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The Balleny Islands off East Antarctica - one of the many stops along the way. Krudller/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Spending three months inside a metal container on board an icebreaker in the Southern Ocean, filtering water while attempting to ignore freezing temperatures and huge ocean swells outside. It’s not everyone’s idea of fun … but it’s what I’ll be doing next year, in the name of climate science.

From late December 2016 to March 2017 I will be on board the Russian research vessel Akademik Treshnikov, taking part in an expedition that will take me and 54 other scientists from 30 countries on a complete lap of Antarctica – the first international research expedition to circumnavigate the frozen continent.

The Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (with the funky abbreviation ACE) is the first project run by the Swiss Polar Institute, and involves 22 projects covering different aspects of the biology, physics and chemistry of the Southern Ocean.

Rough ride

We’re not expecting the conditions to be particularly fun – but it will be worth it. A better understanding of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean surrounding it is critical – not just for the preservation of this pristine environment but also for the whole planet.

The Akademik Tryoshnikov: home for the first three months of 2017. Tvabutzku/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

The Southern Ocean is massive. It is also really far away from everywhere, which makes it hard for scientists to go there and study it. On top of that, there is no land at these latitudes to stop waves from building up, so waves can get really big, making the Southern Ocean a less than ideal environment for scientific work. I’m expecting that all of us will get seasick at some point.

Because of the size and isolation, our understanding of the physics, chemistry and biology of the Southern Ocean is not very good. What we do know is that this region is disproportionately important for the planet’s climate. For example, it was responsible for storing an estimated 43% of the carbon dioxide produced by humans between 1870 and 2005, and 75% of the overall oceanic heat uptake.

The ACE expedition is a unique opportunity to collect data in the Southern Ocean. The voyage will set off from South Africa, visiting all of the Southern Ocean’s main islands and traversing a range of latitudes – visiting the Antarctic coast just once, at Mertz Glacier in East Antarctica.

By spending three months completing a full circuit of the ocean, we will be able to collect an unprecedented set of samples and measurements, which will greatly improve our understanding of the Southern Ocean.

Productive research

My research is concerned with phytoplankton – microscopic algae that live in the sunlit surface layer of the oceans. Just like plants on land, phytoplankton in the oceans photosynthesise, using the energy from sunlight to “fix” carbon dioxide into organic biomass, producing oxygen as a by-product. The rate of this change in biomass is called primary productivity.

Phytoplankton primary production forms the base of marine food webs, making it a fundamental process of marine ecosystem dynamics and directly relevant to fishery yields.

It is also an important component of the carbon cycle, and therefore global climate dynamics. This is because through a process called the “biological pump” a fraction of the roughly 45 billion tonnes of carbon fixed by phytoplankton every year sinks out of the surface layer and is stored in the deep ocean, away from the atmosphere.

My colleagues and I are trying to improve our understanding of what controls the distribution of phytoplankton, the rates of primary productivity, and the variability in the biological pump in the Southern Ocean.

Unfortunately, even sending a shipload of scientist on a three-month voyage to the Southern Ocean to measure phytoplankton biomass, productivity, and other chemical and physical factors, can only provide a snapshot of what is really going on. Ideally, we need to monitor the whole Southern Ocean over seasons, years, and decades. And this can actually be done, with the help of a technique called satellite ocean colour radiometry.

The main focus of our research is the collection of so-called “bio-optical” data, which will improve our ability to interpret satellite observations and derive better estimates of phytoplankton biomass and productivity in the Southern Ocean. This, in turn, will allow us to use past satellite records to determine how phytoplankton biomass and productivity has changed over the past decades, and help to establish possible connections to ongoing climate change.

It also means that we will be able to use satellite data to monitor, essentially in real time, what is happening to phytoplankton biomass and productivity in the Southern Ocean, without having to rely on frequent and extensive expeditions. But in the meantime, I’ll be more than happy to be part of this adventure.

Nina Schuback is a research assistant in the remote sensing and satellite research group at Curtin University. Project ACE has been created with the support of Ferring Pharmaceuticals and contributions from the Swiss Polar Institute and the Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne (EPFL).

Mediterranean ecosystems will change to a state unprecedented in the past 10,000 years unless temperature rises are held to within 1.5C, say scientists

Southern Spain will be reduced to desert by the end of the century if the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, researchers have warned.

Anything less than extremely ambitious and politically unlikely carbon emissions cuts will see ecosystems in the Mediterranean change to a state unprecedented in the past 10 millennia, they said.

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The site where Europe's Mars lander crashed this month is revealed in new images.

Research using miniature tracking devices suggests that swifts eat and sleep in the sky, as some birds did not land at all during their migratory period

Swifts already hold the title of the fastest fliers on Earth and now the small soot-brown birds have been revealed as one of nature’s greatest endurance athletes, after scientists discovered they spend ten months of the year entirely airborne.

Using miniature trackers, scientists observed that some birds did not land once during their migratory period, suggesting that they eat and sleep in the sky.

