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At the bottom of the Earth, atop a land mass covered with a two mile-thick slab of ice, sits the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station where 40 to 60 people live and work during each long, dark, bitter-cold winter. On the first floor of the station, near the end of hallway is a small greenhouse. Since [...]

Timothy Markle is the meteorology manager at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Here’s what he has to say about weather and climate at the Pole.
What is a typical day like at South Pole?
A typical day here in the summer months at the meteorology department is really to observe the weather here (right now we have some [...]

With little precipitation, nearly constant below-freezing temperatures and very little exposed soil, very little decomposition takes place in Antarctica. In the early years of the now 53-year-old United States Antarctic Program (USAP), solid waste was incinerated, buried under ice or dumped off the coast and in a would-be landfill near McMurdo Station. The Antarctic Conservation [...]

Adélie penguins are one of only two penguin species that breed on the Antarctic continent (the other being Emperor penguins). Adélies build their nests on small stretches of land along parts of the Antarctic coast that are not ice-covered. The health and location of their colonies are directly related to the amount of sea ice [...]

Nick Morgan, station chief at the South Pole Atmospheric Research Observatory (ARO), and his team monitor baseline atmospheric parameters at the Pole, including carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, stratospheric ozone levels, solar radiation, temperature and aerosols. Basically, ARO analyzes the individual atmospheric components that drive climate. Scripps Oceanographic Institute began monitoring air at the [...]

Beneath the Antarctic ice sheet lie some of Earth’s final frontiers – networks of subglacial lakes, many of which have been isolated from the atmosphere for as long as 15 million years. Outlet channels allow these lakes to periodically drain into the ocean, refill and drain again. The largest of these lakes, Lake Vostok, lies [...]

Polygons of permafrost, liquid lakes that leak from towering glaciers, stark-white ice emerging from rocky Grand Canyon-like landscapes: this is the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica.
Ecologically, a desert is an ecosystem that receives less than 10 inches of precipitation per year. Despite the fact that 98 percent of Antarctica is covered with ice, the [...]

Much attention has been given to the decline of sea ice over the North Pole, which fell to a September minimum of 1.6 million square miles in 2007, about 40 percent below normal levels. On the other side of the world, the sea ice that extends from Antarctica’s continental ice sheets out over the ocean [...]

Ann Posegate discusses the media expedition to the South Pole:
There are some experiences in life that you just won’t forget. Then they are those that only few humans in our history have had the chance to experience – in fact, those that humans are not supposed to experience. Visiting the South Pole is one of [...]

Near the center of Antarctica in the polar vortex, strong westerly winds that blow in a circle around the continent during winter trap an envelope of air near the South Pole, prohibiting this air from mixing with warmer air masses closer to the equator. The extreme cold in the vortex causes clouds to form in [...]

Yesterday, Ann and Dan spent a (relatively) warm and sunny day at McMurdo Station.  In addition to spotting some Adelie penguins, they watched the southern-most rugby game in the world, played near New Zealand’s Scott Base between the Kiwis and Americans…the Kiwis won. (Photo courtesy of Dan Satterfield.)
Today, our traveling reporters are visiting the South Pole - the geographic bottom of the Earth.  [...]

After a five-hour flight, Ann and Dan landed safely on the Pegasus Ice Runway and boarded “Ivan the Terra Bus” snow tractor for a one-hour drive over the Ross Ice Shelf to McMurdo Station.  Weather upon their arrival was “Condition 3″ – winds less than 48 knots (about 55 mph), wind chills warmer than -75 degrees Fahrenheit and [...]

Read Ann Posegate’s account of the group’s first flight attempt and the weather conditions that have delayed their arrival in Antarctica.  Photos from the flight are available below.
Jan. 6, 2010, 3:00 p.m. (New Zealand time)
Boomerang: Return to the initial position from where it came.
I am currently in a U.S. Air National Guard C-17 “Pegasus” jet [...]

Once water is evaporated from the ocean or a moist land surface, it may spend days traveling through the air. Complicated systems of winds at different levels of the atmosphere can transport moisture (as well as other gases and dust) from the point of origin to remote locations thousands of miles away. While about 30 [...]

For the first half of the Cenozoic (the era spanning 65 million years ago to today), Earth was too warm to support ice sheets and sea levels were much higher than today. Then, about 34 million years ago, the Earth crossed a threshold. Over a period of about 300,000 years, the temperature dropped and ice [...]

Ninety (90) percent of Earth’s ice sits on top of Antarctica, a 5.4 million square mile continent. Virtually all of this area is covered by an ice sheet that can be three miles high with an average thickness of 1.24 miles, giving it an approximate total volume of 7.2 million cubic miles.
For Comparison: The [...]

The base of operations for the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) is the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Before arriving at the Centre, USAP participants must complete medical and dental clearance, as well as training on information security and protecting Antarctica’s environment. Upon arrival, they are given an introductory safety training regarding travel to [...]

From January 5-12, 2010, Ann Posegate, Earth Gauge outreach coordinator, and Dan Satterfield, chief meteorologist at WHNT-TV, will embark on a media expedition to Antarctica. They have been selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to cover a range of science stories, including important weather and climate research. During their journey, Earth Gauge and WHNT [...]