For decades, the frozen Antarctic wilderness at the bottom of the world defied global warming trends, with ice levels actually growing – until 2015 when it suddenly reversed. Now scientists say they have discovered why.

Global sea levels may rise faster than previously expected, a new study suggests. The reason is that warming oceans appear to be melting Antarctic ice shelves from below much more rapidly than expected.

Ice shelves, which are extensions of gigantic glaciers that float on the water surface, act like buttresses that slow the flow of gigatons of ice into the sea. Now, researchers in Norway have discovered that long, channel-like grooves on the underside of these ice shelves can trap relatively warm ocean water. This sharply increases local melting.

The study has global implications. If Antarctic ice shelves thin and weaken, the downhill journey of the ice behind them can accelerate, fast-forwarding the process in which huge amounts of ice cascade into the ocean, causing sea levels worldwide to rise far faster than currently projected.

This dynamic has already been observed elsewhere in Antarctica. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has flagged polar ice shelf instability as a major but poorly understood risk factor that could lead to sea level rise that is far more rapid and severe than most current models predict.

Effective science communication is a powerful but underrated tool. Metaphors, a common literary device, draw connections between unlike things and are often conceptually, innately understood. In science and science communication, these figures of speech act as a means of structuring concepts to provide the basis for further exploration. The use of metaphors in science can be a catalyst for change, invention, and, unfortunately, misunderstanding. Metaphors should be used responsibly when attempting to make complex scientific concepts easily understandable, and should weigh the accuracy and accessibility of information in a favorable balance.

Simon Fraser University researchers have received nearly $1 million in special funding from the Digital Research Alliance of Canada to develop an artificial intelligence–powered system that forecasts whale movements in busy shipping corridors.

The Humans and Algorithms Listening for Orcas (HALLO) project aims to help the Port of Vancouver and vessel pilots make more informed decisions about when and where to slow down for the Salish Sea’s endangered Southern Resident killer whales.

The system integrates real-time acoustic and visual data, vessel tracking, and citizen-scientist whale spotting reports to track not only where the Southern Resident J, K, and L pods currently are, but forecast where they’ll be over the next few hours. 

A new study reveals how responsive the Greenland ice sheet is to climate change – more so than models predict. Methane has been detected at retreating glacier margins worldwide, but this is the first time that a study has investigated the margin of an entire ice sheet.