Forty years ago, British Antarctic Survey scientists made a world-changing discovery: a hole in Earth's protective ozone layer above Antarctica. In this episode, meteorologist Jonathan Shanklin recounts how his routine measurements at Halley Research Station revealed data points literally 'falling off the graph' - the first evidence linking chlorofluorocarbons to ozone depletion.

Professor John Pyle explains how this evidence led to the Montreal Protocol, now ratified by every country worldwide and hailed as the most successful international environmental agreement ever. Atmospheric chemist Professor Lucy Carpenter brings us up to date: the ozone layer is recovering but faces challenges from climate change and extreme wildfires.

What lessons can this remarkable story of scientific discovery, political action and environmental recovery teach us about tackling today's climate crisis? And how close are we to seeing the Antarctic ozone hole finally close?

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Beyond the Ice helps you unpack the latest news in climate science with the experts at British Antarctic Survey. Our planet is changing at a rate and scale unlike anything seen in human history - and Earth's frozen places are the front line. After all, what happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica.

Beyond the Ice is also available as a LinkedIn Newsletter. Subscribe here:

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/beyond-the-ice-7114973466654560256/ 

Beyond the Ice is edited and presented by Em Newton.

In February 2025, there was less sea ice on Earth than ever recorded. It's the coldest time of year in the Arctic, and the freeze up of Arctic ice is nearing its maximum - but that maximum is looking small, significantly below the record lows for winter we saw in 2017. Polar climate scientist Dr Caroline Holmes explains what's influencing these lows in Arctic sea ice, and how it fits into the global climate.

Will the Arctic be 'ice free in summer by 2100'? How do climate scientists actually come up with these headlines? What's going on inside those predictive 'climate models' we always hear about? And what do you say to a sceptic who says we've seen this all before?

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Beyond the Ice helps you unpack the latest news in climate science with the experts at British Antarctic Survey. Our planet is changing at a rate and scale unlike anything seen in human history - and Earth's frozen places are the front line. After all, what happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica.

Beyond the Ice is also available as a LinkedIn Newsletter. Subscribe here:

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/beyond-the-ice-7114973466654560256/ 

Beyond the Ice is edited and presented by Em Newton.

Wildfires are devastating the city of Los Angeles, fuelled by a perfect storm of dry conditions and intense mountain winds. In this episode of Beyond the Ice, we break down the weather and climate factors behind this ongoing disaster. Climate scientist Dr Ella Gilbert and ice core expert Dr Thomas Bauska explain how our changing climate is making such disasters more frequent and intense, and discuss what needs to be done to adapt to this new reality.

We also take a step back to look at what new research into ice cores has recently revealed about major wildfires in Earth’s ancient past. How did scientists find out about wildfires that took place thousands of years ago? And can this tell us anything about the relationship between major climate shifts and wildfire events?

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Beyond the Ice helps you unpack the latest news in climate science with the experts at British Antarctic Survey. Our planet is changing at a rate and scale unlike anything seen in human history - and Earth's frozen places are the front line. After all, what happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica.

Beyond the Ice is also available as a LinkedIn Newsletter. Subscribe here:

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/beyond-the-ice-7114973466654560256/ 

Beyond the Ice is edited and presented by Em Newton.

The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. So far, so bad - and scientists are seeing changes there now. Fresh off scientific fieldwork in the Arctic this summer, marine geophysicist Dr Kelly Hogan and marine biogeochemist Professor Kate Hendry reflect on what they saw and studied in this spectacular and important environment.

Through the lens of their science projects - KANG-GLAC and SiCLING - they explain what the consequences of a melting Arctic could be, how these frozen environments are connected to the 'normal' climate we enjoy today, and how understanding the past could be the key to predicting what changes await us in the future.

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Beyond the Ice helps you unpack the latest news in climate science with the experts at British Antarctic Survey. Our planet is changing at a rate and scale unlike anything seen in human history - and Earth's frozen places are the front line. After all, what happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica.

Beyond the Ice is also available as a LinkedIn Newsletter. Subscribe here:

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/beyond-the-ice-7114973466654560256/ 

Beyond the Ice is edited and presented by Em Newton.

This is your glaciology briefing! The race is on to understand the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, the world's widest glacier which is retreating and changing rapidly. As warming changes this icy place, communities and governments around the world need the best possible answer to the sea level rise question: how much and how fast?

Glaciologists Meghan Sharp and Professor Sridhar Anandakrishnan, and oceanographer Dr Pete Davis talk about their epic field work to study Thwaites Glacier, and explain the key mechanics that are shaping its future.

