Latest news with #WorldGlacierDay
Euronews
23-03-2025
- Science
- Euronews
Scientists were in Antarctica when a giant iceberg broke free. Here's what they found in its shadow
ADVERTISEMENT Giant sea spiders, ice fish and octopuses are among the surprisingly abundant creatures scientists have found in a stretch of sea that used to be covered by ice. An international team onboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's Falkor (too) research vessel were on a trip around Antarctica earlier this year, studying 'the interface between ice and sea' when a rare opportunity suddenly opened up. On 13 January, an iceberg the size of Chicago named A-84 broke away from the George VI Ice Shelf, one of the massive floating glaciers attached to the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet. The remnants of a massive iceberg calving event, seen from Research Vessel Falkor (too). Alex Ingle / Schmidt Ocean Institute 'We seized upon the moment, changed our expedition plan, and went for it so we could look at what was happening in the depths below,' says expedition co-chief scientist Dr Patricia Esquete from the University of Aveiro, Portugal. 'We didn't expect to find such a beautiful, thriving ecosystem. Based on the size of the animals, the communities we observed have been there for decades, maybe even hundreds of years.' Related World Glacier Day: UN warns of 'avalanche of cascading impacts' as ice melt increases What did the scientists find under the iceberg space? Pausing their work in the Bellingshausen Sea, the team reached the site of the vacated iceberg on 25 January, becoming the first to investigate an area never before accessible to humans. They carried out the first detailed study of the geology, physical oceanography and biology beneath such a large area once covered by a floating ice shelf. The ice that calved off of the sheet was approximately 510 square kilometres - exposing an equivalent area of seafloor . Patricia Esquete inspects a suspected new species of isopod that was sampled from the bottom of the Bellingshausen Sea off Antarctica. Alex Ingle / Schmidt Ocean Institute Using Schmidt Ocean Institute's remotely operated vehicle , ROV SuBastian, the team observed the deep seafloor for eight days and found flourishing ecosystems at depths of 1,300 metres. Large corals and sponges were discovered supporting an array of animal life, including what the team suspect to be several new species - though it will take years to determine this. Related First ever footage of the Antarctic seabed reveals a thriving ecosystem threatened by ice melt Black snow, emissions and bird flu: How Antarctic cruises hurt more than they help How does life survive beneath a floating ice sheet? Little is known about what dwells beneath Antarctica's floating ice shelves. This expedition is the first to use an ROV to explore this remote environment. It offers new insights into how ecosystems can function in such submerged depths. Deep-sea ecosystems typically rely on nutrients from the surface slowly raining down to the seafloor, the Schmidt Ocean Institute explains. An octopus rests on the seafloor 1150 meters deep, in the Bellingshausen Sea off Antarctica, at an area where the shelf break and slope are cut by several underwater gullies. ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute However, these Antarctic ecosystems have been covered by 150-metre-thick ice for centuries, completely cut off from surface nutrients. Ocean currents also move nutrients, and the team says that currents are a possible mechanism for sustaining life beneath the ice sheet. The precise process is still a mystery, however. Related OceanXplorer: On board the billionaire's research vessel broadcasting from the deep sea 'Unique biodiversity': Scientists discover four new species of Octopus off the coast of Costa Rica What else does the Antarctic ice shelf expedition teach us? 'Serendipitous moments are part of the excitement of research at sea - they offer the chance to be the first to witness the untouched beauty of our world,' says Schmidt Ocean Institute executive director, Dr Jyotika Virmani. Although the stuff of marine researchers' dreams, the circumstances around the iceberg's breakaway are concerning. ADVERTISEMENT Iceberg calving is a normal occurrence for ice shelves. But climate change is accelerating the process, causing the ice sheet to shrink over the last few decades. 'The ice loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet is a major contributor to sea level rise worldwide,' says expedition co-chief scientist Sasha Montelli of the UK's University College London (UCL). the iceberg calved from George VI Ice Shelf in the Bellingshausen Sea on 19 January 2025. NASA Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) The international team - comprising scientists from Chile, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, and the US - also used the opportunity to gather data on the ice sheet's past behaviour. And they deployed autonomous underwater vehicles called gliders to study the impacts of glacial meltwater on the region. Preliminary data suggest 'high biological productivity' and a strong meltwater flow from the George IV ice shelf . ADVERTISEMENT 'Our work is critical for providing longer-term context of these recent changes, improving our ability to make projections of future change - projections that can inform actionable policies,' says Montelli. 'We will undoubtedly make new discoveries as we continue to analyse this vital data,' she adds - so watch this space.
