Polar Regions News Roundup W/C 15th January 2024

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Polar Regions News

Your weekly Polar news roundup

Helping you stay informed of the latest developments in climate change, environmental conservation, scientific research, geopolitical dynamics, economic opportunities and indigenous rights in the Polar Regions.

15th January 2024

Bird flu found in mammals in the sub-Antarctic for the first time

Dr Marco Falchieri of the Influenza and Avian Virology team sampling a seal

Results confirm High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been found in elephant and fur seals on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia.

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‘Really a sad day’ as Norway votes to allow deep-sea mining in Arctic waters

Whale in the Arctic ocean

Norway’s parliament has officially voted to allow deep-sea mining to go forward in the Norwegian Sea, despite warnings from scientists and conservationists that it could damage the marine environment.

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The first assessment of toxic heavy metal pollution in the Southern Hemisphere over the last 2,000 years

Graphical summary of the study data showing the increase in heavy metal pollution found in five East Antarctic ice cores over time. The heatmap in the upper left corner depicts the simulated flow of heavy metal pollution from Potosi in South America throughout the Southern Hemisphere and to Antarctica. Ice core collection sites are shown as cyan circles. Credit to DRI

An international team of scientists led by DRI found evidence of Southern Hemisphere heavy metal pollution preserved in Antarctic ice cores from early Andean cultures and Spanish Colonial mining that predates the Industrial Revolution by centuries.

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Greenland startup begins shipping glacier ice to cocktail bars in the UAE

Malik V Rasmussen, the co-founder of Arctic Ice. Photograph: Arctic Ice

Arctic Ice argues its rare, pure product can be part of Greenland’s green transition and greater independence.

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Extreme heat wave in East Antarctica driven by record-breaking 'atmospheric river,' analysis finds

Percentile of mean 2m temperature on 18 March 2022 with respect to the climatological distribution of March days of the period 1979-2021 from 6-hourly daily averages. The hatched area indicates the broken temperature records on 18 March 2022, totalling an area of 3.3m km2. Credit: Journal of Climate (2023). DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-23-0175.1

Scientists have identified the intricate meteorological drivers that led to an intense heat wave across East Antarctica in from 15-19 March 2022.

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Have you read our latest Polar Notes article? See below for the most recent publication on the APPG Polar Regions website.

COP 28: A quick-fire Q&A with Jamie Anderson, Director of APPG for Polar Regions

Jamie Anderson, Director of APPG for the Polar Regions

In December last year, the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held at Expo City, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The APPG for the Polar Regions attended the conference and here are a few of our Director, Jamie Anderson’s, key takeaways from Dubai.

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