Could Trump's axing of climate aid funding see the end of a golden age of science?
For years the US has been the best funded player in the Antarctic. Now their budget is being slashed in half; made to remove climate change references from work
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ITV News
2 hours ago
- ITV News
Whales making remarkable comeback in Antarctica's waters – but dangers lie ahead
ITV News Science Correspondent Martin Stew reports from Antarctica on how human action has had a significant impact on the region's rising whale population Words by Senior Producer Rhiannon Hopley In Antarctica, there is a remarkable comeback taking place. Whales are returning in numbers to its waters. It is thought by scientists that that 2.9 million whales were killed for commercial purposes in the 20th century, driving many species to near whaling was banned in 1986 and since then populations around the world have slowly been creeping back whales have been the fastest to recover - they are nearly at pre-whaling levels. The iconic blue whale, the biggest mammal to ever have lived, are having a slower recovery. They were hunted so prolifically during the last century that the population of 42,000 in Antarctic waters was decimated to just 3,000. But researchers are now sighting them more often - a sign of a positive comeback. The next challenge is to ensure their recovery continues - but new threats wait around the corner. Antarctic krill fishing has increased dramatically over the past two decades by 400 percent, according to a report from the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living vessels often fish in areas frequented by whales and can catch more than 450,000 tonnes a year. Demand is being driven by the use of krill as food for farmed fish and in supplements like Omega-3 is creating competition with whales who travel thousands of miles to feast in Antarctica. It is also creating a danger, where whales and fishing come into close contact with one another putting the animals in danger of being caught up. One Chilean flagged vessel has had a criminal complaint filed against it after a humpback whale was killed after being caught up in its krill nets. The danger also lies within the food have discovered microplastics in the stomachs of krill - a worrying development as they are the foundation of the Antarctic food chain. It is not yet known what effect this could have but evidence that the consequences of human behaviour are felt even at the furthest reaches of our planet's wilderness.
New York Post
6 hours ago
- New York Post
30-million-year-old lost world beneath Antarctic ice discovered: ‘Like opening a time capsule'
It was frozen in time. Antarctica wasn't always a desolate icescape. International researchers announced the discovery of an over 30-million-year-old lost world beneath the Antarctic ice that may have teemed with rivers, forests, and possibly even palm trees. 'This finding is like opening a time capsule,' said Professor Stewart Jamieson, a geologist from Durham University in England and co-author of the groundbreaking study, which was published in the journal 'Nature Communications,' per The Economic Times. Field work for the ice-breaking study began in 2017, when the team was drilling in a seabed to extract sediments from an ecosystem buried beneath the ice, the Jerusalem Post reported. 3 'The land underneath the East Antarctic ice sheet is less well-known than the surface of Mars,' said study co-author Professor Stewart Jamieson. – Upon analyzing this sediment, they happened upon an ancient ecosystem buried over a mile underneath the ice. Researchers estimated that the total landscape, located in Wilkesland, East Antarctica, measured more than 12,000 square miles — approximately the size of Maryland, the Daily Mail reported. 3 Researchers found traces of ancient palm pollen, suggesting that the region could've even been tropical before its glaciation. fotoverse – 'The land underneath the East Antarctic ice sheet is less well-known than the surface of Mars,' said Jamieson. 'We're investigating a small part of that landscape in more detail to see what it can tell us about the evolution of the landscape and the evolution of the ice sheet.' Using advanced tools such as ground-penetrating radar, the team was able to pinpoint blocks of elevated ground measuring 75 and 105 miles long and up to 53 miles wide, that were separated by valleys as wide as 25 miles and plunging nearly 3,900 feet deep. Further analysis revealed that this subglacial landmass was 'likely not eroded by the ice sheet' and was likely 'created by rivers,' per Jamieson. This would mean that the prehistoric landscape likely formed before the first large-scale glaciation of Antarctica 34 million years ago. 3 A diagram depicting the ancient river landscape preserved beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Nature Communications When supercontinent Gondwana began to fragment, the shifting landmass created deep fissures and gave rise to the aforementioned towering ridges. During this time, the region likely featured flowing rivers and dense forests in a temperate or even tropical climate — a theory supported by the team's discovery of ancient palm pollen near the site, the Economic Times reported. Meanwhile, the sediments found at the repository contained microorganisms, harking back to a totally different environment with warmer seas and greater biodiversity. 'It's difficult to say exactly what this ancient landscape looked like, but depending on how far back you go, the climate might have resembled modern-day Patagonia, or even something tropical,' said Jamieson. In other words, the greening of Antarctica is not necessarily a modern phenomeon. As the global climate cooled, the incoming ice sheet covered the continent and halted the erosion process, effectively freezing the subglacial ecosystem in time — much like an ice block woolly mammoth. 'The geological history of Antarctica records significant fluctuations,' explained Jamieson. 'But such abrupt changes gave the ice little time to significantly alter the landscape beneath.' Despite subsequent warm spells, such as the mid-Pliocene around 3 million years ago, the regions icy carapace never receded enough to expose this subglacial topography. The team hopes that analyzing the structure and evolution of the hidden landscape — namely how it was shaped by prehistoric ice — will help experts more accurately predict melting patterns today. 'This type of finding helps us understand how climate and geography intertwine, and what we can expect in a world with rising temperatures,' said Jamieson.
NDTV
11 hours ago
- NDTV
Rare Blood-Red Squid Seen Alive For The First Time Off Antarctica
Researchers have filmed a rare species of deep-sea squid off Antarctica that has been seen alive for the first time, announced National Geographic. The Antarctic gonate squid (Gonatus antarcticus) was captured moving 7,060 feet below the surface in the ocean's midnight zone. The three-foot-long squid was captured on December 25, 2024. The team of scientists and technical experts onboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's ship RV Falkor (too) spotted the blood-red creature. Manuel Novillo, a postdoctoral researcher at Instituto de Diversidad y Ecologia Animal who was aboard the ship, said, as quoted in the report, "It was our mission critical." They were planning to take the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to the Powell Basin, which is an unexplored abyssal plain that plummets to around 9,800 feet deep. However, they had to postpone the launch because of the sea ice. Novillo said, "The ice blocks were moving so fast, it would put all the ships in danger, so we had to rearrange everything." Hence, the researchers chose a new site at the outer edge of the Powell Basin for the next day when they witnessed a squid that had "never been seen alive". Behold the first ever recording of a deep-sea squid: The Gonatus antarcticus! For more on this story, visit: — USA TODAY Video (@usatodayvideo) June 10, 2025 Gonatus antarcticus, an elusive cephalopod found only in the frigid waters around Antarctica, the report said. Novillo's team sent the footage to Kat Bolstad, who is the head of the Lab for Cephalopod Ecology and Systematics at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. She confirmed it was an Antarctic gonate squid. "This is, to the best of my knowledge, the first live footage of this animal worldwide," she says.
