Ancient DNA analyses show that even as glaciers blanketed the planet, spruce and pine trees managed to survive in refuges in Scandinavia

People with heart disease may not be able to compensate for their bodies' higher demand for oxygen when inhaling cold air, according to researchers, making snow shoveling and other activities dangerous for some.

From gannets to seagulls, puffins to penguins, all seabirds suffer the same drop in birth rates when the supply of fish drops to less than a third of maximum capacity. Below the critical level of one third of the fish biomass, the birds — and the stability of the entire ecosystem —- come under threat.

Two people have been killed in a fire at a Brazilian research station in Antarctica, which started after an explosion on 25 February

A 1.3-metre-tall ancient penguin from New Zealand may take the biscuit as the tallest that ever lived

The frigid McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica are a cold, polar desert, yet the sandy soils there are frequently dotted with moist patches in the spring despite a lack of snowmelt and no possibility of rain. A new study has found that that the salty soils in the region actually suck moisture out of the atmosphere, raising the possibility that such a process could take place on Mars or on other planets.

A large extinct penguin - more than a metre tall - has been reconstructed from fossil remains discovered in New Zealand.

The University of Reading's Dr Len Shaffrey explains the research linking the shrinking of Arctic sea ice and colder, snowier winters across much of the northern hemisphere.