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Russia’s war in Ukraine is disrupting Antarctic science

The polar region is demilitarized, but the conflict is posing a threat to important climate data collected at Ukraine’s research station.
  1. Layal Liverpool
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Vernadsky research base, Ukrainian Antarctic station at Marina Point on Galindez.

Ukraine’s Vernadsky research base in Antarctica, which previously belonged to the British, has for decades collected temperature data crucial to studying climate change. Credit: Sergio Pitamitz/Biosphoto/Avalon

The effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine are being felt thousands of kilometres from the front lines: in Antarctica, where Ukraine’s 28th Antarctic research expedition is under way. Ukraine says that even though Antarctica is officially a demilitarized zone, the conflict is disrupting its research programme — something that Russia doesn’t acknowledge. At Ukraine’s historic Vernadsky Station, staff shortages resulting from the war are threatening globally significant data sets that researchers say are crucial for showing the rapid effects of human-induced climate change.

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Nature 621, 453 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02764-6

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