@bas.ac.uk
We're the UK's polar research institute 👋 Uncovering the secrets of Earth's frozen places, doing science for a sustainable planet. Looking for a seriously remote job? https://bas.ac.uk/vacancies
The #RRSSirDavidAttenborough is in Frederikshavn, Denmark for a summer glow up ☀️
After one of the longest seasons ever for the UK's icebreaker research ship and a voyage through the polar night, it's due some R&R (refit and repair work).
📸 Richard Turner
Ah that's nice to hear, thanks for sharing. We're always trying to work out what the best way to share information is, and our current thinking is that options are good 🙂
01.08.2025 10:26 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Even better, we made it in loads of formats for you to pick from! 💌
'Beyond the Ice' is a podcast (wherever you get them):
tinyurl.com/2ephuz4u
We also write it up as a short explainer article:
tinyurl.com/46jarfr9
And you can subscribe to both as a combo via LinkedIn:
tinyurl.com/z8mdvuhy
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How is it that Antarctica gained ice, when we're constantly saying it's melting?
Well, phew, we got Dr Michelle Maclennan on 'Beyond the Ice' podcast to explain what happened, plus:
⚖️ How do you actually measure a continent of ice?
🔮 Will this event complicate future climate forecasts?
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News broke earlier this year that Antarctica's ice sheet had gained mass between 2021 and 2023.
Cue: debate across comment sections worldwide.
This is a story about extreme weather.
(Yes, we're trying to get you to listen to our podcast, but stay with us for a minute ⬇️)
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A smiling man wearing protective clothing for construction and polar weather stands next to a skeleton framework for a new building. There are snowy mountains in the background.
Our Senior Project Manager wrote for The Engineer about constructing the Discovery Building in Antarctica for future polar science support and operations. Long-term collaboration, extreme conditions, innovative solutions.
www.theengineer.co.uk/content/opin...
#collaboration #Antarctica #innovation
This ice is ❌🙅 OFF LIMITS ❌🙅 for delicious drinks and summer snacks
18.07.2025 16:17 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0About that... our station teams do in fact watch The Thing as an annual tradition, during the darkest night of the year (Midwinter's Day).
18.07.2025 10:42 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
A rack of ice cores on shelves. They are around 25cm wide and each a metre long. (Credit: PNRA:IPEV)
Why is this important? 🤔
We're in an unprecedented era of climate forcing, caused by human emissions.
Understanding Earth's changes and tipping points in previous major transitions will help scientists refine predictions for our future.
Here's the full story ⬇️
www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/a...
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Scientists carry boxes of fresh ice cores into frozen storage tunnel. Ice has formed across the inside of the tunnel, coating the ceiling and walls. (Credit: PNRA:IPEV)
The huge European collaboration called 'Beyond EPICA - Oldest Ice' drilled the 2.8km deep ice core 👏
The cores will help scientists understand a mysterious change called the Mid-Pleistocene Transition - 800,000 to 1.2 million years ago, when glacial cycles appear to have suddenly changed.
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A wide view of the Beyond EPICA: Oldest Ice field camp and drilling site, taken by a drone. The cluster of tents and cabooses looks tiny. Around them the flat white landscape extends in every direction, as far as the eye can see. (Credit: PNRA:IPEV)
Frozen inside this ice is information about Earth's climate and atmospheric conditions at the time when the snow accumulated.
From existing cores, scientists have a good understanding of the last 800,000 years of Earth's climate history.
This research could double the length of that record.
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Liz stands in a walk-in scientific freezer, wearing a warm jacket. She's holding a long ice sample - a narrow stick of ice about a metre long and only a few centimetres wide. It's from a box containing many ice cores. Photo credit: Jamie Oliver, BAS.
We've had a Very Important Ice delivery!
These precious ancient ice core samples from Antarctica are expected to reveal a climate record stretching back more than 1.5 million years 🤯
That's further than we've ever looked back before.
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We'll be taking part in the Grand Discoveries exhibit on Saturday 26 July from 9am to 5pm. This FREE event gives you the chance to delve deeper in polar science. Learn about what we get up to down in the South, speak to our fantastic scientists and more...
For more info check out our bio!
Still measuring. Still protecting.