This podcast was recorded in the middle of the final science conference for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, when findings were being shared and new models were being hashed out. By the end of the week, the community shared their latest model predictions: that the melting of Thwaites will accelerate through the 21st and 22nd centuries, leading to the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the 23rd century. Crucially, they also shared that emissions levels make an actual difference to the timeline of melting.

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Want to send your name to Antarctica? Add your name to our time capsule travelling on the RRS Sir David Attenborough from the UK to Rothera Research Station. When you sign up, you'll get a personalised digital ticket, and receive weekly updates from the adventure with stories, videos and interviews.

Sign up at: https://tickettoantarctica.co.uk

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Beyond the Ice helps you unpack the latest news in climate science with the experts at British Antarctic Survey. Our planet is changing at a rate and scale unlike anything seen in human history - and Earth's frozen places are the front line. After all, what happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica.

Beyond the Ice is also available as a LinkedIn Newsletter. Subscribe here:

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/beyond-the-ice-7114973466654560256/ 

Beyond the Ice is edited and presented by Em Newton.

Story or statistics? Urgency or alarmism? Top line or deep dive? Three climate scientists talk about the state of climate science in the media, and what they've learned about communicating about climate change to the general public.

Tom Sheldon from the Science Media Centre speaks to BAS' Professor Dame Jane Francis, Dr Emma Boland and Dr Ella Gilbert, in a discussion that spans from the nitty gritty of what language they use, to describing their dream documentary series.

We all want science experts to lead conversations about our climate in the media - but gathering the courage and experience to talk to the media is no mean feat. They share their top tips for talking about a topic that can seem scary and divisive, and what motivates them to keep going.

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Beyond the Ice helps you unpack the latest news in climate science with the experts at British Antarctic Survey. Our planet is changing at a rate and scale unlike anything seen in human history - and Earth's frozen places are the front line. After all, what happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica.

Beyond the Ice is also available as a LinkedIn Newsletter. Subscribe here:

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/beyond-the-ice-7114973466654560256/ 

Beyond the Ice is edited and presented by Em Newton.

It's summer 2022, and an area of East Antarctica is over 38.5°C warmer than it should be. The mercury has risen to a chilly -10°C... but it should be -50°C. It's the most extreme temperature event ever recorded, and we now know this was caused by global warming. 

The increase in extreme weather events is the erratic, sharp end of climate change. But what happens when extreme weather hits the continent of extremes - Antarctica? 

Climate scientists Dr Louise Sime and Dr Tom Bracegirdle from British Antarctic Survey are here with your briefing why global warming is causing extreme weather. How do we work out which extreme events are due to climate change? And what does this mean for our future climate?

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Beyond the Ice helps you unpack the latest news in climate science with the experts at British Antarctic Survey. Our planet is changing at a rate and scale unlike anything seen in human history - and Earth's frozen places are the front line. After all, what happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica.

Beyond the Ice is also available as a LinkedIn Newsletter. Subscribe here:

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/beyond-the-ice-7114973466654560256/ 

Beyond the Ice is edited and presented by Em Newton.

2023 set new, dramatic temperature records - and Earth’s frozen places are feeling the heat. Picture the problem: it’s August 2023, the depths of Antarctic Winter, and there’s an area of missing Antarctic sea ice bigger than Greenland. Just 8 years ago, the area of Antarctic sea ice was actually growing each year. Then something changed.

Climate scientist Dr Ella Gilbert from British Antarctic Survey is here with your briefing on what we know about the record-breaking sea ice lows and their connection to climate change. How does sea ice moderate global temperatures? And what does this mean for our future climate?

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Beyond the Ice helps you unpack the latest news in climate science with the experts at British Antarctic Survey. Our planet is changing at a rate and scale unlike anything seen in human history - and Earth's frozen places are the front line. After all, what happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica.

Beyond the Ice is also available as a LinkedIn Newsletter. Subscribe here:

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/beyond-the-ice-7114973466654560256/ 

Beyond the Ice is recorded and edited by Em Newton.

Featuring buried festive duck, the A23a megaberg, and the mysterious 'King Neptune's Court'. What's it like to explore and study the remote frozen places where people have never been before? Nadia Frontier talks to Captain Matt Neill of the Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough from the Southern Ocean, and geologist and experienced Antarctic field scientist Jo Johnson.

Featuring a missing frozen turkey, après-ski cinema, and Antarctic Secret Santa. Nadia Frontier talks to the team at Rothera Research Station about spending the festive season in Antarctica. How does this remote community make Christmas special while investigating climate change in Earth's frozen places?