An alliance of 27 environmental groups today welcomed the expansion of Australia’s Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve near Antarctica, but said the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had missed a rare opportunity to protect globally important feeding grounds for penguins, seals and albatross. 

The rapidly changing nature of Antarctica has been witnessed first-hand by Australia’s leading research ship on a record-breaking investigation of the icy continent.  

CSIRO’s research vessel (RV) Investigator sets off today on the longest voyage in its 10-year history to the Southern Ocean and sea-ice edge. The aim of the 60 day voyage is to improve our ability to anticipate the impacts of future climate change.

Century-long impacts to marine ecosystems and global climate beckon if Antarctic deep ocean circulation collapses, say Australian scientists.