Australian Antarctic Program Partnership

The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) is an Australian Government funded collaboration of Antarctic research institutions, led by the University of Tasmania in Hobart. Antarctica and the Southern Ocean play a major role in global climate and have a strong influence on Australia. Understanding how ocean, atmosphere and ice interacts is important for improved weather forecasts, climate prediction, coastal management and water security in Australia. The AAPP provides decision-makers - such as the Australian Government and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - with the knowledge needed for policy responses to climate change. AAPP’s research has three inter-connected themes: 1. Antarctica’s influence on climate and sea level • We analyse ice cores from glaciers to provide historical records of past climate and the heating effect (‘radiative forcing’) caused by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. • We investigate the vulnerability of ice shelves in East Antarctica to climate warming and how sea ice interacts with the ocean. • We fill in the gaps of climate models to better represent the role of clouds and aerosols over the Southern Ocean. 2. Nature and impacts of Southern Ocean change • The Southern Ocean is a major sink for storing human-caused heat and carbon dioxide, making it very influential in the global climate system. • Our research seeks to know how the environment is changing and assess the impacts on climate, sea level, sea ice, and marine ecosystems. 3. Future of Antarctic sea ice, krill and ecosystems • Changes in Antarctic sea ice can have a global impact on heat balance and ocean circulation. Sea ice is also critical habitat for krill, a keystone species of the Southern Ocean. • How Antarctic sea ice is changing and why, and what this means for the broader marine ecosystem, remains poorly understood. AAPP is funded by the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.