The Latest Breaking News from Antarctic

When I was working on my book Antarctica in Fiction, friends and colleagues would joke about what an easy task I had taken on. How many writers would choose to set a novel in a continent with no permanent human population? Surely a dozen or so books would cover it.

British Army medical officer, Captain Harpreet Chandi, becomes fastest woman to ski solo across Antarctica, inspiring others to step outside their comfort ...

Preet Chandi is a day quicker for solo and unsupported Antarctic crossing

Climate scientists don’t like surprises. It means our deep understanding of how the climate works isn’t quite as complete as we need. But unfortunately, as climate change worsens, surprises and unprecedented events keep happening.

Researchers from the University of NSW have found male elephant seals are somewhat selective eaters, posing implications for their adaptability.

Current outbreak, which started in 2021, is estimated to have killed millions of wild birds and thousands of mammals globally

Study after study showed the breakdown of climate systems taking place much earlier than foreseen, with potentially catastrophic results

Captain Harpreet Chandi already broke two Guinness World Records for polar exploration last year but now claims she has a third

We don’t want to give you the wrong idea: things are bad. Antarctic ice sheets are melting, the fossil fuel lobby was everywhere at the COP talks, and even solutions like electric cars have their problems. And that just covers the past few weeks of this newsletter.

Antarctica is often imagined as the last untouched wilderness. Unfortunately, avian influenza (“bird flu”) is encroaching on the icy continent. The virus has already reached the sub-Antarctic islands between the Antarctic Peninsula and South America. It’s only a matter of time before it reaches the Antarctic continent.

If we want to understand the future, it’s often useful to look at the past. And even more useful if you use octopus DNA to peer into worlds long gone.