Antarctic Science Platform
Welcome to New Zealand’s Antarctic Science Platform
This major New Zealand Government-funded research project supports a range of physical and biological science to understand Antarctica’s impact on the global earth system and New Zealand, and how this might change in a warming world.
Antarctica is a nexus of global change
Changes in the Antarctic environment have implications for the rest of the globe. Antarctic ice melt is a significant contributor to future sea level rise, increasing risks of coastal erosion and flooding. Already, warming atmospheric and ocean temperatures are changing patterns of sea ice formation, and increasing the melt rates of glaciers and ice shelves. And the changing physical environments, particularly temperatures and sea ice cover, threaten the habitats, abundance and biodiversity of Antarctica’s unique flora and fauna, on land and at sea.
The Antarctic Science Platform is positioned to investigate the Antarctic ice-ocean-atmosphere system and Ross Sea region ecosystem dynamics in a warming world.
