The Arctic ice shelf could completely melt during summer by 2080 because of global warming, according to scientists from the DAMOCLES programme. If the situation evolves like physics predicts, the summertime Arctic shelf will completely disappear by 2080, confirmed Eberhard Fahrbach of the Alfred Wegner Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven. This will have consequences above and beyond those in the Antarctic, he added. For example, climate change not only threatens polar bears that live in these regions but the entire Arctic food chain. This even has consequences for the fish that ultimately ends up on our tables,” said Fahrbach. DAMOCLES (Developing...

Several traverses across Antarctica are occurring this season, studying the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. They all have very informative and helpful web pages, as well as daily or weekly updates about their progress. Previous Expeditions: More information on previous International Antarctic Traverses can be found on the following pages: Summary of International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expeditions (ITASE) Previous scientific traverses across East Antarctica almost fifty years ago Current Expeditions: ...

Departing Oslo this morning under a blue sky and mirror calm sea, we cast off the mooring lines even more excited for our upcoming adventure. Tying up alongside the museum of the Fram, the ship of Fridtjof Nansen, has provided us with an inspiring insight into an expedition from the ‘heroic age’ of polar exploration. While the conception of Tara was based on the same principles as the Fram, to see this vast wooden ship in all her splendor has given us even more of a feeling of connection to this historic vessel. During our brief stop we also had the pleasure to meet Liv Arnesen, a Norwegian adventurer who was the first women to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole in 1994. Liv is planning to Ski to the North Pole from Canada next year and will possibly finish her ...

1957 saw an explosion of activity in the Arctic under the banner of the International Geophysical Year. Scientists poured into the frozen and unforgiving landscape to study ice, weather, magnetism and glaciers among a wide variety of disciplines with the aim of increasing our knowledge of the region and its implications on the so-called civilised world. At the time, when scientists were making their tortuous journeys north and fighting to erect their heavy canvas tents, I was barely a year old. In the same year the launch of Sputnik heralded the beginning of an entire new era of technology. It was a time of optimism and the future looked bright, we could be forgiven for not understanding the sinister fate that awaited the Arctic – a fate that would be studied by a whole ...

Argentina. Ah! Argentina. yes, I'm beginning to understand. It is quite something to meet people so proud of their country, yet sometimes so humble in their opinion of the world elsewhere. This is a great place. And every day that I have been here has held a special treat. Dave and I have been invited here to attend the ECO-POLAR 2006 conference about IPY in Ushuaia. Although I had only one night in Buenos Aires en route, I somehow found myself in a large, packed, concert hall, surrounded by crying, exclaiming, mesmerised fans of Mercedes Sosa. Elderly, and not too stable on her feet, but when she sang, solo, the voice of ten choirs erupted and the soul of the nation filled the air. Her last piece was the nationa...