At Halley Station in Antarctica, scientists like Sabina Kucieba are monitoring our atmosphere year-round: vital work to protect the ozone layer 🌍
#MontrealProtocol #OzoneLayer #ViennaConvention
On the way back to the US after 3 weeks in Europe, culminating in an excellent 3-day ‘Ice Shelf Fracture Workshop’ @bas.ac.uk. Thanks to Rob Athern and Rosie Williams for organising (and yes, that is a Lego ice shelf!) ❄️ 🐧 🧪
@cires.colorado.edu @cpom-uk.bsky.social @ciresceee.bsky.social
Counting down the days to your summer holiday? ☀️
The RRS Sir David Attenborough and crew are catching a bit of summer sun in Madeira, en route to the UK.
Makes a bit of a change to Antarctica - where the team just completed their latest ever winter station call!
📸 Rich Turner
Whether you’re looking for a perfect commuting podcast, or want to find out what it’s like to be a “Winterer”, listen now to ICEWORLD on your preferred podcast app. 🎧
www.bas.ac.uk/media/icewor...
Two images: the left shows snow-covered research station with a mountain backdrop under a clear sky at sunrise or sunset. The right shows a person wearing warm clothing in a snowy landscape.
We’ve marked some exciting occasions here at BAS recently, from 50 years at Rothera, to Midwinter celebrations for our teams south.
In the latest series of our podcast, ICEWORLD, we talk to people at our research stations about their experiences in one of the world's most extreme environments!
We went on a voyage into the depths of polar night on RRS Sir David Attenborough.
The fab @itvnews.bsky.social team came with us, and made a short doc about the adventure! From hoardes of whales, to sticking a camera in a crevasse - there's something for everyone ⬇️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KbP...
Exploring science and stewardship in South Georgia! 🥼👩🔬
Rhiannon Nichol, a marine biologist at BAS, spoke to Frontiers, about what life is like living on South Georgia!
She talks about everything from studying the ecosystem and the steps we’re taking for gender equality in the field. 💡
⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
Did you spot this fab article highlighting ground-breaking research on zooplankton by the BBC? ✍️
These fascinating organisms are often easy to overlook, but zooplankton's impact on the environment is striking.
💡Learn more here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Find out more at: aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
04.07.2025 15:34 — 👍 15 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 1
Red icebreaker ship the RSS Sir David Attenborough docked at a snowy Antarctic research station surrounded by floating icebergs and calm waters.
Previously, scientists thought the main export of carbon to the Southern Ocean depths was from waste produced by zooplankton.
But due to the efforts of the PICCOLO and BIOPOLE projects, we now understand that the seasonal migration of zooplankton is key to ocean carbon storage.
📸: William Clark
Close-up of multiple translucent krill with visible internal organs swimming against a black background.
65 million tonnes of carbon annually in fact! That’s 600,000 blue whales!
Excitingly, some of the data behind these findings was collected during the BIOPOLE research expedition, the first scientific mission for the RRS Sir David Attenborough!
📸: Chris Gilbert
Two workers in orange safety gear operate large vertical Bongo nets on a boat at sunset over the ocean.
Meet zooplankton: the tiny heroes of ocean carbon storage. 🦐
A new study produced in collaboration with BAS scientists unearths how zooplankton (tiny ocean animals) are responsible for storing more carbon than previously thought.
📸: Dan Mayor
A person in winter gear releasing a large white weather balloon into a clear blue sky over a snowy, icy landscape.
Weather balloons are released globally, including from Halley and Rothera Research Stations, allowing scientists to paint a picture of what is happening in the atmosphere.
📸: Pete Bucktrout, BAS
Two people standing in a green field holding a large white weather balloon under a partly cloudy blue sky with mountains in the background.
By releasing the radiosondes, the researchers can record how the temperature, moisture, wind speed and direction change vertically. The researchers release the balloons at least twice a day - more often if they are observing complex processes!
📸: Andrew Orr, BAS
Two people standing in a green field holding a large white weather balloon under a partly cloudy blue sky with mountains in the background.
BAS PhD students, Luisa Aviles Podgurski and Izzy Sangha, are participating in the TEAMx project in the stunning Alpine Crest area of the European Alps.
Radiosondes are lightweight instruments that collect data as the balloon rises, sending the data to scientists via radio.
📸: Andrew Orr, BAS
From the poles to the Alps...
Our researchers have taken their polar expertise to the European mountains. They’ve been busy launching weather balloons in the Alps to help us learn more about atmospheric processes over mountains.
📸: Andrew Orr, BAS
