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Rob Larter

@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
  • Open on fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

1164 Followers
336 Following
50 Posts
Joined November 06, 2022
Profile page:
https://bas.ac.uk/profile/rdla

Posts

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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Aug 03, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
After listening to today's coverage of #weather records, #drought and #wildfires on #BBC radio and TV news programmes I can't help wondering if BBC news and weather presenters are working under a directive not to mention the link between these things and anthropogenic #climate change. Isn't it a normal journalistic question to ask what is causing these things and what we can expect in future years?
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Jul 24, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
The “Eternity Glaciers” Are Almost Gone The equatorial glaciers atop Puncak Jaya, Oceania’s tallest peak, have shrunk by about 95% since 2002, according to a new photogrammetry mapping effort. https://eos.org/articles/the-eternity-glaciers-are-almost-gone
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Jun 29, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Looking at two parts of one of England’s fastest eroding coasts today at Easton Bavents and Thorpeness, Suffolk. #coastal #erosion #geology
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Jun 27, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
If you'd like to find out what recent research has revealed about Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier and what this means for future sea-level rise, this is a good place to start. Great overview in New Scientist by Alison George. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2526630-the-race-to-understand-how-and-when-thwaites-glacier-will-collapse/
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Jun 27, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Fossil fuel emissions have rapidly worsened European heatwaves in just a few decades https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/fossil-fuel-emissions-have-rapidly-worsened-european-heatwaves-in-just-a-few-decades/
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Jun 13, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @davidho@mastodon.world
@davidho@mastodon.world The external hard disk our research group bought for our first desktop computer 40 years ago was the size of a shoebox and had a capacity of 10MB. Mind totally blown.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · May 04, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @duckwhistle@mastodon.org.uk
@duckwhistle@mastodon.org.uk @SusiArnott@mastodon.green Yes, I also noticed this pejorative way the potential reduction in flights was reported. Yesterday we heard how the UK government plans to relax rules so that airlines can "cancel flights weeks in advance, without losing valuable take off and landing slots at busy airports, if they face fuel shortages this summer." I don't suppose it has occurred to them to encourage people to think about summer holiday options that don't involve flying?
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · May 03, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @SusiArnott@mastodon.green
@SusiArnott@mastodon.green Perhaps they could drop calls for a third runway then?
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · May 02, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org

It is now late autumn in Antarctica. The polar night, when the sun disappears below the horizon until spring, will soon extend over most of the continent. Yet there is still hardly any sea ice in the southern Bellingshausen Sea (lower left in the regional map below).
Sea ice concentration maps are from the Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Germany - https://seaice.uni-bremen.de/sea-ice-concentration/amsre-amsr2/

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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 30, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @ZLabe@fediscience.org
@ZLabe and it's worth noting that the record for the past 800,000 years is from analysis of actual samples of the past atmosphere extracted from bubbles in ice cores. Results of analysis of an ice core that extends this record back further will be published soon.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 30, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @ZLabe@fediscience.org
@ZLabe @CopernicusECMWF These analyses consistently show warming in the southern Bellingshausen Sea through all 4 decades. This coincides with progressively diminishing sea ice and later start to its regrowth in this sector (often partially hidden by the tendency of studies to lump the Amundsen and Bellingshausen sectors together). The flip of the Weddell Sea sector to warming in the most recent decade is striking and should be a cause for concern. This sector holds the largest accumulation of sea ice and sea ice production there is critical to formation of dense shelf water that is important in driving the overturning circulation of the ocean.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 26, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @Sustainable2050@mastodon.energy
@Sustainable2050@mastodon.energy Sounds like a deluge to me. We've had just 1.1 mm so far this month in Cambridge.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 21, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org

Recent results indicate that its too late to save Thwaites Glacier, the Antarctic glacier that's losing ice most quickly. Its fate is now baked in, although further research is still needed to establish the timeframe over which it will be lost. Technofixes ("geoengineering") intended to slow its ice loss are not a viable option to combat sea-level rise though. They would be phenomenally expensive (of the order of the GDP of a medium-sized country), might have limited effect in slowing ice loss, would be impractical to implement at scale and maintain in this very remote and hostile setting, and would have adverse environmental consequences. For these reasons there is zero chance their implementation would receive the consensus required for approval under the Antarctic Treaty. Moreover, even if implementation of such ludicrously expensive and risky schemes was attempted and succeeded to some extent in reducing ice loss, global sea-level rise will continue. Ice loss from Greenland and from mountain glaciers and icecaps elsewhere will continue, and thermal expansion of the oceans will continue for as long as the world keeps getting warmer. There is no alternative to adaptation to committed sea-level rise and the only genuine solution to stop the committed rise growing even larger, which will simultaneously limit a range of other climate harms, is rapid decarbonisation.

https://www.theenergymix.com/geoengineering-on-the-table-and-under-fire-as-scientists-race-to-save-melting-thwaites-glacier/