Euronews
21-03-2025
- Climate
- Euronews
Almost every European country experienced a hotter winter than usual, study finds
ADVERTISEMENT When disaster strikes, it becomes painfully obvious how much human-caused climate change is making our world a more dangerous place. In recent months, attribution studies have found that it doubled the likelihood of Central Europe's deadly floods in September, and made the hot, dry weather that drove January's LA wildfires 35 per cent more likely. The heatwave that left students fainting in South Sudan last month was ten times more likely to occur in our era of fossil fuel burning. However, less notice is paid to the way climate change is shifting our local climates on a daily basis. A new analysis shows that at least one in five people globally felt a strong climate change influence every day over the last three months, from December 2024 to February 2025. Related World Glacier Day: UN warns of 'avalanche of cascading impacts' as ice melt increases Moldova, Ukraine, Switzerland: The top 10 fastest-warming countries are all in Europe Extreme heat was the most pervasive climate change effect around the world this winter, according to scientists at Climate Central, the independent group behind the study . According to the group's Climate Change Index, a 'strong' influence is felt when climate change makes conditions at least two times more likely. Heat-related health risks rose for billions of people Nearly 394 million people experienced 30 or more days of risky heat added by climate change during the last three months, the scientists say. Most of these 394 million people (74 per cent) live in Africa. Risky heat days are defined as those with temperatures hotter than 90 per cent of the temperatures recorded in the local area from 1991-2020. Heat-related health risks rise when temperatures climb above this local threshold, partly because people are unprepared. In half of the analysed countries (110 out of 220), the average person experienced temperatures strongly influenced by climate change for at least one-third of the season (30 days or more). Related EVs set to save Europe 20 million tonnes of CO2 this year but transport remains biggest polluter In Finland, more than half of consumers are shopping less for climate reasons Where in Europe felt the biggest rise in temperatures? The last three months were warmer than normal for 42 out of 43 countries in Europe, according to Climate Central. Russia , home to more than 145 million people, experienced the highest average temperature anomaly of 3.1°C above the 1991-2020 normal. Baltic countries were close behind, with Lithuania and Latvia recording temperatures of 2.8°C higher than normal, followed by Estonia at 2.7°C. During this time, more than 9.4 million people across four countries experienced daily average temperatures that were strongly influenced by climate change for at least one-third of the season. Malta experienced the most abnormally hot days (34), just ahead of Norway and Estonia (both 32) and Latvia (31). At a city level, Longyearbyen in Svalbard is well ahead of the pack. The Norwegian territory's 1,753-strong population experienced 45 days of unusual heat made twice as likely by climate change. The other top 10 cities with the highest average temperature anomalies were all in Eastern Europe. They were, in order: Vilnius (Lithuania), Minsk (Belarus), Tallinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia), Helsinki (Finland), Kharkiv ( Ukraine ), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Kyiv (Ukraine) and Chisinau (Moldova).
Associated Press
21-03-2025
- Climate
- Associated Press
Trekking the blue ice of Perito Moreno in Argentina as world marks World Glacier Day
Friday marks the first-ever World Glacier Day, an international observance established by the United Nations to raise awareness about the rapid retreat of glaciers worldwide. As experts warn of accelerating ice loss, visitors at Argentina's Perito Moreno Glacier watch in awe as massive ice chunks break away and crash into Lake Argentino—a process both natural and symbolic of broader climate concerns. (AP Video/Sara España)
Washington Post
21-03-2025
- Washington Post
World Glacier Day: Trekking the blue ice of Perito Moreno in Argentina
EL CALAFATE, Argentina — A creak, a thunderous roar, and then the plunge: Argentina's Perito Moreno Glacier calves several times a day, as hundreds of visitors strain to see which side it will break off and capture the moment on their screens. The event, known as calving, is a normal occurrence, said Victoria Pacheco, a tour guide in El Calafate, in Argentina's Patagonia region , during a hike three days before the inaugural World Glacier Day on Friday. Declared by the U.N. General Assembly in 2022, the March 21 celebration aims to promote the conservation of glaciers, a crucial source of drinking water.
The Hill
21-03-2025
- The Hill
World Glacier Day: Trekking the blue ice of Perito Moreno in Argentina
EL CALAFATE, Argentina (AP) — A creak, a thunderous roar, and then the plunge: Argentina's Perito Moreno Glacier calves several times a day, as hundreds of visitors strain to see which side it will break off and capture the moment on their screens. The event, known as calving, is a normal occurrence, said Victoria Pacheco, a tour guide in El Calafate, in Argentina's Patagonia region, during a hike three days before the inaugural World Glacier Day on Friday. Declared by the U.N. General Assembly in 2022, the March 21 celebration aims to promote the conservation of glaciers, a crucial source of drinking water. Summer draws tourists to viewpoints just 500 meters (1,600 feet) from Perito Moreno, offering panoramic views of the glacier against the Andes. Many also embark on guided treks, donning crampons and helmets to explore the glacier's rolling terrain and peer into centuries-old, deep blue crevasses. Marcia Fortuna, a 46-year-old from Santa Fe, Argentina, recently explored the region's glaciers, visiting Upsala and Spegazzini. 'It's tiring but worth it,' she said, describing the experience as 'beautiful and awe-inspiring.' While there are no definitive studies showing significant changes in Perito Moreno, experienced guides like Pacheco report a visible decline in the glacier's ice. The glacier's famous ice dam last formed in 2018, when the ice pushed against the Magallanes Peninsula, temporarily blocking a section of the lake before eventually collapsing. When the glacier ruptures, it creates a stunning natural spectacle, described by National Geographic as a 'thunderous, slow-motion drama' as massive ice towers topple into the water, sending waves rippling across the lake. According to UNESCO, glaciers are 'fragile mirrors' of climate change, reflecting rising global temperatures through their retreat and ice loss. The organization warns that unless greenhouse gas emissions are curbed, half of the world's glaciers could disappear by 2100, threatening freshwater supplies and ecosystems. The UN warns that glaciers worldwide are melting 'faster than ever.' It designated March 21 as World Glacier Day, highlighting their crucial role in freshwater supply and urging conservation efforts.
