Antarctic Watch Headlines 12/24/2019

Column: Call it a climate emergency
The Business Journals, 2019-12-24
“One in three species threatened by extinction.” “Forty percent of the Antarctic ice melting.” Such were the billboards in the Madrid subway station greeting attendees at the recent United Nations climate conference. Greta Thunberg and her followers were there, recognizable from the green stripes under their eyes, in cheers and jeer

China’s 36th Antarctic expedition team work on Xuelong 2
ECNS, 2019-12-24
Members of China’s 36th Antarctic expedition team collect conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) data at China’s polar icebreaker Xuelong 2 in the Southern Ocean, Dec. 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Shiping) Members of China’s 36th Antarctic expedition team collect conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) data at China’s polar icebreaker Xuelong 2 …

Have Your Science And Eat It: Scientific Research As Cakes
Forbes, 2019-12-24
Before she became a sous-chef at McMurdo research station in Antarctica, Rose McAdoo was a pastry chef in New York City. But even on the other side of the world, surrounded by polar research staff, she couldn’t stop thinking about cake. During the summer season, more than a thousand people work at McMurdo. They’re not all scientists.

Best of 2019: What role for China and India in the Arctic?
The Third Pole, 2019-12-24
Its interests have traditionally been to the south, with a first expedition to Antarctica in 1981. Over time it has also developed an Arctic interest, as changes in the Arctic have a significant impact on sea-level rise and the South Asian monsoon. Oil and minerals in the Arctic are too far away for India to economically access, but given its …

Were the predictions we made about climate change 20 years ago accurate? Here’s a look
USA Today on MSN.com, 2019-12-24
The Antarctic ice sheet lost 3 trillion tons of ice from 1992 to 2017, according to a study in the journal Nature. Mann told USA TODAY that we “underestimated the dramatic increase in persistent weather extremes like the unprecedented heat waves, droughts, wildfires and floods we’ve witnessed in recent years.” Since 1993, there have been …

Scientists Try to Save Coastal Seagrass
dtnpf.com, 2019-12-24
They are found along coastlines around the world except Antarctica’s. Seagrasses, which cover less than 0.2% of the world’s oceans, store twice as much carbon in a given area as temperate and tropical forests, a study by the United Nations-affiliated Blue Carbon Initiative found. But seagrass meadows in many places are imperiled by coastal …

Bentley’s New Bomber Skis Are The Most Stylish Way To Hit The Slopes This Winter
Forbes, 2019-12-24
As someone familiar with Bentley and Bomber, this is probably the most exclusive experience to attend this winter. But if staying stateside isn’t exactly extreme enough for you, jump aboard a 252-foot superyacht to Antarctica (December 2020) or Greenland (April 2020) next year. Not only will Bode Miller be there, but polar explorer Doug Stoup …

Crystal Endeavor Rolled Out at MV Werften in Stralsund, Germany
rustourismnews.com, 2019-12-24
Regions explored range from the High Arctic, Antarctica, Svalbard, Iceland and Greenland to the tropics of Bora Bora and Indonesia, Africa’s Ivory Coast, the Chilean Fjords and Patagonia, Western Europe, the Great Barrier Reef and New Zealand’s Sub-Antarctic Islands. On every itinerary, a team of specialized expedition guides will highlight …

How to Do Antarctica in a Day
Bloomberg L.P., 2016-06-21
In the earliest days of Antarctic tourism, making the expedition to the frozen continent was fit only for the most daring of adventure junkies—those who were willing to put their lives on the line, didn’t mind sleeping in the barracks of military-style …

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Scientist spends 17th Christmas in the Antarctic
BBC, 2019-12-23
A 40-year-old tin of bacon and vacuum-packed leftovers are among the treats a scientist has enjoyed for Christmas dinner while spending 17 festive seasons in a tent in the Antarctic. Geologist Dr Teal Riley will spend the season under canvas with a stranger. He stays at the British Antarctic Survey’s base – more than 6,200 miles (10,000km …

Chilean air force chief says cause of Antarctic plane crash may never be known
The Guardian, 2019-12-22
Investigators may never recover enough wreckage to know why plane crashed en route to Antarctica, killing 38

A Flexible Diet is Key to Antarctic Penguin Survival, Study Finds
Forbes, 2019-12-12
Antarctica is home to a myriad of penguin species including the emperor penguin, gentoo penguin, and chinstrap penguin. A gentoo penguin leaps off of an ice floe and into Mikkelsen Harbor in the Antarctic Peninsula. Gentoo and chinstap penguins are closely related, and both reside on the Antarctic Peninsula, Falkland Islands, and South Georgia.

Delay in recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole from unexpected CFC-11 emissions
Nature, 2019-12-19
The Antarctic ozone hole is decreasing in size but this recovery will be affected by atmospheric variability and any unexpected changes in chlorinated source gas emissions. Here, using model simulations, we show that the ozone hole will largely cease to occur by 2065 given compliance with the Montreal Protocol. If the unusual meteorology of …

Barrels of ancient Antarctic air aim to track history of rare gas
Phys.org, 2019-12-13
Though rare, the atmospheric detergent known as hydroxyl can scrub the atmosphere and determine the fate of more plentiful gases that affect Earth’s climate. An Antarctic field campaign last winter led by the U.S. and Australia has successfully extracted some of the largest samples of air dating from the 1870s until today. These samples are a …

Maps That Peer Below Antarctic Ice Show Precarious Position of Key Glacier
Scientific American, 2019-12-13
Known as “BedMachine Antarctica,” the project presents a comprehensive layout of the landscape underneath the ice—all the bumps, ridges and chasms in the bedrock that form the Antarctic continent and holds its glaciers in place. Led by scientists from the University of California, Irvine, the researchers have steadily added to the data …

Map reveals land beneath Antarctic ice sheet in unprecedented detail
UPI.com, 2019-12-12
RELATED Antarctic ice instability could yield rapid melting, dramatic sea level rise To build the new map, scientists sourced data from a wide diversity of sources, including observations from 19 surveys of Antarctic ice thickness. The mapping model utilized ice flow velocity and seismic data, as well as topography measurements made by NASA’s …

The unique structural features of carbonmonoxy hemoglobin from the sub-Antarctic fish Eleginops maclovinus
Nature, 2019-12-12
Here, we report the crystal structure of a carbonmonoxy form of the Hb isolated from the sub-Antarctic notothenioid fish Eleginops maclovinus characterised by either rare or unique features. In particular, the distal site of the α chain results to be very unusual since the distal His is displaced from its canonical position. This displacement …

Black Hops Return With a Hare Trigger One-Shot From Antarctic Press in March 2020 Solicitations
Bleeding Cool, 2019-12-21
America’s daring, highly trained special missions rabbit, U.S.A.-*-G.I., is back in an all-new volume of Black Hops! The perfect hopping-on point for new readers, Hare Trigger pits U.S.A.-*-G.I. and new operatives Patriot-R and Rigor-Tortoise against the terrorist cell Ningen and their leader, Apex Moth. Together, they’ll have to infiltrate …

ANTARCTIC PRESS March 2020 Solicitations
Newsarama, 2019-12-16
B.A.D.A.S.S. #4 (monthly series, full color, 32 pgs., $3.99 U.S.) Story/Art: Adrian Nelson The continuing dangerous adventures of B.A.D.A.S.S., the Bureau of Alien Detection And Supernatural Sightings! Following the abduction of his son, Sam enlists help to rescue him before he can be used against Earth! Black Hops: Hare Trigger (1-shot, full …