UK invests to modernize polar science

The UK is investing in modernising its research facilities in Antarctica and the Arctic, with total investment to date of £670 million, including £290 million announced today

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UK RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

 

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The UK is investing in modernising its research facilities in Antarctica and the Arctic, with total investment to date of £670 million, including £290 million announced today.  

As a world leader in polar science, UK research conducted in the regions are of global importance. Investing in research is crucial in helping us understand the drivers and rates of changes to polar ice, oceans and atmosphere and the regional and global impacts of climate change. 

The importance of research in both Antarctic and Arctic regions has been underpinned by an investment by the UK of £670m for infrastructure improvement in addition to existing science funding activity. This is transforming how British Antarctic Survey (BAS) facilitates and supports frontier science.

The latest £290 million funding, announced today, will provide up-to-date aircraft facilities to ensure cargo and scientists can be transported easily to Antarctic research stations.

Commissioned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) part of UK Research and Innovation, and funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), this ambitious group of projects will confirm Britain’s continued position as a world leader in the field of polar environmental science.

The Antarctic Infrastructure Modernisation programme (AIMP) has so far delivered a new polar research ship, RRS Sir David Attenborough, plus the upgrade of the wharf at Rothera Research Station, and King Edward Point and Bird Island in South Georgia, and modernisation of the Signy research station. 

Along with enhanced aircraft facilities, BAS is building a new science support facility at the Rothera Research Station for scientists, alongside new modern collaboration spaces. This will secure polar science over the next 25 years. 

The programme will contribute to the UK’s key priorities and will ensure the delivery of cutting-edge  science and innovation in Antarctica. Research undertaken on these continents answers globally significant questions, improving our understanding of our planet, climate change and polar science.

Over the coming decades, UK polar scientists will address some of the most important questions facing our changing planet, particularly the impact of melting ice sheets on global sea levels.

The modernisation programme will enable collaboration with international partners, influencing the global climate change debate, and builds on the UK’s environmental leadership beyond COP26.

Professor Sir Duncan Wingham, Executive Chair of the Natural Environment Research Council, part of UKRI, said:

“This new investment is part of a wider, long-term programme of renewal of the UK’s polar infrastructure that includes the new polar vessel, the RRS Sir David Attenborough, and the replacement of the UK’s Rothera buildings with modern, low-energy accommodation and laboratories. It will future proof the air-bridge with South America and the Falkland Islands.

“The renewal programme recognises the central role of the Antarctic in future climate change and the commitment of the UK to maintain its leadership of polar science.”

Professor Dame Jane Francis, Director of British Antarctic Survey, said:

“Investing in Antarctic infrastructure means we can secure the future for the next generation of polar scientists. It means BAS can continue to be a world leader for polar science, addressing issues of global importance and helping society adapt to a changing world.

“The British Antarctic Survey has provided a permanent British scientific presence in Antarctica for the past 60 years, undertaking a vast range of science, which includes discovery of the ozone hole and an ongoing major project to study the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.”

The AIM programme project includes:

• A new polar research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough, providing a next-generation marine science platform, with increased endurance ability of up to 60 days unsupported at sea so it can undertake longer voyages and open up new remote locations for science.  
• The modernisation of the Rothera Research Station, our main base on the Antarctic peninsula. This includes a new Discovery Building,  rebuild and update of the wharf, and the introduction of carbon-reducing technology..
• Updating the King Edward Point wharf and slipway on South Georgia to ensure the new ship can moor safely and resupply the station.
• Modernising  Bird Island Research Station on South Georgia to increase storage and improve energy use.
• Modernising the summer-only  Signy Research Station, to include a longer, more robust jetty, better storage and handling facilities and improved living spaces.
• Relocation of the Halley research station, to prevent an ice chasm separating the station from the rest of the Halley research site on the Brunt ice shelf.