Oceans, atmosphere, landscape

From the waters of the Southern Ocean to the atmosphere, ice-shelves, glaciers, volcanoes and mountains, understand more about the distinct natural environments of Antarctica.

glacier breaking away and falling into the sea

A changing climate

The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was -89.2 degrees Centigrade at the Russian Vostok Station in East Antarctica. Antarctica’s climate has created the earth’s coldest continent. Scientists have also been able to collect data from the ice to provide evidence of how the climate has changed over the last 900,000 years and make projections about how our climate will change in the future.

Glaciation

Despite its massive size Pine Island glacier is the most rapidly shrinking glacier on the planet and has the potential to contribute more to sea level rise than any other ice stream. Antarctica’s massive glaciers move slowly downwards from this continent’s mountains towards the South Ocean. Discover the different equipment and techniques that are used to investigate how Antarctica’s glaciers are changing.

Ice land and sea

Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth. It is also the world’s fifth largest continent with an area of approximately 13.8 million km2. This is about 58 times the area of the UK. How do this continents land forms, ice, geology, coastline and surrounding ocean combine to create such a distinct landscape.

Atmosphere, Weather and Climate

The following examines the key features of this continent’s weather and climate. You will see how scientists have found evidence for how its climate has changed in the past, how it is likely to change in the future and how they discovered the Ozone Hole over Antarctica.