientists have explored the recesses of an Antarctic glacier that is currently stable, helping improve predictions of the continent’s fate.
By Douglas Fox - Plants
Soil microbes that survived tough climates can help young trees do the same
Trees grown in soil with microbes that have survived drought and high or low temperatures have a better shot at survival when facing the same conditions.
- Life
Here are 5 record-breaking science discoveries from 2022
The earliest surgery, fastest supercomputer and biggest single-celled bacteria were some of this year’s top science superlatives.
By Erin Wayman - Planetary Science
Machine learning points to prime places in Antarctica to find meteorites
Using data on how ice moves across Antarctica, researchers identified more than 600 spots where space rocks may gather on the southern continent.
- Climate
Ancient penguin bones reveal unprecedented shrinkage in key Antarctic glaciers
Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers are losing ice faster than any other time in the last 5,500 years. That history is written in bones and shells.
By Douglas Fox