Tag: Antarctica

Exactly 60 years have passed, since the "Antarctic Treaty" was inked in Washington on 1st of December 1959. Yesterday, was the 60th anniversary for the agreement which made Antarctica a peaceful place for science purposes and international collaborations. 

Captain Scott Laughlin and Captain Paul Clarke will lead the alternating crews operating Australia’s new icebreaker, the RSV Nuyina. Both Captains come to the role with experienced track records working in the Southern Ocean. Paul Clarke also has extensive experience in the Antarctic, while Paul Clarke started working for the British Antarctic Survey as a deck hand in 1994.

Glaciologists from the University of California, Irvine and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have constructed a new map of Antarctic ice velocity, utilizing a quarter century’s worth of satellite data. The map is 10 times more accurate than previous renditions, covering more than 80% of the continent.

Hurtigruten will be christening the world’s first hybrid electric-powered expedition cruise ship this fall in Antarctica. MS Roald Amundsen will become the first ship ever to be christened in Antarctica. MS Roald Amundsen features green technology. The hybrid electric-powered expedition cruise ship is using battery packs to support its low-emission engines and will reduce CO2 emissions.

A newly-published study presented the idea of 'artificial snow' could prevent further ice melting and could stop the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from sliding into the ocean. The scientists launched an engineering project to blanket the ice sheet's surface. 

According to scientists, the Thwaites Glacier, which is as enormous as the size of Florida, is on the edge of melting so quickly that it could result to catastrophic global sea level rises. This glacier is one of five recently identified as unstable Antarctic glaciers, which have doubled their rate of ice loss in just six years.