GoKawiil
Tech News
Researchers found that a key section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, including the Thwaites glacier, underwent rapid retreat during earlier, milder episodes of global warming. The findings draw on geological evidence from past climate conditions rather than direct observation of the present-day glacier.
Ui-te-Rangiora is a legendary Polynesian navigator from Rarotongan oral tradition said to have sailed south aboard the vessel Te Ivi o Atea and reached a frozen, foggy region called Tai-uka-a-pia. A 19th-century reading by Stephenson Percy Smith interpreted this as a description of Antarctic ice floes, leading some to credit the navigator with discovering Antarctica centuries before European explorers.
Two geologists from Australian National University analyzed zircon minerals in ocean sediments to trace the outlines of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana beneath Antarctica's ice sheet. Their findings, published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, suggest Antarctica contained substantial material dating to Gondwana's formation between 650 and 450 million years ago.
Researchers report that massive mountain ranges formed by continental collisions once existed in what is now Antarctica. As these supermountains eroded over millions of years, they released nutrient-rich sediment that scientists say coincided with periods of rapid biological expansion on Earth.
A new report published in Scientific Data finds that glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica have shed roughly 12.5 trillion tons of ice since 1979, enough to cover the continental United States in five feet of water. Researchers found that most of this loss—about five-sixths—comes not from warmer air but from ocean water eroding ice sheets from below and along their edges. Scientists cite examples like Greenland's Jakobshavn glacier, which is now retreating up to 164 feet daily.
A new scientific analysis finds that the polar ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland have shed more than 11 trillion tons of ice since the 1970s. Researchers say the primary cause of this loss is not surface melting from warmer air, but glaciers accelerating and discharging ice into the ocean more quickly.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf told The Athletic he's a self-described conspiracy theorist who believes a hidden civilization exists beneath Earth's crust, accessible only through Antarctica. He credited quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a longtime conspiracy proponent, as an inspiration, and questioned why tourists can't freely visit Antarctica or why world leaders supposedly hold secret gatherings there. A University of Florida microbiologist quoted in the piece dismissed the claims, noting Antarctic tourism is common and no such secret leader meetings occur.