Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
By Juan RESTREPO, Juan BARRETO ON BOARD THE ARC SIMON BOLIVAR , Antarctica, March 15, 2024 (AFP) – In Antarctica, a scientist waits patiently for two frolicking humpback whales to poke their tails out of the icy waters so she can take a photographic “fingerprint” of the unique colors and patterns that allow researchers to identify individuals of the species. Andrea Bonilla, a Colombian scientist at Cornell University in the United States, has been working […]
By Juan BARRETO, Juan RESTREPO ON BOARD THE ARC SIMON BOLIVAR, Antártida, March 2, 2024 (AFP) – Sea ice levels in Antarctica have registered historic lows for three consecutive years, portending grave consequences for life on Earth as we know it. But looking out over the southernmost continent, scientist Miguel Angel de Pablo laments that humanity seems to be oblivious to the warnings. “We (scientists) are very worried… because we don’t see how we can […]
By Juan RESTREPO et Juan BARRETO GERLACHE STRAIT, Antarctica, Feb 7, 2024 (AFP) – In remote Antarctica, Colombian marine biologist Paulo Tigreros dips a net into the icy waters in his hunt for microplastics in what should be one of the best-preserved ecosystems in the world. Like a sieve, the net lets water pass through as it retains the small solid particles that float in the Gerlache Strait, a natural corridor approximately 160 kilometers (99 […]
PARIS, Oct 24, 2023 (AFP) – Bird flu has been detected in the Antarctica region for the first time, according to British experts, raising concerns the deadly virus could pose a threat to penguins and other local species. Scientists had been fearing that the worst outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in history would reach Antarctica, a key breeding ground for many birds. The British Antarctic Survey said its staff took samples from brown […]
PARIS, Oct 12, 2023 (AFP) – More than 40 percent of Antarctica’s ice shelves lost volume in 25 years, increasing the risk of sea levels rising and with human-induced warming the likely cause, scientists said on Thursday. Ice shelves are freshwater extensions of the ice sheets that cover much of Antarctica, floating on the seas that surround the vast and ecologically fragile continent. They act as giant “plugs” stabilising massive glaciers, slowing down the flow […]
The sea ice around Antarctica likely had a record low surface area when it was at its maximum size this winter, a preliminary US analysis of satellite data showed Monday. As the southern hemisphere transitions into spring, the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said in a statement that Antarctic sea ice had only reached a maximum size of 16.96 million square kilometers (6.55 million square miles) this year, on September 10. The […]
PARIS, May 26, 2023 (AFP) – Climate change-driven shifts in the circulation of waters to the deepest reaches of the ocean around Antarctica, which could reverberate across the planet and intensify global warming, are happening decades “ahead of schedule”, according to new research. Scientists have said that an acceleration of melting Antarctic ice and rising temperatures, driven by the emission of planet-warming gases, is expected to have a significant effect on the global network of […]
A total solar eclipse plunged Antarctica from summer into darkness early Saturday in a rare astronomical spectacle witnessed by a handful of scientists and thrill-seekers — and countless penguins. “The visibility was excellent,” said Raul Cordero of the University of Santiago de Chile (USACH), who was on site to witness “totality” at 0746 GMT, with the “ring of fire” phase lasting just over 40 seconds. Solar eclipses occur when the Moon passes between the Sun […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — A delivery of Covid vaccines has arrived in Antarctica to inoculate British researchers stationed in the polar wilderness, the UK foreign ministry said Thursday. The shipment was delivered to the British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Research Station, making the outpost the furthest destination in the British Overseas Territories to be supplied with jabs. The AstraZeneca shots were flown from a Royal Air Force base in Britain via Senegal and the Falklands […]
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The United Nations on Thursday recognized a new record high temperature for the Antarctic continent, confirming a reading of 18.3 degrees Celsius (64.9 degrees Fahrenheit) made last year. The record heat was reached at Argentina’s Esperanza research station on the Antarctic Peninsula on February 6, 2020, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said. “Verification of this maximum temperature record is important because it helps us to build up a […]
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Saturday off the coast of Antarctica, with authorities issuing a tsunami warning for Chile’s Eduardo Frei base on the frigid continent, emergency officials said. The quake struck at 8:36 pm (2336 GMT) Saturday or 7:36 a.m. PHL time Sunday about 210 kilometers (130 miles) east of the base at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), Chile’s National Emergency Office (Onemi) said, urging evacuation from “the beach area of the […]
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Even if humanity stopped emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow, Earth will warm for centuries to come and oceans will rise by metres, according to a controversial modelling study published Thursday. Natural drivers of global warming — more heat-trapping clouds, thawing permafrost, and shrinking sea ice — already set in motion by carbon pollution will take on their own momentum, researchers from Norway reported in the Nature journal […]