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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 16, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @Sustainable2050@mastodon.energy
@Sustainable2050 That's a terrifying conclusion. Other studies have concluded that we may not be able to tell we're passing an AMOC tipping point until it is too late. At the other end of the world, my reading of research I'm familiar with indicates that loss of the marine-based parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is now committed, although if we're lucky this may take several centuries to play out. An emerging conclusion seems to be that some major tipping points occur at around 1.5°C above pre-industrial, as IPCC reports have been warning that they might for many years. The new AMOC modelling paper is here https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx4298
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 12, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @Brad_Rosenheim@climatejustice.social
@Brad_Rosenheim@climatejustice.social @carlosmoffat@fediscience.org I chatted with Carlos about this and other matters when he was visiting BAS a couple of years ago. If I remember correctly his view was that upwelling and mixing of CDW into surface waters was an important factor.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 12, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
@Brad_Rosenheim@climatejustice.social A further thought on this. The average surface water salinity in the Southern Ocean is about 34.5 ppt, which depresses the freezing point by nearly 2°C. If a large flux of melt decreases the salinity by 1 or 2 ppt, as happens around the sea ice edge when it is retreating in Spring, this raises the freezing point by around 0.1°C. I think other factors, including atmospheric and ocean temperatures and winds, are likely to be much more important in controlling sea ice extent. Furthermore, any melt added to the surface water in summer will be mixed into the upper ~200 m of the ocean by autumn storms before it can have much effect on new sea ice growth.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 12, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @rhempel@cosocial.ca
@rhempel@cosocial.ca @donlamb_1@mastodon.online Hmm. How much impact should we expect for the investment of $4Bn in this mission alone? As you say, there are too many other things going on today that many people are concerned about. Back in the late 60s the Apollo missions were a welcome distraction for many from the cold war, which had reached a state of stalemate.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 12, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @Brad_Rosenheim@climatejustice.social
@Brad_Rosenheim@climatejustice.social I think that theory has been the basis of several high profile papers. If there was any truth in it then sea ice extent west of the Peninsula and in the southern Bellingshausen Sea should have been increasing over the past few decades. In reality there has been a steady decline in sea-ice extent in these areas through the period of the satellite record, even while extent was steady or slightly increasing in other sectors up to 10 years ago.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 12, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @TimWardCam@c.im
@TimWardCam@c.im The strange thing is that this line of reasoning doesn't seem to be working for polar science, which is needed to inform us about a range of threats we need to understand better to plan adaptation for a resilient future.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 12, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @ewen@social.ewenbell.com
@ewen@social.ewenbell.com I agree with most of that, but resources are finite and when spending on a particular endeavour runs into billions of dollars I think it is right to ask what the benefits are. When numbers get that large many people lose all sense of proportion. I agree that there is value to space exploration in general, but I question whether it is necessary for missions to be crewed. I absolutely agree we spend too much time justifying research. If the proportion of their working hours academics spend writing research proposals that are never funded (in the UK at least) was widely known it would be a national scadal.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 11, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @az@betagravity.com
@az@betagravity.com If you take the maximum distance attained by any Apollo mission from 11 to 17 it won't fall very far short. The point is that it is a ridiculous thing to be touting as one of the stand-out achievements.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 11, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org

So Artemis II achieved a record-breaking maximum distance of 252,756 miles (406,771 km) from Earth. This compares to
248,665 miles (400,171 km) attained by Apollo 13. With the benefit of more than 50 years of technological advancement that's an increase of just 1.65%. Can we stop hearing about this as one of the stand-out achievements now please?
 

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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 10, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @jfmezei@cosocial.ca
@jfmezei@cosocial.ca Even if something is obvious to those in the know this doesn't excuse journalists for not asking people to articulate the justification for the vast investment of public money. Humans going into space is one of the activities that many of them get so excited about that they forget the basic principles of their role.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 10, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @jfmezei@cosocial.ca
@jfmezei@cosocial.ca Those may be the primary reasons, I honestly don't know, but even assuming that is true it doesn't excuse journalists for not asking the tough questions.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 10, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @donlamb_1@mastodon.online
@donlamb_1@mastodon.online Well for most of us that is the most obvious immediate benefit, but I think it would be impossible to come up with a plausible justification for the cost per picture.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 10, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org

I'm as fascinated by the Artemis II mission as many other people, but as scientist I'm frustrated that experts interviewed about it in the media are rarely asked to justify the truly astronomical cost. So far the program is reported to have cost $93Bn, with the direct costs of this mission alone amounting to more than $4Bn. I'm perhaps particularly sensitive to this because I'm frequently asked to justify funding three orders of magnitude smaller that we have used to improve knowledge of how the Antarctic ice sheet will respond to climate change and contribute to future sea-level rise.

