News: Australian Antarctic Program Partnership
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Quarterly science bulletin
Edition 2, June 2023
One of the largest seasonal cycles on Earth happens in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. During autumn and winter the surface of the ocean freezes as sea ice advances northwards. In the spring the ice melts as the sunlight returns.
At the winter maximum, sea ice covers an area more than twice the size of Australia (roughly 20 million square km). During summer it retreats to cover less than a fifth of that area (about 3 million square km).
But in the last few years we've been monitoring an alarming decline in the extent of sea ice around Antarctica.
Right now, even in the long polar night in the middle of winter, sea-ice extent is currently the lowest on record for this time of year.
"This year’s sea ice growth isn’t just an anomaly. It’s not just extreme. The previous record for this time of year was just over one million square kilometres of missing ice. This year has doubled that record. In the absence of climate change, there is a one in one thousand chance of seeing an anomaly this big. This is uncharted territory and we sea-ice scientists don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few months." (Dr Ed Doddridge, AAPP Research Associate)
Our sea-ice researchers have also just published the first-ever comprehensive review of landfast ice attached to the Antarctic coast, which reveals there was a dramatic crash in its extent last year.
Sea ice around Antarctica is covering a much smaller area than normal. There is currently over 2 million square kilometres less sea ice than is normal for this time of year (source: AAPP).
Is this sudden shift in the Southern Ocean a response to climate change? We need to know how the Antarctic system is changing – and why.
That's the mission of the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership: to undertake collaborative science that informs timely policy responses to climate change. This is the critical decade for decisions on emission rates to avoid tipping points in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean that affect the entire planet.
Welcome to our second edition of 'Southern Signals', a quarterly bulletin for decision-makers, policy-shapers, journalists, stakeholders and the general public about our science and research activities. Thank you for your interest!
Professor Nathan Bindoff
Program leader, Australian Antarctic Program Partnership
University of Tasmania
We prepared a science briefing to explain why changes in Antarctic sea ice have profound implications for wildlife, currents and climate, and sent copies to politicians and policy-makers at local, state and national levels.
Eyes of the world on Southern Ocean: international symposium meets in Hobart
More than 250 people from 25 nations will meet in Hobart during August for the first-ever global conference of the Southern Ocean Observing System.
Landfast ice goes south
Landfast ice – sea ice fastened to land or anchored by grounded icebergs – is a critical part of the Earth system but often overlooked. Now the first major review of Antarctic fast ice has been published, led by AAPP scientists.
Zooplankton grazing and IPCC climate models
Getting marine carbon cycling right in our climate models needs better understanding of how quickly tiny animals known as zooplankton eat microscopic plants, or phytoplankton
On Thin Ice:
a multimedia feature
The annual cycle of the Southern Ocean freezing and then melting is like a heartbeat. Just as a change in our heartbeat affects our whole body, a change to sea ice around Antarctica affects the whole world.
Seeding clouds: the power of partnerships in Antarctic research
Scientists call for international collaboration to properly understand how clouds are influenced by tiny life forms in the Southern Ocean.
Shining sunlight on the Southern Ocean with machine learning
Hobart researchers have taught a computer system to better simulate the amount of energy from the sun that strikes the Southern Ocean.
SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Our scientists publish more than 100 journal papers each year
Deep currents in the Australian Antarctic Basin are slowing down: what this means for the world's oceans
How ice sheets and glaciers interact with the Southern Ocean: what do we know and what else is needed?
How to manage risks to ecosystems from fisheries and conserve the krill-based food web in Antarctica
BY THE NUMBERS...
Research publications by AAPP projects, 2019-2023 (to June)
Prof Matt King, Dr Ed Doddridge and Assoc Prof Delphine Lannuzel present our science briefing about changes in Antarctic sea ice to Tasmanian local, state and federal elected representatives, at the invitation of the Hobart Lord Mayor.
MAJOR EVENTS
Southern Ocean in a Changing World
As a primary sponsor, we look forward to welcoming the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) community to our Antarctic gateway of Hobart in August for their 2023 international symposium.
First global zooplankton meet since 2016
How marine zooplankton respond to ecological change is key to the oceans, the planet - and us. AAPP is excited to sponsor the 7th International Zooplankton Production Symposium, coming to Hobart in March 2024.
