Antarctica

Antarctica is a beautiful place and an inhospitable place. This pristine world is the last truly unexplored corner of the planet. Hidden in its depths are priceless clues to some of the Earth's oldest secrets that may help predict our future climate.

It's an exciting place for scientists and explorers alike. Each year scientists from over 30 countries head south to answer questions about our world that can only be understood here. Working in extremes of cold, protecting themselves from burning UV radiation in an icy wilderness thousands of miles from home, scientists strive to unravel the mysteries of our world.

In the 2004 Christmas Lectures, we follow one of these scientists, Lloyd Peck from the British Antarctic Survey, as he journeys to Antarctica and reveals the biggest questions, controversies and discoveries in Antarctic science.

Why is Antarctica so cold? What organisms would choose to make this cold, dark, lonely place their home? How will global warming really affect the planet?

Three lectures follow the themes of Ice people, Ice life and Ice world.

Lloyd Peck

Lloyd Peck leads the Life at the Edge programme in the British Antarctic Survey. He graduated from Cambridge University in Natural Sciences and he received a PhD from Portsmouth University on growth and reproduction in edible marine snails.

He has visited Antarctica many times and made over 350 scuba dives around the continent. Lloyd's main science interests are in the limits that the environment places on animals, how life is going to fare in a changing environment, and why some species in polar seas grow to giant size.

Ice people

The amazing wildlife and breathtaking scenery of Earth's last wilderness make Antarctica an incredible place to visit as a tourist, scientist or explorer. But Antarctica is deadly - with permanently freezing temperatures, wind speeds of up to 200mph and massive doses of damaging ultra-violet radiation.

In Ice people, discover how humans cope with this environment, and how we can make sure that Antarctica remains a beautiful wilderness for people to visit.

Ice life

Antarctica's plants and animals don't have our technological advances to help them survive - they must rely on adaptation! In Ice life, discover how Antarctic living things survive and even prosper in this unforgiving environment.

Incredible adaptations are commonplace here - for keeping warm, coping with freezing temperatures, hunting and avoiding the dangers of ultra-violet radiation.

Ice world

Antarctica is a changing continent and, believe it or not, dinosaurs once roamed its forests. So, what happened to make Antarctica the sparse and frozen wilderness it is today?

Secrets held deep within the ice tell us about the Earth's past… and its future. In Ice world, find out what we must do as individuals and as a society, if we're going to reduce the effects of global climate change.

The Christmas Lectures

The Christmas Lectures are the flagship activity of the Royal Institution. They serve as a forum for presenting complex scientific issues to young people in an informative and entertaining manner. In the mid-1820s, Michael Faraday initiated the first Christmas Lecture. He presented a total of 19 series, establishing an exciting new venture of teaching science to young people. The Christmas Lectures have continued annually to the present day. Many world-famous scientists have given the lectures, including Baroness Susan Greenfield, Sir David Attenborough and George Porter.

Find out more about lectures at the Ri (including all of the Christmas Lecture speakers since 1825)