The polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctic are currently some of the most rapidly changing parts of our environment, with temperatures forecast to increase more than the global average in the coming decades and centuries. As well as local impacts of changes to ice cover in polar environments, there is the potential for impacts to reach other areas of the globe. Understanding the contribution of glaciers to sea level rise is one of the most crucial challenges in polar research as this feeds into decisions about climate adaptation, mitigation, and policy. For example, the Greenland Ice Sheet contributed the equivalent of ~0.4 mm to sea level between September 2022 and August 2023, and we are now seeing periods of unprecedented melt across the ice sheet, and rainfall at elevations never previously experienced in the observational record. Despite the global significance of polar environmental change, there remains a lot that we don’t fully understand, because polar regions can be difficult to access and complex to monitor and model. These challenges also make polar science a timely and exciting field of work. 

As polar scientists at Durham University, we are investigating how polar climates have changed over time and might change in the future. We are interested in the impacts of climate change on ice sheets, glaciers, permafrost and sea ice. In turn, we are exploring how these changes impact carbon and nutrient cycling, water resources, and how the ecosystems on land and in the sea respond. Humans are integral parts of polar environments, and our work includes exploring the ways in which humans use them and how they will be impacted by polar environmental change. Research projects at Durham are investigating human resilience and environmental sustainability in polar regions under the pressures of climate, ice, and land cover change. An important part of our work also involves investigating how the different parts of polar environments interact, by identifying where there might be important relationships or feedbacks that we need to be aware of in a warming climate. In addition to our local and regional investigations, we are considering the global impact of changes to polar regions, which range from melting ice raising global sea level, to thawing permafrost releasing methane and carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and causing more warming.  

Engaging in polar research provides an opportunity to develop new skills, and to work with others whose expertise complements your own. Polar science involves “observational” data collection and analysis, which can be in the field, in the laboratory, and through compiling and analysing data from instruments which provide automated data (e.g. from satellites or sensors on land and in the ocean). This also includes the recovery of “archives” of past climate from geological records (e.g. sediment cores from lakes, the ocean, and on land). Computer modellers can incorporate this observational data, or use it to test model performance, to improve our understanding of key systems, to assess climate and ice sheet changes of the past, and to predict what could happen in the future under different scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, polar science feeds into international efforts to improve conservation and management strategies for polar environments, and efforts to mitigate and adapt to forecast climate change. 

Polar science requires support which extends beyond researchers alone, and so offers many opportunities to get involved. Where remote fieldwork is required, on land or in the ocean, our work is often supported by networks of logistics providers, as well as technical and engineering staff. Becoming connected to the international networks that support remote polar work can be a very rewarding part of fieldwork, but it is also possible to do polar fieldwork in smaller teams in collaboration with partners in the UK or further afield. Ensuring that fieldwork is an inclusive, equitable and supportive environment is a key part of polar climate science, and considerable efforts are made to ensure that we ‘leave no trace’ in the environments we are investigating. To achieve our scientific goals we benefit from engineering, computing and technical support at Durham, which ensures that we have the best available methods and equipment.  

There are multiple opportunities to get involved in polar science, such as through citizen science projects, joining field expeditions, or seasonal work at research stations. We have provided links to just a handful of these below. We are very happy to speak to people looking to pursue Masters and PhD research in polar science, and you can find some of our MRes project opportunities here.

Find out more:

• Explore the work of the Juneau Icefield Research Programme.
• Find out about grants available from the Royal Geographical Society.
• Get involved with the work of Happywhale and find out about their whale tracking opportunities.
• Discover some of the latest research projects available at Durham. 
• Read a first hand account of life as an 'Office Glaciologist'.