BERLIN: Scientists in Germany have discovered amber in Antarctica for the first time, revealing that around 90 million years ago, the continent’s climate conditions supported resin-producing forests, Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) reported.

This southernmost discovery of amber offers new insights into Cretaceous forests near the South Pole, AWI said in a press release. The amber was discovered in a sediment core retrieved from the Amundsen Sea at a depth of 946 meters, using a seabed drilling device during a 2017 expedition aboard the icebreaker Polarstern. For analysis, the source material was carefully air-dried and sliced into pieces about 1 mm in diameter to extract the amber. Potential remnants of tree bark were also identified, offering further clues about the ancient forests near the South Pole.

“The analyzed amber fragments provide direct insights into the environmental conditions that prevailed in West Antarctica 90 million years ago,” AWI marine geologist Johann P. Klages said. “It was very exciting to realize that, at some point in their history, all seven continents had climates that allowed resin-producing trees to survive.”

The research team, led by scientists from AWI and the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, has published their findings in the journal Antarctic Science, Xinhua news agency reported.

Legendary Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance sank more than a century ago and its wreck lay undiscovered at the bottom of the Weddell Sea until March 2022.

Now, the team behind its discovery has joined forces with an Oscar-winning film crew for a new National Geographic documentary showcasing how they located the storied vessel’s last resting place.

“Endurance” features thousands of 3D scans shot by a 4K camera deployed to a depth of nearly 10,000 feet. It premiered at the London Film Festival last weekend before its release in cinemas and then on Disney+.

The never-before-seen footage captures everything from a flare gun and man’s boot to dinnerware used by the crew and identifiable parts of the vessel.

“We were absolutely blown away,” Mensun Bound, the 2022 discovery team’s director of exploration, told AFP. “We didn’t expect to see the ship’s wheel — the most emblematic part of the ship — just standing there, upright.”

History broadcaster Dan Snow, an executive producer on “Endurance”, called finding it in such a “stunning state” an “astonishing achievement”.

“No one’s ever found a wooden shipwreck 3,000 metres down in one of the most remote places on earth underneath the ice,” he said.

“It’s important because it is connected with this story of Shackleton and the 1914-16 expedition, which is one of the greatest stories ever told — a story of leadership and survival like nothing else.”

The flare gun that was discovered was fired by Frank Hurley, the expedition’s photographer, as the ship was lost to the ice, the BBC reported.

“Hurley gets this flare gun, and he fires the flare gun into the air with a massive detonator as a tribute to the ship,” expedition leader John Shears said. “And then in the diary, he talks about putting it down on the deck. And there we are. We come back over 100 years later, and there’s that flare gun, incredible.”

Anglo-Irish explorer Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was meant to make the first land crossing of the frozen continent.

But its three-masted timber sailing ship Endurance fell victim to the treacherous Weddell Sea, becoming ensnared in pack ice in January 1915. It was progressively crushed and sank 10 months later.

Shackleton, who died in 1922, described the site of the sinking as “the worst portion of the worst sea in the world.”

He cemented his status as a legend of exploration by leading an epic escape for himself and his 27 companions, on foot over the ice and then in boats to the British overseas territory of South Georgia, some 870 miles east of the Falklands.

“I do believe of all the great survival stories I’ve ever heard of, this one takes the cake because it involves so many people,” said Jimmy Chin, who directed and produced the new film jointly with Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi.

The husband-and-wife team behind Oscar-winning movie “Free Solo” saw the expedition organized by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust as a chance to “bring the story to a new generation.”

“The ultimate polar challenge”

The documentary alternates between accounts of the original and the 2022 missions, as the modern-day explorers conduct dozens of fruitless deep-sea dives using a state-of-the-art submersible as a deadline nears to leave before winter sets in.

A trailer for the film shows footage from the original 1914 expedition combined with video from the modern-day search.  

Bound recounted the various challenges the latter-day team faced, including technology, research and climate, with one thing reminiscent of what Shackleton’s men confronted.

“Ice, ice and ice,” he said, adding that the documentary clearly highlights “the brutality” of the conditions they faced.

“This is probably the most difficult project I’ve ever been involved in… it wasn’t called the unreachable Endurance for nothing, was it?”

Shears also said there was a “real parallel” between the two endeavors and that like Shackleton he was drawn to “the ultimate polar challenge.”

“More people have been into space orbit than have ever walked on the surface sea ice where the Endurance sank,” said Shears, who previously led an unsuccessful attempt to find the wreck in 2019.

Chin and Vasarhelyi said combining the two stories was challenging but they were complementary.

“The two stories, even though they’re separated by 110 years, speak to each other,” said Vasarhelyi.

“They both chronicle this fundamental human condition of the audacity to dream big… have ambition, coupled with the diligence, determination, the grit and the ingenuity to see it through.”

To tell the original story, they opted to use AI to capture Shackleton and six crew members’ diary entries in their own voices, based on other recordings.

