From Cosmos (4/2/24)…
CSIRO voyage gets up close to Antartica’s climate challenges
The rapidly changing nature of Antarctica has been witnessed first-hand by Australia’s leading research ship on a record-breaking investigation of the icy continent.
On its 12,000km journey, RV Investigator’s complement of 39 research scientists undertook extensive studies of the Southern Ocean and Antarctic atmosphere.
There, they inspected the impact of warming waters on the massive Antarctic ice sheet as well as other chemical, physical and biological effects in the Southern Ocean.
But recently reported shifts in Antarctica’s ice systems were also observed, says the voyage’s co-chief scientist Steve Rintoul, from the CSIRO.
“It’s just as well we weren’t setting out to measure sea ice because there wasn’t much to find,” Rintoul told Cosmos.
“The ship was able to get up onto the continental shelf in Antarctica in a place we’ve never been in a non-icebreaking ship.
“It’s fair to say I think that most Antarctic scientists are pretty stunned by a number of recent changes.”
