Beyond the Ice

Geopolitics grows more unstable, and interest in Earth’s polar regions is growing. The collaborative spirit and achievements of polar science are growing all the more important. In this edition of Beyond the Ice, Oliver Darke , Director of Operations, Engineering and Infrastructure at British Antarctic Survey, talks about what international collaboration in Antarctica looks like on the ground - an...

Artist Rowan Huntley and British Antarctic Survey Geochemist Dr Joanne Johnson have been working together to translate polar science into art. Their exhibition at the The Polar Museum in Cambridge is Rowan’s creative response to Jo's research into glaciers, ice sheets, and the geology of Antarctica.  This collaboration comes at a critical moment. The climate crisis is no longer a distant threat, y...

Geoengineering is the hot topic in climate science debate - drawing increasingly emotive and divisive responses, as investment in blue-sky engineering proposals grows and progress on decarbonisation stutters. Geoengineering is the deliberate, large scale intervention in Earth's environment and natural systems. As the impacts of climate change start to be felt, preliminary ideas like putting a huge...

When news broke that Antarctica had gained ice mass between 2021 and 2023, it sparked debate across comment sections worldwide. How could the continent be gaining ice when we're constantly told it's melting? The reality reveals fascinating insights into how Antarctica's ice system responds to extreme weather. Climate scientist Dr Michelle Maclennan from British Antarctic Survey explains how scient...

New research suggests there's been a shocking 22% drop in the Emperor penguin population in Antarctica over just 15 years - more than double previous estimates and outpacing even the most pessimistic projections. In this episode, we speak to Dr Peter Fretwell about his findings, and how he uses satellite technology to count Emperor penguin colonies in some of Earth's most remote and inaccessible l...

Forty years ago, British Antarctic Survey scientists made a world-changing discovery: a hole in Earth's protective ozone layer above Antarctica. In this episode, meteorologist Jonathan Shanklin recounts how his routine measurements at Halley Research Station revealed data points literally 'falling off the graph' - the first evidence linking chlorofluorocarbons to ozone depletion. Professor John Py...

In February 2025, there was less sea ice on Earth than ever recorded. It's the coldest time of year in the Arctic, and the freeze up of Arctic ice is nearing its maximum - but that maximum is looking small, significantly below the record lows for winter we saw in 2017. Polar climate scientist Dr Caroline Holmes explains what's influencing these lows in Arctic sea ice, and how it fits into the glob...

Wildfires are devastating the city of Los Angeles, fuelled by a perfect storm of dry conditions and intense mountain winds. In this episode of Beyond the Ice , we break down the weather and climate factors behind this ongoing disaster. Climate scientist Dr Ella Gilbert and ice core expert Dr Thomas Bauska explain how our changing climate is making such disasters more frequent and intense, and disc...

The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. So far, so bad - and scientists are seeing changes there now. Fresh off scientific fieldwork in the Arctic this summer, marine geophysicist Dr Kelly Hogan and marine biogeochemist Professor Kate Hendry reflect on what they saw and studied in this spectacular and important environment. Through the lens of their science projects -...

This is your glaciology briefing! The race is on to understand the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, the world's widest glacier which is retreating and changing rapidly. As warming changes this icy place, communities and governments around the world need the best possible answer to the sea level rise question: how much and how fast? Glaciologists Meghan Sharp and Professor Sridhar Anandakrishna...

Story or statistics? Urgency or alarmism? Top line or deep dive? Three climate scientists talk about the state of climate science in the media, and what they've learned about communicating about climate change to the general public. Tom Sheldon from the Science Media Centre speaks to BAS' Professor Dame Jane Francis, Dr Emma Boland and Dr Ella Gilbert, in a discussion that spans from the nitty gri...

It's summer 2022, and an area of East Antarctica is over 38.5°C warmer than it should be. The mercury has risen to a chilly -10°C... but it should be -50°C. It's the most extreme temperature event ever recorded, and we now know this was caused by global warming.  The increase in extreme weather events is the erratic, sharp end of climate change. But what happens when extreme weather hits the conti...

2023 set new, dramatic temperature records - and Earth’s frozen places are feeling the heat. Picture the problem: it’s August 2023, the depths of Antarctic Winter, and there’s an area of missing Antarctic sea ice bigger than Greenland. Just 8 years ago, the area of Antarctic sea ice was actually growing each year. Then something changed. Climate scientist Dr Ella Gilbert from British Antarctic Sur...