Veronika Wild

  The Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity THE ARCTIC Polar Bears Who can forget the widely circulated image of a polar bear trapped on an icefloe with neither prey nor land, nor even another ice floe in sight. Although Polar Bears can swim short distances, it takes five times as much energy as simply shuffling across the ice. Although polar bear numbers have improved in some regions – largely as a result of the ban on unregulated hunting in the 1970s, numbers generally are either  static or in decline. For the most part, shorter winters and warmer summers mean a shorter hunting season and poor condition which in turn leads to lower reproductive success. Some Polar Bears have taken to scavenging in settlements in order to get enough food. Ringed Seals which are staple of the Polar Bear’s diet, are also facing threats due to climate change and sea ice loss because they depend on sea ice for resting, breeding, and pupping in snow dens on the ice. Shrinking and th...

  More than 100,000 tourists will head to Antarctica this summer. Should we worry about damage to the ice and its ecosystems? Elizabeth Leane , University of Tasmania ; Anne Hardy , University of Tasmania ; Can Seng Ooi , University of Tasmania ; Carolyn Philpott , University of Tasmania ; Hanne E.F. Nielsen , University of Tasmania , and Katie Marx , University of Tasmania As the summer sun finally arrives for people in the Southern Hemisphere, more than 100,000 tourists will head for the ice. Travelling on one of more than 50 cruise ships, they will brave the two-day trip across the notoriously rough Drake Passage below Patagonia, destined for the polar continent of Antarctica. During the COVID summer of 2020-21, just 15 tourists on two yachts visited Antarctica. But now, tourism is back – and bigger than ever. This season’s visitor numbers are up more than 40% over the largest pre-pandemic year . So are all those tourists going to damage what is often ...

Getting up close and personal with the "Investigator," the CSIRO's new research vessel- all ten storeys of it View from the bridge Another year has gone by and Hobart is once again celebrating its role as a Gateway City to Antarctica. True - it’s not the only one   -   Ushuaia   and Punto Arenas in Chile, Cape Town in South Africa and Christchurch in New Zealand also serve as supply bases and points of contact for visitors, but Hobart has held this role since the 1830’s, when whalers and sealers caught sight of the frozen continent while looking for new territory to exploit.  Scientific equipment, large cranes and submersibles take up a good deal of space   ... but there's still room for comfortable cabins   ...and a well stocked kitchen. So, how many litres of icecream do you think Australia's expeditioners go through each year?  a) 190 litres?    b) 1980 litres?   c) 19,800 litres?  ...