Winner of the SCAR EG-ABI data visualisation competition

We are very pleased to announce the winners of the SCAR EG-ABI data visualisation competition!

The brief was to produce a visualisation that conveys a message about climate change impacts on Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. We received a diverse range of entries from groups spread across 11 countries, addressing topics such as warming ocean and air temperatures, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, changes sea ice and in wildlife populations including those of krill and other marine organisms, and sea level rise. The results were depicted as animations, maps, charts, graphs, and infographics, generated using R, Python, Power BI, Excel, and other tools. Many of the entries provided their source code and data, allowing you to reproduce and build on these fantastic efforts! Our thanks to the judging panel: Dr Stephy Libera, Dr Patricia Castillo-Briceño, and Dr Peter Morse.

First place

Jennifer Freer, Tracey Dornan, Otis Brunner, and Vicky Dewar-Fowler (British Antarctic Survey, UK)

Our submission uses a combination of data analysis, mapping and 3D schematics to show how the environment and the distribution of Antarctic krill have changed between two time periods spanning 90 years (1926-1955 to 1995-2014). The time periods were selected were based on eras previously shown to have been important in understanding the shifting distribution of krill (Atkinson et al. 2019 Nature Climate Change; Atkinson et al. 2021, Global change Biology).

As well as documenting the change environment and krill, we felt it important to highlight these changes in the wider context of ecological change in the Southern Ocean. Thus, in our 3D schematics, we indicate the status of the krill fishery and krill-dependent predators for both time periods. Finally, we show the potential future of the Atlantic-sector of the Southern Ocean with regard to all of these factors: environment (sea-ice and temperature), krill distribution, predator dynamics and fishing pressure.

Our key message is that Antarctic krill are, and will continue to be, sensitive to climatic change. Interacting, cumulative ecosystem pressures will continue to have profound effects on this ecosystem.

Link to GitHub. We have used colorblind-friendly palettes, provided an ALT Text description of the graphic, and provided annotated code using accessible data sources.

Second place

Jessica Kendall-Bar, Sarah Purkey, and Megan Scanderbeg (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA)

This short animation shows an increase in temperature below the ocean’s surface as measured by autonomous profiling Argo floats since 2004. As our oceans warm, the ocean is storing more and more of the added heat in our atmosphere. When temperature change is distributed over the large ocean volume, it contains a lot of heat energy. Since the 1980s, the ocean has accumulated over 176 zetta-Joules of heat energy, roughly the equivalent of 7 billion atomic bombs. It is critical to understand this heat increase and the extent of ocean warming to better understand risks to marine life and society. While the warming is clear, there are also some smaller, localized instances of apparent cooling, such as in the Drake’s passage below South America. In this case, this is due to shifts in ocean circulation including the intensity and location of Southern Ocean zonal flow. Read more about these changes here.

Link to GitHub and to the video animation.

Third place

Johanna Winder, William Boulton, and Antonia Otte (University of East Anglia, UK)

Diatoms are a type of algae which account for up to 20% of global photosynthesis. They help to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and create oxygen, and they are important components of the marine food web. They are especially diverse, abundant and important in the polar oceans, where they often live in sea-ice. As the ocean warms and sea-ice cover is lost, habitats for these polar diatoms shift to the open water, where they are faced with the additional threat of ocean acidification. The consequences of this for marine photosynthesis and the cascading effects on food webs in the ocean are unknown, but potentially huge. Decreases in sea-ice may be having an influence on the number of species of diatoms in the Southern Ocean – in this data visualisation we show diatom species richness (the number of species present) from 2007 to 2021, using data collected through the Southern Ocean CPR program.

Link to GitHub.