Nutrients from the seabirds’ guano fuels the growth of carbon-storing phytoplankton, but penguin populations have plunged in the past 4 decades.
Antarctica
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Do Ocean Currents Mix Water Vertically or Stir Laterally?
Observations of temperature and salinity distributions across the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence reveal the importance of small-scale mixing processes for water mass modification.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Clues from a Subglacial Lake for Holocene Grounding Line Change
Organic carbon sampled in the lake contained radiocarbon, indicating connection to the ocean in the mid-Holocene, when the grounding line was up to 260 kilometers inland of its current position.
Posted inFeatures
Redefining “Glacial Pace”
As Earth’s climate warms, glaciers and ice sheets are retreating, cracking, and adding to sea level rise at record speeds.
Posted inEditors' Vox
What We Know and Don’t Know About Climate Tipping Elements
As climate change continues, parts of the Earth system such as ice sheets, frozen soils, or the Amazon rainforest could shift—some quickly, some slowly—after crossing key thresholds or tipping points.
Posted inNews
Supercharged El Niño Could Speed Up Southern Ocean Warming
Projected changes to El Niño will likely accelerate warming of the deep oceans around the Antarctic, supplying heat that could drive ice loss and sea level rise.
Posted inNews
Ice Cores Record Long-Ago Seasons in Antarctica
Researchers used ice core data to reconstruct seasonal temperatures throughout the Holocene. The results link especially hot summers with patterns in Earth’s orbit.
Posted inNews
“Icefin” Investigates a Glacial Underbelly
An instrument-laden submersible reveals where—and how rapidly—the Antarctic glacier is melting.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Thick Is Antarctic Ice, and What Is Underneath?
Scientists used electromagnetic fields to determine the thickness of fast ice.
Posted inNews
How Animals May Have Conquered Snowball Earth
We know there were animals during Earth’s chilliest era. The question is, What did they look like?