NEWS

A new study of the habitat needs of emperor penguins show that the iconic seabirds are more flexible in their abilities to choose a place to live than previously assumed.

The first evidence is emerging of a regime shift underway in the Southern Ocean where Antarctic sea ice is entering a different state of lower coverage.

Probes dropped from helicopters through ice cracks help reveal that warm ocean water is melting the largest glacier ice shelf in East Antarctica from below.

Researchers with the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership awarded two of four DECRAs to Tasmania

Hundreds of international scientists are sounding a clarion call for urgent expansion of Southern Ocean science in the emerging climate crisis.

Landfast ice is crucial for the Earth's climate

More than 250 people from 25 nations will meet in Hobart during August for the first-ever global conference of the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS).

The first-ever broad review of Antarctic ‘landfast’ ice highlights its far-reaching importance in the Earth system while documenting a recent dramatic crash in its extent.

Polar scientists are calling for an urgent intensification of national and international research and observational capabilities in view of rapid Arctic and Antarctic change.

Researchers have found that the deep ocean circulation around parts of Antarctica has slowed by 30 per cent since the 1990s, reducing oxygen levels across the world’s deep seas.

Is this sudden shift in the Southern Ocean a response to climate change? We need to know how the Antarctic system is changing – and why.

Using Artificial Intelligence to better simulate the amount of energy from the sun that strikes the Southern Ocean.

Sea-ice researchers join forces to release a science briefing for policy makers.

Not only do tiny phytoplankton have a big impact on clouds, they also play a crucial role in the climate system

Through the Million Year Ice Core project, Tasmania is gaining an entirely new climate research capability at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Hobart.

What does Antarctic ice, Southern Ocean algal blooms, Australia’s active volcanoes and a particle accelerator have in common?

With three very extreme events of Antarctic sea ice loss in the last six years, it appears a regime shift is under way in the Southern Ocean.

A new interactive Antarctic map called 'Nilas' promises to assist voyage planning and enhance climate research in the sea-ice zone.

A global review about the impacts of warming oceans on marine zooplankton is published in Nature Communications.

Prof Tony Press honoured for distinguished service to the environment

MEDIA RELEASE: The first traverse for the Million Year Ice Core project is well advanced in proving a route for ambitious climate research in the coming years.

Greater conservation efforts are needed to protect Antarctic ecosystems, and the populations of up to 97% of land-based Antarctic species could decline by 2100 if we don’t change tack, new research has found.

MEDIA RELEASE: An advanced new satellite to observe water on Earth in unprecedented resolution promises to revolutionise Australian research in the Southern Ocean.

MEDIA RELEASE: Innovative research on Southern Ocean productivity and sea ice by the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) will be advanced with three Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery projects.

The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) convened in Hobart, Tasmania, during October 2022 to examine the state of marine life in the Southern Ocean. Professor Bettina Meyer (AWI) and Dr So Kawaguchi (AAD) published a Science editorial stressing the need for a new krill management strategy at the Antarctic Peninsula to ensure the balance of the Southern Ocean ecosystem.

The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) and the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS) have released a report on IPCC WGII key findings for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.

Media Release: A new method for detecting and monitoring change in the exposure of the Antarctic coastline to the dynamic Southern Ocean, due to changing sea-ice distribution, could improve environmental monitoring and modelling of Antarctic ice loss and sea level rise. For the first time, Dr Phil Reid of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and Dr Rob Massom of the Australian Antarctic Division investigated ‘coastal exposure length’ – a daily measure of when and where the Antarctic coastline lacks any protective sea-ice buffer offshore. The scientists used the long-term satellite sea-ice concentration record to determine Antarctic coastal exposure, and how it has changed over the past four decades.

Media Release: Antarctic ice core records have shown that eastern Australia’s drought risk is greater than thought. The research, led by Dr Tessa Vance from the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership and Dr Anthony Kiem from the University of Newcastle, and involving Australian Antarctic Division scientists, has significant implications for water security and management across Australia and internationally.

Media Release: Scientists in Australia and the United States are reporting the sudden loss of a large ice-covered Antarctic lake which held more water than Sydney Harbour.

The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership is now offering exciting PhD research projects, based at the University of Tasmania in Hobart.

Media Release: The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) has welcomed the successful completion of a major krill research voyage into the Southern Ocean.

Why do oceanographers send scientific instruments thousands of metres below the ocean surface?

Our researchers on board TEMPO sprang into action, when an unusually long and thick krill swarm appeared on the echogram.

The Predator Observer team has recorded 445 sightings of marine mammals.

The TEMPO team has successfully deployed all three KOMBIs.

'The entire vessel is on a port list, because we're being hit by a 40 knot wind that's screaming down off Antarctica… it's pretty spectacular!'

The Southern Ocean Large Areal Carbon Export voyage is now underway, aboard Australia's RV Investigator.

For decades scientists have wondered how the Antarctic krill population is distributed under the shield of Antarctic winter sea ice and the development of the KOMBI provides an opportunity to gain valuable clues at a time when humans cannot readily access this area.

For decades scientists have wondered how the Antarctic krill population is distributed under the shield of Antarctic winter sea ice and the development of the KOMBI provides an opportunity to gain valuable clues at a time when humans cannot readily access this area.

All the years of preparation to make this voyage a reality are now bearing fruit - or in this case krill.

High-powered physics and supercomputers are helping a team of Australian-based scientists explore the mysterious boundary between Antarctic ice and the Southern Ocean.

Media Release: Australian Antarctic Program scientists will use a range of novel technologies to measure krill, during a ground-breaking voyage to the Southern Ocean that departs tomorrow.

The Southern Ocean Large Areal Carbon Export voyage is now underway, aboard Australia's RV Investigator.

A fleet of new-generation, deep-diving ocean robots will be deployed in the Southern Ocean, in a major study of how marine life acts as a handbrake on global warming.

New measurements reveal a surprising increase in the amount of dense water sinking near Antarctica, following 50 years of decline.

Researchers from the AAPP have completed another important piece of the Antarctic climate jigsaw puzzle, with the creation of the first detailed database of changes in land-fast sea ice.

Dr Edward Doddridge is an oceanographer and Theme Leader with AAPP's Nature and Impacts of Southern Ocean Change research theme. Dr Doddridge was recently invited to present at the Royal Society of Tasmania

AAPP Theme Leader Prof. Stephen Rintoul was recently invited to present at the SCAR 2020 Mini Symposium entitled Antarctica in a Warming World; Regional Changes, Global Consequences and Future Commitments.

From Antarctic ice, a new understanding of drought & flood risk in Australia

Atmospheric research by the AAPP is helping to address urgent questions about the role of Southern Ocean clouds in the Earth’s changing climate.