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 …

NEWS STORY: New iSTAR season starts

11 November, 2014

Scientists head to Pine Island Glacier for new research season A team of twelve scientists and support staff has arrived on Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica in the second …

The break up of Wilkins Ice Shelf

NEWS STORY: Ice shelf break up explained

12 September, 2014

Antarctic Team Discovers Mechanism for Massive Ice Shelf Collapse New research has found that the cataclysmic break-up of a large floating ice shelf in the early 2000’s was primarily the …

A close up of a plant.

NEWS STORY: Sea levels rising faster in Antarctica

1 September, 2014

Antarctic sea-level rising faster than global rate A new study of satellite data from the last 19 years reveals that fresh water from melting glaciers has caused the sea-level around …

NEWS STORY: Unlocking clues to past climate

1 May, 2014

Earth’s last warm phase exposed Analysis of data collected from ice cores and marine sediment cores in both polar regions has given scientists a clearer picture of how the Earth’s …

A close up of a snow covered mountain.

PRESS RELEASE: Glacier’s thinning charted

20 February, 2014

Previous rapid thinning of Pine Island Glacier sheds light on future Antarctic ice loss New research, published this week in Science, suggests that the largest single contributor to global sea …

NEWS STORY: First phase of glacier mission ends

10 February, 2014

First leg of Antarctic iSTAR mission accomplished A team of British scientists has returned from a gruelling 1500km journey across the ice of West Antarctica after successfully completing the first …

A plane flying over a body of water.

NEWS STORY: Glacier thinning at point of no return

14 January, 2014

Focus on Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica Pine Island Glacier, on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is the largest single contributor to sea-level rise in Antarctica.  The stability of the …

A BAS camp of small tents in an icy landscape

NEWS STORY: Climate records from ice cores

5 December, 2013

New ice core record shows climate variability in West Antarctica A 308-year ice core record provides new data on climate variability in coastal West Antarctica and shows that a clear …

Chart.

NEWS STORY: “Stripes” hinder ice flow

8 November, 2013

Tiger stripes’ under Antarctic glacier slow the flow Narrow stripes of dirt and rock beneath massive Antarctic glaciers create friction zones that slow the flow of ice toward the sea, …