Over the past 40 years, ice cores have revealed more about climate change than any other scientific technique. Over the last few decades, satellites have detected changes to the amount of sea ice that covers the polar oceans. Since 1979 summer sea-ice extent in the Arctic has reduced at 10% per decade. Some major glaciers that drain the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets have accelerated by as much as 50%.

A close up of a snow covered slope.

Geophysical Habitat of Subglacial Thwaites

GHOST is an ice-based project which will examine the bed beneath the Thwaites Glacier, to assess whether conditions are likely to allow rapid retreat, or if the retreat may slow …

A collection of small marine creatures

Larsen-C Benthos

On 12 July 2017, the Larsen-C Ice Shelf calved one of the largest iceberg originating from the Antarctic Peninsula ever recorded. As iceberg A68 moves north, it  leaves behind an …

Data As Art

DATA AS ART is an ongoing science & art project in development at NERC’s British Antarctic Survey (BAS). It visualises science data (in its widest definition), to create stunning and …

A close up of a hand.

SubICE

The Sub-Antarctic – ice coring expedition (SubICE), part of the international Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE), successfully drilled several shallow ice cores, from five of the remote and globally significant sub-Antarctic …

Beyond Epica

A decade ago, the European EPICA project completed drilling a deep ice core at Dome C, revealing the close link between climate and atmospheric greenhouse gases over the past 800,000 …

A close up of a person.

Data as Art: POLAR AESTHETICS

British Antarctic Survey has an ongoing science & art collaboration with Royal College of Art PhD candidate Wayne Binitie. Wayne has visited BAS a number of times to develop his …

A close up of a colorful background.

PolarGAP

The polar regions have the capacity to amaze and astound, but despite the considerable progress of recent decades we still know far less about them than less remote parts of …

DATA AS ART #10

Ice layers Radio waves can be transmitted down through an ice sheet, ice stream or glacier and are reflected off the internal layers in the ice as well as off …

Map.

Updated Mapping Datasets for Antarctica

12 May, 2020

A newly updated Antarctic Digital Database is released today (12 May 2020). Aimed at the science and logistics communities, the maps include updates to the ice shelf front around Thwaites …

A tent in the snow.

Drilling projects set to break new ground

29 April, 2020

Two new research projects – in partnership with British Antarctic Survey engineers –  will drill deeper than ever before in Antarctica and in space. The first project, called INCISED, is …

A group of clouds in the sky.

Earth Day 2020: The Song of the Ice

22 April, 2020

*Did you miss the live event on 22 April? The recording is now available to watch below, or on Youtube via: https://youtu.be/8r3xdrp5GGI* Online launch of The Song of the Ice …

A construction site in the snow.

New mission for 1.5 million year climate record

9 April, 2019

This week a team of European researchers announces its plans for an ambitious mission to find the oldest ice on Earth (9 April 2019).  Antarctica’s ice has the potential to …

A canyon with a mountain in the background.

Study shows melting ice sheets will disrupt climate

7 February, 2019

Water entering the oceans from melting ice sheets could cause extreme weather and a change in ocean circulation not currently accounted for in global climate policies, a new study published …