The filmmakers also used restored and colorized photographs and film expedition footage taken by Frank Hurley.

But audiences must wait until the closing stages of the documentary to see the new imagery of Endurance — a choice Vaserhelyi admitted felt “terrible” but necessary.

“This was a great story with a great payoff, but you have to earn it, right?” she explained.

“What’s nice is that the film really plays as this introduction… and it builds to this amazing moment.”

Unless you are visiting Antarctica during the winter months, it is pretty hard to escape pollen.

After all, it has the ability to travel high and travel far by hitching rides on wind currents as well as on the bodies of insects, birds and even fruit bats. But that’s not all. If you leave your pollen dense area with lots of the clingy stuff on your hair and clothes, you get to transport your own personal allergens to your new geographic location. The better news is that a good shower and pollen-free hotel room in a low or non-seasonal pollen area will help to free you from your sneezing, itching and runny nose.

How Would I Know If I Have Seasonal Allergies?

Hmm, let me count the annoying ways. Seasonal allergies tend to occur at certain times of the year, and the first sign is often how many tissues are in your pocket. That’s because allergic rhinitis or “hay fever” often causes a fairly constant runny or stuffy nose. Add to that frequent sneezing, itchy nose and throat, postnasal drip with coughing and even itchy and burning eyes, and sure enough, your body is letting you know it is irritated. Some people with seasonal allergies may even develop asthma or experience an asthma symptom “flare” during their allergy season.

Is Any Area of Our Country Free from Pollen?

The time of year seasonal allergy symptoms appear depends upon where you live and your sensitivity to that particular pollen. For example, springtime in the Eastern, Southern and Midwestern section of the United States brings pollen from trees such as oak, maple, juniper and elm. When early summer arrives, so does pollen from grasses such as bluegrass, timothy and orchard grass. In the later part of the summer and during the fall, ragweed greets allergic individuals with a blast of pollen.

However, for those who live in the Western part of the country, some species of trees release pollen from December through March. In the Southwest, the pollinating season for grasses may last from early spring through early summer. In the fall, pollen from weeds such as sagebrush and Russian thistle can be found all over the place (clothes, car, home, office and even on your outdoor pet).

And, to add even more allergic insult, no matter what part of the country you travel, mold spores can be airborne from the spring all the way through late fall, while indoor mold can be a problem during the winter months as it will grow anywhere there is moisture (bathroom tile, carpet, basements, etc.) So, while pollen allergies tend to be seasonal, mold allergies have the potential to last year-round in those who are allergic to it. Needless to say, depending upon what pollens or mold spores you are allergic to, your personal allergy season may greet you upon arrival at your travel destination.

You Can Run But Cannot Hide – Tips to Decrease Your Seasonal Allergy Flare While Traveling

Defeat the sneeze with the following suggestions:

Check the pollen (tree, grass, weeds) counts at your intended destination.
Pack your medications (antihistamines, steroid nasal spray, antihistamine eye drops, etc) as well as keep one full days supply inside your carry-on bag. Be sure to have copies of prescriptions just in case your medications are lost or refills are needed.
Speak with your doctor ahead of time to develop an allergy action plan to better prepare you to decrease and/or prevent your allergy symptoms. This is especially important if you also have asthma.
Bring saline nasal spray to keep your nostrils moist during the airplane trip. Use once per hour. Additionally, saline nasal spray can help to decrease the pollen in your nostrils as it acts as a type of nasal “car wash” – this in turn can decrease your sneezing and runny nose.
Try to minimize outdoor activity when pollen levels are at their peak. This is usually between 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., as well as on dry and windy days.
Plan pollen getaways by vacationing near the beach or by taking a cruise.
Shower and wash your hair every night. This will help rinse off the pollen and mold spores it collected during the day.
Keep your vacation home and car windows closed, and use an air conditioner. Change the filters often.
If you have mold allergies and are staying in a hotel, ask for a room that is sunny and far away from the pool. Also, avoid using the hotel closet or drawers, as these dark areas are sometimes damp and create ideal places for mold spores.
For general allergy prevention, ask the hotel if they have “allergy-free” rooms. These may have mattress and synthetic pillow covers, as well as floors without carpets.

Even when the pollen count is high, you can still have sniffle and symptom-free days. Just ask for directions to air-conditioned indoor attractions such as museums, historical buildings, amusement and recreational activities, and even tour bus rides. When all is said and done, allergies don’t have to put a damper on your vacation.

