SOUTH POLE, ANTARCTICA-- Several weeks ago, I explained how solar radiation is the main driver of the Earth's climate. When solar radiation passes through the atmosphere and makes its way towards Earth, it can get absorbed, reflected, refracted, or scattered. One of those substances in the atmosphere that can either absorb or scatter solar radiation are aerosols... {Read More »}

SOUTH POLE, ANTARCTICA-- Station closing occurred on February 14th at 2:30 AM as the last flight did a spectacular fly-by to wish us well on our eight month deep freeze. No more cargo in or out and we are on our own now... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, IN TRANSIT TO HOBART, TASMANIA– The work of the ship ended as quickly as it started nearly two months ago... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– In this video, Christina and I lead you on a brief tour of the JOIDES Resolution... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– The poles are a great place to study both natural and man-induced changes in Earth’s climate because of a phenomenon called polar amplification... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION-- We are getting ready to retrieve the first section of a sediment core ever taken from of this site, Wilkes Land! The whole ship is abuzz with excitement. Everyone is awake to see what we will get... {Read More »}

By drilling into deep ocean sediments along Antarctica, scientists hope to uncover the earth’s climate history from a time when Antarctica was largely ice-free, and to investigate its transition to the glacier-covered continent we know today. Investigating this history will help lead to a better understanding of the climate changes we’re experiencing in the present day. {Read More »}

CAPE ROYDS, ROSS ISLAND, ANTARCTICA– This year the breeding colony at Cape Royds has experienced several large snow storms. A little snow is okay, but this year the amount is more than usual... {Read More »}

Heidi Roop is part of a team more than 100 scientists collecting and analyzing a 2-mile-long (3.5-km-long) ice core from the West Antarctica Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide. The WAIS team estimates that this ice core will reveal climate changes that have happened as far back as 100,000 years, a time when woolly mammoths still walked the earth. {Read More »}

BARROW, ALASKA-- One afternoon a young adult female polar bear wandered by the ship. She appeared out of the blowing snow and walked past the stern, fairly close to the ship. An hour later she reappeared and approached the ship... {Read More »}