What happens at the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica?

 BBC News is publishing the story of the participation of its correspondent to a English/American field campaign to study how the Thwaites glacier is becoming more fragile with the warming of the seawater temperatures.

Antarctica melting: Climate change and the journey to the 'doomsday glacier'

By Justin Rowlatt Chief Environment correspondent of BBC

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51097309?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=39e8741296-briefing-dy-20200128&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-39e8741296-44261105

Invasive non-native species likely to threaten biodiversity and ecosystems in the Antarctic Peninsula region

Dear readers,
Our Antarctic colleagues have published an asssesment of the species that are likely to present the highest risk to biodiversity and ecosystems within the Antarctic Peninsula Region over the next 10 years. The higher risks are due to climate change and increasing human activity.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.14938

The authors recommend to develop and apply effective biosecurity measures across all national operators and the tourism and fishing industries, and for surveillance and appropriate rapid response action for introduced species, such as those identified during this paper.
Note that a similar potential for introduction of non-native microbial species is existing in Antarctica but is more difficult to determine and mitigate, due to the fact that the identification of microorganisms requires the use of specific molecular methods. 
Thus, food for thought!!

A publication about "Choosing the future of Antarctica"

Our colleagues have published in 2018 a paper on the predicted future of Antarctica depending on the scenario selected, namely 'business as usual' or one where ambitious policies are mobilized to reduce climatic changes. Depending on choices made in the next decade, the fate of the Antarctic continent and Southern Ocean will be very different!

Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0173-4

A very moving video about the changes of the Antarctic Peninsula's environment (National Geographic)

He Grew Up in Antarctica — And Now He's Leaving | National Geographic

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kx17K1Tlpk&feature=youtu.be

"Dion Poncet came of age in a place almost no one calls home. He was born on a sailboat in Leith Harbour, an abandoned whaling station on South Georgia island. His father, a French adventurer, had met his mother, an Australian zoologist, on a jetty in Tasmania while sailing his boat around the world. The couple started a family in the South Atlantic. For years they traversed the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, surveying wildlife in uncharted bays—seals, flowering plants, seabirds—with three boys in tow. Dion was the first."

More information about the IPCC report on the cryosphere and ocean?

Dear reader,
In September 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has finalised and published its Special report on the Ocean and cryosphere in the context of climatic changes:https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/

If you talk French, the Walloon platform is publishing a newsletter with a summary of the report and papers by scientists on related topics.
Do not hesitate to subscribe to the newsletter :  https://plateforme-wallonne-giec.be/lettre

Exhibition 'ANTARCTICA' at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels

Dear reader,
We guess that you are interested by the white continent, its biodiversity, its role, its protection. The exhibition 'Antarctica' that is presently organised by the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels will delight you! 
"Antarctica is an immersive exhibition about the heart of the continent exclusively accessible to scientists and created by Luc Jacquet, the Oscar-winning director of March of the Penguins. Superb films are projected onto big screens, including a final 360 ° projection, while infographics about the lives of animals help you discover the fascinating world of land and marine biodiversity in the South Pole."
https://www.naturalsciences.be/en/museum/exhibitions-view/0/17783/1258