Topic description and stories

Tents at Skytrain Ice Rice in Antarctica

Ice cores provide first documentation of rapid Antarctic ice loss in the past

08 Feb 2024

Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey have uncovered the first direct evidence that the West Antarctic Ice...

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Polar Stratospheric Clouds, also called mother of pearl clouds

Why do climate models underestimate polar warming? ‘Invisible clouds’ could be the answer

08 Nov 2023

Stratospheric clouds over the Arctic may explain the differences seen between the polar warming calculated by climate models and actual recordings...

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An illuminated manuscript from the late 14th to the early 15th century, depicting two individuals observing a lunar eclipse

Medieval monks accidentally recorded some of history’s biggest volcanic eruptions

05 Apr 2023

By observing the night sky, medieval monks unwittingly recorded some of history’s largest volcanic eruptions, according to a new analysis of 12th and...

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Runaway West Antarctic ice retreat can be slowed by climate-driven changes in ocean temperature

16 Jan 2023

New research finds that ice-sheet-wide collapse in West Antarctica isn’t inevitable: the pace of ice loss varies according to regional differences in...

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Seasonal change in Antarctic ice sheet movement observed for first time

06 Oct 2022

Some estimates of Antarctica’s total contribution to sea-level rise may be over- or underestimated, after researchers detected a previously unknown...

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Sea ice can control Antarctic ice sheet stability, new research finds

13 May 2022

Despite the rapid melting of ice in many parts of Antarctica during the second half of the 20th century, researchers have found that the floating ice...

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Exploring Antarctica in Cambridge

01 Apr 2022

In its inaugural year in 2021, the Cambridge Festival managed to reach every continent on Earth - except Antarctica. So, for 2022, we’ve brought...

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View from Agulhas II

Antarctic ice sheets capable of retreating up to 50 metres per day

28 May 2020

The ice shelves surrounding the Antarctic coastline retreated at speeds of up to 50 metres per day at the end of the last Ice Age, far more rapid...

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Rapid melting of the world’s largest ice shelf linked to solar heat in the ocean

29 Apr 2019

An international team of scientists has found part of the world’s largest ice shelf is melting 10 times faster than the overall ice shelf average due...

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UK and US join forces to understand how quickly a massive Antarctic glacier could collapse

30 Apr 2018

A Cambridge researcher will lead one of eight projects in a new joint UK-US research programme that is one of the most detailed and extensive...

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Ice cliffs in Pine Island Bay

‘Scars’ left by icebergs record West Antarctic ice retreat

25 Oct 2017

Thousands of marks on the Antarctic seafloor, caused by icebergs which broke free from glaciers more than ten thousand years ago, show how part of...

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Antarctic Ice Sheet study reveals 8,000-year record of climate change

12 Dec 2016

An international team of researchers has found that the Antarctic Ice Sheet plays a major role in regional and global climate variability – a...

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