Antarctica

Eileen McSaveney (left) and Terry Tickhill (right) use a hand augur to drill Lake Vanda, Wright Valley, Antarctica, during the 1969-1970 field season. Water collected during this effort was used to date the lake.

Ten Pioneering Women of Antarctica and the Places Named for Them

These coves, peaks, glaciers and other landmarks honor female explorers and scientists who have contributed to our understanding of the continent

Endurance, which sank over 100 years ago, hosts filter-feeders like anemones.

Shackleton's 'Endurance' Shipwreck Is Teeming With Bizarre Ocean Life

Undersea footage reveals the ship's diverse collection of sea stars, sponges, anemones, and even a rare deep-sea squat lobster

Crew members of the Endurance enjoy a quick game of soccer while on a three-year Imperial Trans-Antarctica Expedition in 1915. The 144-foot ship sank in the Anarctic Ocean that same year.

Track Marine Archaeologists Searching Icy Antarctic Seas for Ernest Shackleton's 'Endurance'

A team aboard a modern icebreaker will survey the site with state-of-the-art underwater drones in hopes of finding the historic vessel

Antarctic pearlwort (pictured) , grew and spread five times faster between 2009 and 2018 than growth rates observed between 1960 and 2009  

Warming Temperatures Are Turning Antarctica Green

Native flowering plant species grew faster and more densely in the last decade than in the previous 50 years combined

Gentoo penguins may become more numerous in parts of Antarctica that were once too icy for the temperate birds. 

New Antarctic Penguin Colonies Discovered Farther South Than Normal

As the climate warms, gentoo penguins are expanding to habitats that were previously too icy for them to raise chicks

The agencies will monitor Justin Packshaw and Jamie Facer Childs’ health as they trek across the icy continent over the next few months.

Space Agencies Track Two Explorers Across Antarctica to Prepare People for Mars

The 80-day mission is testing the limits of the human body in a harsh environment

A satellite positioned nearly a million miles away from Earth captured the eclipse over Antarctica.

Watch a Total Solar Eclipse Cloak Antarctica in Complete Darkness

The astronomical event occurred during the continent's summer, when the sun never sets and the whole region is illuminated 24 hours a day

Permafrost covers 65 percent of Russian lands, but it’s melting fast.

Permafrost Thaw in Siberia Creates a Ticking 'Methane Bomb' of Greenhouse Gases, Scientists Warn

In 2020, temperatures in the region rose nearly 11 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, causing the limestone to release ancient methane deposits

Many videos and photos shares on social media showed areas dusted with up to an inch of snow and trees slicked with thick ice. Pictured: Sao Joaquim Brazil

Rare Snowfall Blankets Cities Across Brazil

Some parts of the country are seeing snow for the first time in decades, and its threatening crop production

Satellite images of the Southern Amery Ice Shelf show the ice-covered lake before and after a fracture in the ice shelf beneath caused it to drain into the sea.

Massive Antarctic Lake Vanishes in Just Three Days

Researchers estimate the body of water once held as much as 26 billion cubic feet of H2O that has now all drained into the ocean

Māori explorers may have reached Antarctica in the seventh century A.D.

Māori May Have Reached Antarctica 1,000 Years Before Europeans

New research draws on oral histories and other traditional records often ignored by Western scholars

The Southern Ocean is defined by a swift undertow called the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) that flows from West to East around Antarctica.

National Geographic Officially Recognizes the Southern Ocean as World's Fifth Ocean

The organization's cartographers will now label a total of five oceans on their maps and atlases

New research suggests the intrepid adventurer's persistent health problems stemmed from beriberi, a disease linked to vitamin B-1 deficiency.

What Mysterious Illness Plagued Polar Explorer Ernest Shackleton?

The Antarctic adventurer was initially diagnosed with scurvy, but new research suggests he actually suffered from beriberi

A polynya opens up in the Weddell Sea.

How Rivers in the Sky Melt Huge Holes in Antarctic Ice

New research is causing scientists to rethink how polynyas—massive openings in the sea ice—are formed

A stream of meltwater cuts through the Greenland ice sheet.

Earth Loses 1.2 Trillion Tons of Ice Per Year, a Nearly 60% Increase From 1994

A pair of studies paint a worrying picture of accelerating ice loss around the world, with serious consequences for projections of sea level rise

A satellite image shows the A68a iceberg in the lower left. The chunk of ice looks a bit like a pointed finger, and scientists say it's currently on a path to collide with the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia.

Delaware-Sized Iceberg Could Decimate Wildlife on South Atlantic Island

Iceberg A68a is on track to hit the British Territory of South Georgia, where it could complicate access to food for millions of seals and seabirds

A pelagornithid, likely the largest flying bird that ever lived, soared over the open ocean.

Scientists Reveal What May Be the Largest Flying Bird Ever

Researchers from California and China identified the 50-million-year-old bone of a giant bird that lived in Antarctica

Some of the corpses looked newly dead but have actually been preserved in ice for more than 800 years.

Scientist Unearths a Colony of Mummified Penguins in Antarctica

Melting ice revealed an ancient colony that has never before been recorded

A research team surveyed the seafloor near Thwaites Glacier on the RV Nathaniel B Palmer in early 2019.

Mapping Technology Reveals Channels of Warm Water Under Florida-Sized Glacier

The new research will inform computer models of how quickly the glacier is melting

Emperor penguins standing on sea ice at the Brunt ice shelf in Antarctica.

Satellites Spy Poop-Stained Ice, Revealing New Emperor Penguin Colonies

Researchers found eight new colonies, but all were small and located in parts of Antarctica predicted to be ravaged by climate change

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