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The tail of a Humpback whale is seen as it dives in Wilhelmina Bay in Antarctica
Image: Ann Inger Johansson/ZUMAPRESS/picture allianceImage: Ann Inger Johansson/ZUMAPRESS/picture alliance

Antarctica

Antarctica is home to endemic wildlife like penguins. Global warming is causing changes at the South Pole, including higher temperatures and melting ice.

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All Content on this topic

A Hercules C-130 military transport plane in Antarctica

Search for Chilean plane finds debris in ocean

The military aircraft vanished en route to Antarctica with 38 people on board.
CatastropheDecember 11, 2019
Hercules C130

Chile military plane crashes with 38 on board

Operators lost contact with the military cargo plane just an hour after it departed for a base in Antarctica.
CatastropheDecember 10, 2019
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Geoengineering the climate

Could geoengineering help save us from runaway climate change?
ScienceNovember 29, 201905:01 min
Emperor penguin

Antarctic marine conservation park talks break down

An international effort to create marine sanctuaries around Antarctica has failed for the eighth year in a row.
Nature and EnvironmentNovember 2, 2019
DW Sendung Euromaxx Anja Blacha

Where others fear to tread -- Anja Blacha

The extreme mountaineer, who has climbed K2, now wants cross the Antarctic on skis.
LifestyleOctober 26, 201903:40 min
DW Euromaxx (Sendungslogo)

Euromaxx - Lifestyle Europe

Asterix turns 60; extreme mountaineer Anja Blacha; art by Giovanni Contardi made with Rubik's Cubes.
LifestyleOctober 26, 201926:05 min
Satellite before-and-after pictures of the iceberg breaking off (Dr. S.L.M. (Stef) Lhermitte)

Huge iceberg breaks off Antarctica

A block of ice more than 1,500 square kilometers in area has broken off the Amery Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
Nature and EnvironmentSeptember 30, 2019
DW Sendung Check-in - Antarktis, V-Mail

A journey to Antarctica

A DW viewer shares his ice-cold vacation in the Antarctic.
CultureAugust 24, 201901:36 min
A minke whale hunted for research purposes is seen on a Japanese boat

Japan's fleet begins commercial whaling

Japanese whalers have restarted commercial whaling after a 31-year break.
Nature and EnvironmentJuly 1, 2019
Neumayer-Station III Antarktis

Antarctica - Neumayer III turns 10

Germany’s Neumayer III research station in Antarctica is celebrating its 10th birthday.
ScienceFebruary 22, 201902:39 min
Neumayer-Station III Antarktis

Fascinating Antarctica: Icy facts about the most southern region in the world

Antarctica is more than just snow and ice. The most southern point of our earth breaks a lot of records.
ScienceFebruary 20, 20196 images
North Avenue Beach of Lake Michigan in Chicago under snow and ice

US hit by winter colder than Antarctica

Several people have died in the dangerously low temperatures, which is now in the Northeast
Nature and EnvironmentJanuary 31, 2019
Abenteurer Colin O'Brady am Südpol

Man completes first unassisted trek across Antarctica

An American explorer has become the first person to complete a solo and unassisted crossing of Antarctica.
Nature and EnvironmentDecember 27, 2018
Adelie penguins on Adelaide Island

Plans for world's largest sanctuary put on hold

Plans for the world's largest sanctuary in the Antarctic have been blocked by Russia, China and Norway.
Nature and EnvironmentNovember 2, 2018
The sillhouette of a firefighter in Australia looks at a bushfire burning in the background.

3 degrees on 7 continents — part 1

On part 1: Dramatic changes in Antarctica, bushfires in Australia, drought in Africa and living green in Europe.
Nature and EnvironmentOctober 25, 201830:00 min
Antarktis | Eisberg

Rectangular iceberg spotted in sea off Antarctica

Researchers from NASA have discovered a rectangular iceberg floating in the sea off Antarctica.
TravelOctober 24, 2018
Pinguinkolonie auf Ile aux Cochons

'They're more or less stuck there'

Roughly 90 percent of king penguins are estimated to have died on an island between South Africa and Antarctica.
ScienceAugust 1, 2018
NASA Operation IceBridge in der Antarktis

Rate of Antarctic ice melt triples since 2012

Antarctic ice loss since 2012 has accelerated threefold, raising sea levels by 3 millimeters over five-year period.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 14, 2018
Mexiko Entdeckung Unterwasserhöhle bei Tulum

Cave diver explores nature's mysteries

Exploring underwater caves from Bermuda to Antarctica, one diver has a unique perspective on how we harm our planet.
Nature and EnvironmentMay 29, 2018
Antarktis: Seelöwen Pinguine die Schönheit des Eises

Antarctica tourism regulation urgent for environment: summit

Tourism regulation in Antarctica has become an urgent matter due to environmental threats,
TravelMay 17, 2018
DW Sendung Check-in - Antarktis, V-Mail

A journey to the Antarctica

A Check-in viewer shares his ice-cold vacation in the Antarctica.
CultureMay 5, 201801:34 min
Antarktis Forschung Biodiversität

Antarctica's mysterious microfauna

New scientific techniques are expanding our knowledge of terrestrial fauna in Antarctica.
Nature and EnvironmentMay 2, 2018
A colony of gentoo penguins on Curverville Island, Antarctica

The fragile grandeur of the Antarctic

The vulnerable beauty of our planet's southernmost continent captured by photojournalist Alexandre Meneghini.
Nature and EnvironmentMay 2, 20187 images
Researchers walk across the snow in Antarctica

The quest for Antarctica's biological treasures

Scientists are in a race against time to protect the frozen continent's extraordinary ecosystems.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 26, 201807:40 min
Lappland Landschaft Natur

