Today's landmark agreement to protect the Ross Sea - a pristine corner of the planet dubbed "the last ocean" - is one all Kiwis should celebrate. Filmmaker Peter Young explains why.

The New Zealand Defence Force is mourning the loss of one of its most respected leaders and a veteran stalwart of its support operation in Antarctica.

A crater lake in Central Otago has given a Kiwi scientist a unique insight into how quickly climate change could cause the Antarctic ice sheet to melt.

Internet sensation Jamie Curry is teaming up with a top Kiwi journalist for an adventure to the coldest, driest, windiest continent on the planet.

As top Kiwi scientists fly south for NZ's 60th research season in Antarctica, Jamie Morton takes a look at some of the fascinating studies planned.

The 2012-kilometre tractor journey, Expedition South, to help raise $1 million to save Sir Edmund Hillary's hut in Antarctica has finished alongside Sir Ed's statue at The Hermitage in Mt Cook. The three tractors — two Ferguson TE20s and a Massey Ferguson Antarctica 2 — ended their journey at 2pm this afternoon.

First discovered by Australian geologist Griffith Taylor in 1911, scientists initially thought Blood Falls' colour was due to red algae.

A word of warning: going to the Australian Antarctic Festival may cause you to spend all your money on a ticket on the next icebreaker out of Hobart.

A calving event at the Larsen C ice shelf could create a giant floating ice island.

The first sunrise over Antarctica signals a big summer season for New Zealand, which will mark 60 years of research there.

Reporter Kurt Bayer takes to the skies to witness science in action, even if it makes his head hurt a little.

Award-winning film-maker's stunning short film toasts New Zealand's last 20 years in Antarctica.

For the third time ever, rescue workers have successfully evacuated someone from the South Pole during the brutal Antarctic winter.

In January 1966, the first ship carrying "citizen-explorers" arrived in Antarctica and only a handful of leisure travelers had ever considered visiting.

An Auckland expat's Antarctic exploits have earned her a date with the Queen, who will award her the same prestigious honour held by Sir Edmund Hillary.

Sea levels could rise nearly twice as much as previously predicted by the end of this century if carbon dioxide emissions continue unabated, according to new research.

Award-winning science writer Dr Rebecca Priestley's new anthology of Antarctic science, Dispatches from Continent Seven, starts out with her own experience on the ice.

The great-great-great-granddaughter of Antarctic explorer Sir James Clark Ross traces the steps of her ancestor to highlight the Antarctic environment, writes Sam Judd.

Before departing on his Antarctic expedition, the British explorer Henry Worsley explained his motivation for traversing the frozen continent all alone.

In Antarctica, making the slightest mistake can put your life at risk.

Poignant last diary entry and photo of Henry Worsley as he tried to become first person to cross Antarctica unassisted.

Inside the rear cargo bay at Scott Base's Hillary Field Centre, it sounds - and feels - like an anti-aircraft gun is letting loose just a few metres away.

An Antarctica-based Kiwi whose documentary became a runaway global hit is back on the ice for another major project.

Near the margin where Pram Point drops on to the McMurdo ice shelf stands a small shack, set against a dramatic and ever-changing Antarctic backdrop.

Call it extreme geology: a team of Kiwi scientists is venturing to a remote part of Antarctica to dig up ancient evidence of a warmer world.

Spending a night camping in the freezing conditions of Antarctica requires a whole new set of skills as Jamie Morton discovered.

Sewing "thermal undies" for a drone is just one way Kiwi scientists have overcome the extremes of Antarctica to capture the frozen continent's delicate plant-life from the air.

Herald science reporter Jamie Morton is spending the next week in Antarctica and will be filing a regular diary from Scott Base. Here is his second entry.

Freezing wind storms. Temperatures plunging to -40C. Months of perpetual daylight or darkness. These brutal, barely imaginable conditions seem positively Martian.

Herald science reporter Jamie Morton will be filing regular stories from Antarctica's Scott Base over the next week, along with a daily diary entry. Here is his first.