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Move would also cut Scottish whiting catches to zero, while Celtic cod and Irish sole face hefty reductions to prevent stocks collapsing

The European commission has proposed closures on commercial fishing for sea bass in the Atlantic and whiting in the waters west of Scotland from next year, in order to prevent a collapse in fish stocks.

The total allowable catch (TAC) for cod in the Celtic Sea will also be cut by 68% under the plan, while sole quotas in the Irish Sea will be trimmed by a hefty 82%.

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Americans must prevail on President Obama to establish a national monument around Grand Canyon National Park before we lose this historic chance

In 1967, my father took me and eight of my brothers and sisters on a whitewater trip down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. We camped on its massive sandbars, swam in its silty waters and explored the ancient geology of this iconic American landscape. He wanted us to experience the river and to understand the benefits that stem from our nation’s commitment to protecting its inspiring natural treasures.

I had these ideas in mind when I took my own daughter, Kick, down the Grand Canyon 40 years later, in 2007. We joined my old friend, the great anthropologist Wade Davis, and his daughter Tara. Davis was working on a book, and the four of us were guests of Imax cinematographer Greg MacGillivray, who released his film about our journey, Grand Canyon Adventure: River At Risk, in 2008.

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Resolution imposes stricter reviews of whales killed under the scientific programme which Japan’s critics say it abuses to hunt for meat

The world’s whaling watchdog has voted to conduct stricter reviews of whales killed under an exemption to a 30-year-old moratorium which Japan’s critics say it abuses to hunt for meat.

The resolution on Thursday, opposed by Japan and fellow whalers Norway and Iceland, was adopted by 34 yes votes to 17 against, at the 66th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

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Trees across the northern hemisphere are putting on their annual dazzling display

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Scientists have designed a new prototype battery that mimics the structure of the human intestines.

Two-thirds of wild animals could be lost by 2020 and the biggest driver is destruction of their homes. A radical idea to give animals a ‘voice’ could encourage land managers to think about wild areas in a new way

Researchers report that the future for the Earth’s wild animals is very bleak. Two-thirds will be wiped out by 2020. While poaching is partially responsible, the biggest threat to wild animals is our impact on their homes – we kill them when we destroy forests and pollute waterways in the name of development.

Judging by the dramatic decline in the number of wild animals, it is safe to say that existing policy responses are proving ineffective. What’s needed is a fundamental change in how we view wild areas, and the policy responses to match.

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The furry rodents are thriving in the city's forests, researchers say.

Just 17% of people surveyed back the process, the lowest level since the government survey started tracking public attitudes about shale gas

Public support for fracking has fallen to new lows, a government survey has revealed.

Just 17% of people backed the process of extracting shale gas, compared with a third who opposed it, and just under half (48%) who had no opinion, the latest figures from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy show.

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Erin Brockovich meets Adelaide residents at the Festival of Ideas to advise on local contamination and environmental concerns.

Project to open up miles of the river to enable fish to reach spawning grounds will help to restore threatened and declining species

A scheme to open up miles of the river Severn and its major tributary to help threatened fish has won almost £20m in funding.

The £19.4m project will reopen the UK’s longest river to fish species, many of which vanished from its upper reaches after weirs were installed in the 1800s to help river transport during the industrial revolution.

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Is the loss of a unique life form on Earth big news? Not according to most media outlets.

On September 26th, staff with the Atlanta Botanical Garden found a frog dead in his enclosure. The frog had big brown eyes, massive feet with thick webs between the toes, and brownish skin speckled with little yellow dots. His name was Toughie. He was big for a frog and he didn’t like it when humans handled him. He’d lived a long time: 12 years.

And he was the last of his kind.

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Economist says green development is the only route to global economic growth and points to China leading the world on climate change action

Clean, green development is the sole route to future global economic growth, according to British economist Lord Nicholas Stern, with a continuation of polluting, high-carbon growth only leading to self-destruction.

There is a strong argument that China is now leading the world in action on climate change, Stern said, making the country both a competitor and inspiration for other nations.

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A scheme that aims to re-establish one of King Henry III's favourite fish in the River Severn is given nearly £20m in funding.

Global wildlife populations will decline by 67% by 2020 unless urgent action is taken to reduce human impact on species and ecosystems, warns the biennial Living Planet Index report from WWF and ZSL. From elephants to eels, here are some of the wildlife populations most affected by human activity

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Natural History Museum, London A short walk takes you on a wildlife journey that would otherwise take days of travel

What would it look like if you tried to compress the English countryside into a 6,000 sq m metropolitan plot? Well, the wildlife garden at the Natural History Museum is as close to achieving the experience as is possible. A short perambulation takes you on a wildlife journey that would otherwise take days of travelling.

Related: An exuberance of life on the undrained fen

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Networks lobby suggests small discount to network charges could keep consumers on grid – if they don't mind being cut off in critical peaks. But it also proposes rule changes that signal shift from blanket "rural electrification", even if its technology estimates are still conservative.