At @imas-utas.bsky.social @utas.edu.au, we're celebrating Antarctica Day 2025 with a symposium themed ‘Encountering Antarctica’.

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10/ But we have choices. Under high emissions, a positive SAM continues to strengthen. Under low emissions pathways where net zero is achieved, modelling shows the SAM could stabilise by 2050 and begin returning to its historical range by 2100.

(figure: @nature.com)

8/ The implications for sea-level rise are less clear. Ocean circulation changes could accelerate melt in the cavities underneath ice shelves that buttress the Antarctic ice sheet, while SAM-driven increased snowfall in some regions may offset ice mass loss.

(photo: Pete Harmsen/AAD)

7/ A persistent positive SAM is expected to reduce the Southern Ocean’s ability to absorb excess carbon dioxide, warming the climate. Stronger, southward-shifted winds create upwellings that release more carbon from the deep ocean into the atmosphere.

(photo: Pete Harmsen/AAD)

👏 6/ Authors from @arcsaef.bsky.social, @monashuniversity.bsky.social, @21stcenturyweather.bsky.social, BoM, @imas-utas.bsky.social, @utas.edu.au, @antarcticsciaus.bsky.social, @ccrc.bsky.social, @unimelb.bsky.social, CSIRO

5/ New review out today in @natrevearthenviron.nature.com: “The SAM is now in its most positive mean state in over 1,000 years, and a year-round positive trend in the SAM is projected to continue throughout the twenty-first century in response to increasing greenhouse gases.”

Read: rdcu.be/eSGwe

4/ A positive SAM also changes the biogeochemical state of the Southern Ocean, affecting how carbon, heat and nutrients are transported and shaping the productivity of phytoplankton.

(figure: Nature)

3/ A positive SAM changes the physical state of the Southern Ocean which affects sea ice, ocean circulation and the Antarctic ice sheet.

(figure: Nature)

🌀 2/ The effects of the SAM connect the stratosphere to the ocean, and Antarctica to the tropics. In the Southern Ocean, it drives the Southern Westerly Winds (SWW) which drive the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the world’s strongest current surrounding Antarctica.

(figure: AntarcticGlaciers.org)

9/ “Given the importance of SAM effects on Southern Ocean circulation, carbon cycling, and Antarctic ice mass balance for future climate and sea level rise projections, it is crucial that the effects of SAM are better modelled and understood,” the review says.

Here's to another year of Antarctic discovery and collaboration!

More details on our website🐧

Their research spans climate change, sea-ice sampling, Antarctic species, atmospheric patterns, disease impacts on wildlife, and more. A huge thank-you to our supporters, including the Tasmanian Polar Network, for making this year's grants possible.