We are delighted at the decision by the Federal Government, to be formally announced in today’s Budget, to continue the funding of the ACE CRC. This will allow the continuation of world-class research into the impacts of climate change on Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, and the implications of these impacts for the global climate. This research makes a substantial contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and attracts collaborative research linkages internationally. This funding will ensure work of national and international significance continues. Read the statement from Minister Burke and Minister Emerson here. Highlights from ACE’s  2012-13 Austral Summer The past Austral summer saw the keynote SIPEX-2 expedition to the Antarctic sea-ice zone successfully completed. With over 70 scientists from 14 institutions from seven countries aboard Aurora Australis the SIPEX-2 team managed to amass a wealth of information about the sea-ice from above and below, successfully deploying an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) and the RAPPLS (instrumented) helicopter. Information from SIPEX-2 will be critical to understanding the dynamics of sea ice and the ecology of the sea-ice zone. The joint ACE-NIWA voyage to the Metz Glacier region voyage aboard Tangoroa was also successful, despite the original study sites (and the moorings which it was hoped could be recovered) being covered by persistent sea ice and icebergs in February and March (the moorings are in blue on this satellite image put together by Jan Lieser). Tangaroa completed a detailed survey of the Antarctic continental slope, including two repeat hydrographic sections along 140E and 150E.  These will extend the time series of changes in Antarctic Bottom Water, including the ongoing freshening and contraction of the bottom water layer (the densest layers have contracted by more than 50% since 1970). We will try again to recover the moorings next season on the icebreaker Aurora Australis. A 30-metre ice core was recovered from Law Dome for detailed palaeoclimate analysis, and the ICECAP project has played a significant part in the completion of the BEDMAP 2 ensemble of the Antarctic continent under the ice. A full year’s collection of surface water samples offshore from Australia’s Davis Station will be used to examine the interaction between seasonal processes and the progress of ocean acidification in the Antarctic. These samples will be compared to an earlier study in the mid-1990s. Tony Press, CEO

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