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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 05, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @robinince@mastodon.social
@robinince I did notice that you had a gig here in January. Unfortunately, I was at sea then. I enjoyed your gig at Found Festival last year.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 05, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @robinince@mastodon.social
@robinince Nothing in Cambridge?
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Apr 04, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz
@jonmsterling @tml @olynch @albertcardona @elduvelle I agree with most of that, but one a working day the 05:55 from Cambridge to King's Cross enables you to get to Oxford at 08.42, with a generous 47 minutes to get from King's Cross to Paddington.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Mar 23, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org

The feeling right now of every scientist trying to communicate the seriousness of ongoing global warming and the urgency of reducing emissions.
Excerpt from a cartoon by the late Jon Kudelka.

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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Mar 13, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
Day 10 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa (continued): gentoo penguin, penguin chicks and a giant petrel feasting on its prey at Jougla Point. #BusmansHoliday
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Mar 11, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
Day 10 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: landing on Jougla Point, a location formerly used by Whalers and literally a stone's throw away from the island where the former British base of Port Lockroy is located. #BusmansHoliday
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Mar 09, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
Day 9 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa (continued): Gentoo penguins at Neko Harbour, and a penguin egg that had recently been plundered by a skua. #BusmansHoliday
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Mar 05, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
Day 9 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa (continued): second landing of the day on the mainland of the Antarctic Peninsula, at Neko Harbour. #BusmansHoliday
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Mar 01, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
A lot of melting was taking place when we visited Stony Point. Of course, this was summer in Antarctica, so some melting was expected. However, temperatures on this day and through January as a whole were 1 to 2°C above the recent average, which itself is a couple of degrees warmer than in the mid-20th century. Later this day the dry air temperature recorded on Bark Europa in neighbouring Andvord Bay was 3.8°C. Average 21st century January temperature at the US Palmer Station on Anvers Island is 2.7°C.
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 28, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
Day 9 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa (continued): the varied expressions of a Weddell seal resting on the beach at Stony Point. #BusmansHoliday
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 25, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
Day 9 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa (continued): a selection of wildlife photos taken at Stony Point. #BusmansHoliday
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Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 25, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @ZDL@mstdn.social
@ZDL@mstdn.social Brilliant. It comes from Private Eye, of course, in an issue published last October.
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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 24, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
Day 9 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: first landing on the mainland of the Antarctic Peninsula, at Stony Point, Paradise Harbour. #BusmansHoliday
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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 23, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot That knowledge might come in handy. There's a group of old BAS geologists (from even before I started) who have added me to their email list. Some of them worked on South Georgia. Might help my cred to have some gems of historical knowledge if I go to any of their gatherings 😀
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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 23, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @markn@mastodonapp.uk
@markn@mastodonapp.uk I'll have to check out that book. While on board I finished reading Madhouse at the End of the Earth. Being there gave a great perspective on what it must have been like for those early explorers, who charted much of the area on a somewhat similar vessel.
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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 23, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot I haven't managed to find any published radio metric age on it yet, but it is mapped as being Quaternary, in which case it is part of the alkaline rift volcanic province that includes Deception Island. It's appearance seems to have a lot in common with Staffa, although I've never been there.
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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 23, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot
@FaithfullJohn@mastodon.scot There was some splendid rock grooving (glacial striations) to be seen on these islands that I tried to draw to the attention of my fellow visitors. They only had eyes for the penguins though. Philistines!
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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 22, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
Day 8 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa (continued): a few photos of Adelie penguins on the Yalour Islands. #BusmansHoliday
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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 22, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
Day 8 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: instruction on climbing on the higher sections of the masts and the yards, then passage through Lemaire Channel (commonly referred to as Kodak Crack back in the day when all photographers used film), followed by a landing on the Yalour Islands, which host a large Adelie peguin rookery. #BusmansHoliday
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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 15, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
The stand-out sights of this small boat excursion were a number of Weddell seals resting on some of the bergy bits.
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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 15, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
Day 7 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: an exploration of a narrow channel between Spert and Trinity Islands in small boats, weaving between numerous icebergs and growlers. #BusmansHoliday
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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 11, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @jwcph@helvede.net
@jwcph@helvede.net Columnar jointing formed in cooling magma often produces spectacular features. Other examples are the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and on the island of Staffa in the Inner Hebrides, west of Scotland. It seems almost too perfect and regular to be natural.
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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 11, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @jwcph@helvede.net
@jwcph@helvede.net The other-worldly appearance is probably a little exaggerated because I'd accidentally messed up the white balance on my camera. It took me a while to work out what was wrong. I've tried adjusting the colours to appear more realistic but with only partial success.
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PoLaRobs
Rob Larter @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org · Feb 10, 2026
Rob Larter
@PoLaRobs@fediscience.org

Polar marine scientist. Made in Wolverhampton. Enhanced at universities of Durham, Aberdeen and Birmingham. UK science lead in Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own.

fediscience.org
Replying to @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
Day 6 of my voyage to the #Antarctic Peninsula on the #tallship #BarkEuropa: a close approach to Half Moon Island in McFarlane Strait, South Shetland Islands, but strong winds precluded a landing. Subsequently we approached close to Edinburgh Hill on Livingston Island, a volcanic plug exhibiting spectacular columnar jointing. #BusmansHoliday
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