Antarctic Environments Portal: New Information Summaries and Editorial Board members

The Antarctic Environments Portal is happy to announce that a brand new Editorial Board has been formed. The Board has been expanded to reflect the increase in content published on the Portal, and is now composed of 15 editors. Portal Editors will sit on the Board for 1-3 years.

Please welcome:

Mr David Brown, USA;
Dr Rebecca Duncan, Australia;
Dr Martin Andres Diaz, Argentina;
Dr Natasha Gardiner, New Zealand;
Dr Kevin Hughes, UK;
Ms Amy Imdieke, USA;
Dr Shridhar Jawak, Norway;
Dr Richard Jones, Australia;
Prof W Berry Lyons, USA;
Dr Hanne Nielsen, Australia;
Prof Irina Repina, Russia;
Dr Nadine Steiger, France;
Dr Anoop Tiwari, India;
Assoc Prof Chiew Yen Wong, Malaysia; and
Dr Hanna Yevchun, Ukraine.

New Information Summaries on the Antarctic Environments Portal

“What members of the public know and think about the Antarctic“
Leane E., Marx K., Tin T., Goh H.C., Marques-Quinteiro P., and Dotta S. (2025) What members of the public know and think about the Antarctic, Antarctic Environments Portal. https://doi.org/10.48361/he3f-3r36

This Information Summary looks at the current research conducted on non-specialists’ understanding and views of Antarctica. The authors investigate the findings of surveys conducted in a number of countries and conclude that some trends can be observed despite the limitations of these surveys. A brief overview of the summary can be read below.

Brief Overview

What people know and think about Antarctica is complicated and difficult to measure, varying with factors such as gender, education, age and location. Survey and interview work conducted so far has significant limitations, including a tendency to focus on Western countries and those that are signatories to the Antarctic Treaty.

There are nonetheless some trends that can be tentatively identified across and within countries surveyed (see Table 1), including that:

people who know more about the continent are more likely to care about it;
people who are politically conservative are less likely to show concern for the Antarctic environment than other people;
media coverage is an important factor in awareness of Antarctica and support for Antarctic research.

The findings of the studies summarised here show that efforts to engage and inform people about the Antarctic region are valuable. While not necessarily impactful on all demographics, such efforts will generate a more informed and aware public on the whole. They also suggest that those charged with engaging non-specialist audiences with the Antarctic region need to develop techniques focussed on particular demographics, including younger people, women and politically conservative people. Coordinating these engagement efforts across groups in different nations and developing standardised tools to measure the effectiveness would allow better comparison and exchange of successful approaches.

Full Information Summary

“Acidification in the Southern Ocean – current state and future challenges“
Nissen C., Brooks C.M., Hancock A.M., Hauck J., Lovenduski N.S., and Petrou K. (2025) Acidification in the Southern Ocean – current state and future challenges, Antarctic Environments Portal. https://doi.org/10.48361/XBQ9-6G10

This Information Summary looks at both open ocean and coastal acidification, the biological impacts of the acidification of the Southern Ocean, as well as observational and modelling challenges. A brief overview of the summary can be read below.

Brief Overview

The Southern Ocean is especially sensitive to ocean acidification, a process where carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean, thereby changing its acidity levels.
Observations show that open ocean waters across the Southern Ocean experienced faster rates of acidification over the past four decades than non-polar waters.
Model simulations project more severe ocean acidification in Antarctic coastal waters than in the open ocean.
Ocean acidification negatively impacts many Southern Ocean species, but our understanding of whole-ecosystem impacts is incomplete.
It is important that we both maintain and expand observational capabilities and mechanistic experiments in this rapidly changing and vulnerable region of the ocean to understand the impacts of ocean acidification on Southern Ocean ecosystems.

Full Information Summary

“Antarctic Sea Ice #4: Record lows between 2022 and 2025”
Holmes C., Doddridge E., and Fretwell P. (2025) Antarctic Sea Ice #4: Record lows between 2022 and 2025, Antarctic Environments Portal. https://doi.org/10.48361/KVK6-ZX15

This Information Summary builds on the previous Antarctic Sea Ice Information Summaries published in 2022. It looks at the drivers of sea ice variability, the impacts on the physical and ecological systems, as well as the long term context and interpretations of this rapid change. A brief overview of the summary can be read below.

Brief Overview

Antarctic sea ice forms a critical part of the regional and global climate system [1] and is also a critical habitat [2]. Following the first signs of decline in Antarctic sea ice in 2016/17 after decades of slight increase, there was a minor recovery in 2020-2021 before persistent and substantial low sea ice coverage was observed, especially in the winters of 2023 and 2024.

The most recent extremes in sea ice coverage were driven by ocean changes, most notably ongoing warming at around 100-200 m depth, combined with regional atmospheric pressure anomalies. Strong evidence is emerging that the changes constitute a fundamental change, or ‘regime shift’, in the Antarctic sea ice system. However, lack of information on sea ice thickness and the sparseness of ocean observations limit our understanding. A relatively short satellite observational record of 45 years, combined with challenges associated with accurately simulating the ocean around Antarctica in climate models, make it difficult to interpret exactly how these extreme lows in sea ice coverage are impacted by climate change or how the future may evolve.

The impacts of the extreme lows in sea ice coverage since 2022 are expected to be widespread and multifaceted. While many will take time to manifest, there is already evidence for impacts on the Antarctic coastline, increases in ocean heat loss and atmospheric storminess, and a negative impact on the breeding success of emperor penguins.

Full Information Summary