NEW DELHI: Antarctica is turning green “dramatically”, with the trend accelerated by more than 30% in recent years, compared to the past three decades, a new study has found. Researchers found that vegetation cover across the Antarctic Peninsula increased more than tenfold from less than a square kilometre to almost 12 square kilometres between 1986 and 2021.
The researchers, including those at the University of Exeter, UK, used satellite data to estimate the “greening” rate of the Antarctic Peninsula in response to climate change.
“This recent acceleration in the rate of change in vegetation cover (2016-2021) coincides with a marked decrease in sea-ice extent in Antarctica over the same period,” the authors wrote in the study published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The study provides evidence that a widespread greening trend, across the Antarctic Peninsula, is under way and accelerating, they said.
Antarctica has been shown to be warming faster than the global average, with extreme heat events becoming more common.
“The plants we find on the Antarctic Peninsula -mostly mosses – grow in perhaps the harshest conditions on Earth,” corresponding author Thomas Roland, University of Exeter, said.
While only a tiny fraction of the landscape -still largely dominated by snow, ice and rock -is colonised by plant life, that tiny fraction has grown “dramatically”, showing that even this vast and isolated ‘wilderness’ is affected by human-caused climate change, Roland said.
Corresponding author Oliver Bartlett, University of Hertfordshire, UK, said that as the climate warms and these plant ecosystems establish themselves more, it is likely that the greening will increase.
“Soil in Antarctica is mostly poor or non-existent, but this increase in plant life will add organic matter, and facilitate soil formation — potentially paving the way for other plants to grow,” Bartlett said.
Calling for further research to look into the processes that are driving the greening trend, the researchers said that the study raised serious concerns about the future of Antarctica.
“The sensitivity of the Antarctic Peninsula’s vegetation to climate change is now clear and, under future (human-caused) warming, we could see fundamental changes to the biology and landscape of this iconic and vulnerable region,” Roland said.
“In order to protect Antarctica, we must understand these changes and identify precisely what is causing them,” he added.

The outlook for “Doomsday Glacier” just got gloomier. 

Scientists are warning the Antarctic Ice Sheet, known formally as the Thwaites Glacier, will deteriorate “further and faster” and that sea level rise triggered by the melting could impact “hundreds of millions” in coastal communities.

“Towards the end of this century, or into the next century, it is very probable that we will see a rapid increase in the amount of ice coming off of Antarctica,” said Dr. Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the University of Colorado. “The Thwaites is pretty much doomed.”

The findings are the culmination of six years of research conducted by the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, a collective of more than 100 scientists.

The “Doomsday Glacier,” roughly the size of the state of Florida, is one of the largest glaciers in the world. Scientists predict that its collapse could contribute to 65 centimeters, or roughly 26 inches in sea level rise.

If you account for the ice the Thwaites will draw in from the large surrounding glacial basins when it collapses, the sea level rise could be even higher. “That total will be closer to three meters of sea level rise,” Scambos said.

According to the researchers, the volume of water flowing into the sea from the Thwaites and its neighboring glaciers has doubled from the 1990s to the 2010s.

Approximately 1/3 of the front of the Twaites is currently covered by a thick plate of ice — an ice shelf — floating in the ocean that blocks ice from flowing into the sea. However, Scambos said the melting is accelerating and that the ice sheet is “very near to the point of breakup.” 

“Probably within the next two or three years, it will break apart into some large icebergs,” he said. 

This will eventually leave the front of the glacier exposed. This may not necessarily lead to a sudden acceleration in melting, but it will change how the ocean interacts with the front of the ice shelf, Scambos said.

Deep ridges that prevent ice from flowing into the ocean are on their way out. The ridges, in the bedrock below the ice sheet in Antarctica, provide a “resistive force” against the ice, Scambos said, that slows down its flow into the ocean. As the Thwaites collapses, it will lose contact with these protective ridges, causing more ice to empty into the ocean.

One of the more surprising findings to come from the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration was how tidal activity around the glacier is pumping warmer sea water into the ice sheet at high speed. That water, which is a couple of degrees above freezing, is getting trapped in parts of the glacier and forced further upstream.

“It goes in every day, it gets squashed up under the glacier. It completely melts whatever freshwater ice it can, and then it gets ejected, and then the whole thing starts again,” said Scambos.

The new findings from the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration add to a vast body of research on how the deterioration of glaciers worldwide could contribute to sea level rise. In May, a study found that high-pressure ocean water is seeping beneath the “Doomsday Glacier” leading to a “vigorous ice melt.”  

Study co-author Christine Dow called the Thwaites the “most unstable place in the Antarctic” and said the speed at which its melting could prove “devastating for coastal communities around the world.” 

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine predicted the ocean could rise by about 60 centimeters, or about 23.6 inches, roughly on par with the predictions from scientists part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration.

Scientists also have also warned about the potential consequences if the Greenland ice sheet were to melt. Greenland’s melting ice mass is now the No. 1 driver of sea level rise, according to Paul Bierman, a scientist at the University of Vermont. If it melts completely, scientists project it could lead to 20 to 25 feet of sea-level rise.

Scambos said rising global temperatures linked to climate change have warmed oceans and generated new wind patterns that make these glaciers more susceptible to melting.

“It is very likely related to increasing greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, which changed wind patterns around Antarctica, and therefore changed ocean circulation around Antarctica,” he said. “That’s the main culprit.”

Scientists project that without intervention, the Thwaites could completely disappear by the 23rd century.