Antarctica is a region of the world where climate change is visible in the rapid melting of glaciers. This is particularly evident in marginal zones, where the pace of glacial retreat has systematically accelerated. The effective mapping of these changes is possible with the use of remote sensing methods. This study assesses changes in glacier margin positions between 1979

Long term changes (46 years) in the abundance of pygoscelid penguins breeding populations and nests distribution in the Lions Rump (King George Island) colony were in− vestigated in three time intervals, according to previously published two censuses and one original study conducted in 2010. At that time a detailed colony map based on the GIS system was made. Results of this study showed different trends for each investigated species. In the last three decades Adélie penguin breeding populations showed strong declining tendencies (69.61%). In contrast, the population of gentoo penguins represents the reverse trend, increas− ing 171.85% over the same period. Observed changes in both penguin population sizes are re− flected in the different spatial and geographic distribution of their nests. The population changes observed at the Lions Rump colony are consistent with the relevant pygoscelid pen− guin tendencies in the western Antarctic Peninsula region. Breeding penguin population dy− namics at Lions Rump area with a minimal disturbance by human activity may well illustrate a natural response of those birds to environmental changes in the Antarctic.

A programme to monitor non-breeding bird species in the vicinity of Arctowski Station, King George Island, South Shetlands, Antarctica, has been conducted over the past 30 years. The white-rumped sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis (Vieillot 1819) seems to occur now as a vagrant in South Shetlands area more frequently than previously. This trend, and the annual variation in numbers that have been observed could be a result of short term and longer term variation in weather and climate conditions during the austral spring and summer months when this species is observed. A higher air temperature, which is a result of predominant northern winds bringing relatively warm and moist air, would probably result in more open habitats and better food resources that would allow the birds to persist or survive.

The maritime Antarctic is characterised by highly variable weather conditions throughout the year, as well as over multi-year periods. The annual variability of weather conditions constitutes an important basis for biological and geographical studies, allowing for the monitoring of the functioning and changes of the geographical environment of the west coast of Admiralty Bay (King George Island, South Shetlands, Antarctica). Year-round meteorological observations (1.2006-12.2006) measured: atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, cloud cover, air temperature, relative humidity, total precipitation, snow cover, and Admiralty Bay ice cover.

The recently observed recession of glaciers on King George Island is associated with decades of climate warming in the Antarctic Peninsula region. However, with only 60 years of glaciological observations in the study area ages of the oldest moraines are still uncertain. The goal of the study was to estimate ages of lichen colonization on the oldest moraines of the Ecology and White Eagle Glaciers on King George Island and on the Principal Cone of Penguin Island volcano. The first lichenometric studies on these islands from the late 1970s used rates that had about four to five times slower Rhizocarpon growth rates. We re‐examined the sites and measured 996 thalli diameters to establish the surface ages. To estimate the age we used (1) long‐term Rhizocarpon lichen group growth rates established by authors using data from a previous lichenometric study on King George Island, and (2) previous data of lichen growth rates from other sub‐Antarctic islands. Our results suggest growth rates between 0.5 and 0.8 mm yr–1. According to these rates the ages of the oldest moraine ridges are of the Little Ice Age and were colonized at the beginning of the twentieth century. The mid‐twentieth century age of lichen colonization on the historically active Penguin Island volcano might support the date of the last eruption reported by whalers in the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century.