To the ends of the Earth

Researchers discover secrets beneath the ice in Greenland and Antarctica, and park rangers risk their lives in Africa.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 26, 201829:59 min
Plants in the DLR greenhouse in Antarctica

Antarctic greenhouse vegetables picked

German scientists in Antarctica have harvested their first vegetables to be grown without earth or daylight.
ScienceApril 5, 2018
A glacier in Half Moon Bay, Antarctica

Antarctica is melting underwater

A new study suggests that climate change is affecting the Antarctic on a much larger scale than previously believed.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 3, 2018
Ship returned from whaling

Japanese whalers make huge catch

Three Japanese whaling vessels have returned to port from a controversial trip to Antarctica after catching 333 whales.
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 31, 2018
Grou of alldelie penguins jumping into water

Antarctica: Scientists find 1.5 million penguins

A team of researchers has found a massive supercolony of Adelie penguins on Antarctica's Danger Islands.
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 2, 2018
King Penguins

Climate change threatens Antarctica's king penguins

With king penguins traveling farther for their food, the birds could disappear by the end of the century, a study found.
Nature and EnvironmentFebruary 27, 2018
A penguin sits on sea ice

Sea level rise is accelerating: PNAS study

A new report based on 25 years of satellite data says sea levels are rising at an increasing pace.
Nature and EnvironmentFebruary 13, 2018
DW euromaxx Freeski

Extreme freeriding

Two Austrian freeriders ski down mountain slopes where no one has ever been.
LifestyleJanuary 21, 201805:11 min
Antarktis Impressionen

Antarctic study links ice-shelf melt to sea-level rise

The melting of small ice shelves off Antarctica could lead to even bigger melt of inland glaciers, scientists say.
Nature and EnvironmentDecember 12, 2017
Bildergalerie "Rattenplage in Südgeorgien"

How to beat a rat plague

Poison, dogs and helicopters - scientists pulled out all the stops to protect South Georgia's wildlife from rats.
Nature and EnvironmentSeptember 22, 2017
Bildergalerie "Rattenplage in Südgeorgien"

South Georgia fights a plague of rats

Poison, dogs and helicopters - scientists pulled out all the stops to protect South Georgia's wildlife from rats.
Nature and EnvironmentSeptember 22, 20179 images
Blood Falls seeps from the end of the Taylor Glacier into Lake Bonney

The mystery of Antarctica's Blood Falls

Why is this glacier blood red? Global Ideas takes a look at this natural phenomenon.
Nature and EnvironmentJuly 31, 2017
Aerial view of the rift in the Larsen C ice shelf

New rift in Larsen C ice shelf

Where a trillion-ton iceberg calved last week, researchers have detected a new rift. There are concerns over stability.
Nature and EnvironmentJuly 20, 2017
Antarktis, Eisberg

Our Beautiful Planet

This week, one of the largest icebergs on record split broke away from Antarctica, the earth's coldest continent.
Nature and EnvironmentJuly 13, 2017
An iceberg is pictured in the western Antarctic peninsula

Colossal iceberg breaks off Antarctica

A chunk of ice the size of the US state of Delaware has broken off one of Antarctica's largest ice shelves.
Nature and EnvironmentJuly 12, 2017
Antarktis Riss im Larsen-C-Schelfeis

'The consequences could be dire'

The imminent breakoff of an iceberg and possible collapse of a large ice shelf in Antarctica worries scientists. Why?
Nature and EnvironmentJuly 3, 2017
Antarktis Riss im Larsen-C-Schelfeis

Why care about a bit of ice?

Very soon a big section of a large ice shelf in West Antarctica is expected to break off. The imminent collapse of the Larsen C ice shelf has scientists very worried. Why? DW talks to John Abraham, a professor of thermal sciences at the University of St Thomas in the USA to find out.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 15, 201707:04 min
Antarktis Impressionen

Arctic vs. Antarctic ice melt

A recent report says the Arctic may be ice-free by 2040. The Antarctic is also melting, albeit far slower. Why?
Nature and EnvironmentJune 14, 2017
Antarktis - Larsen-Schelfeis

Giant iceberg close to split from Antarctic ice shelf

A piece of ice the size of Delaware is close to breaking off from one of Antarctica's largest ice shelves.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 2, 2017
GARS, Forschung in der Antarktis

Plastics pollute Antarctic waters

Researchers studying water quality in the Southern Ocean were surprised to find plastic fibers.
ScienceApril 28, 201703:50 min
Penguins in the Antarctic. Photo credit: AP

World Penguin Day – the globe 'must do more' to protect penguins' Antarctic habitat

The world must do more to protect the Antarctic and its wildlife, scientists warn as the globe marks World Penguin Day.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 25, 20177 images
ea ice is seen from NASA's Operation IceBridge research aircraft off the northwest coast on March 30, 2017 above Greenland

View over our changing poles

NASA is currently conducting research flights over the Arctic to monitor ice loss. And the photos are spectacular.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 7, 2017
Grönland Schiff im Eis

Greenland on the horizon

Greenland, the "ice island," is warming. DW's Iceblogger Irene Quaile gears up for a visit.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 6, 2017
Japan Walfang

Japan kills 333 whales in annual Antarctic hunt

Japan continues its whaling expeditions, flouting international laws in the name of supposed "scientific research."
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 31, 2017
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Extreme weather to continue in 2017

The extreme weather that made 2016 the hottest year on record shows no sign of abating, the UN says.
March 21, 201701:30 min
Adelie Penguin

Scientists miscalculate penguin population

Good news for Adélie penguins - of "Happy Feet" fame - as scientists revise their numbers upwards by millions.
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 15, 2017