Analyses of pollen and spores and the remains of tiny creatures have given a climatic picture of the early Eocene period, about 53 million years ago. The study in Nature suggests Antarctic winter ...

Geologists currently believe that the conditions for creating the vortex first emerged after Antarctica separated from Australia 34 millions years ago, during tectonic shifts in the Eocene epoch.

Antarctica, which is nearly four times the ... By 34 million years ago — a time period known as the Eocene-Oligocene boundary — the climate was 14.4 F (8 C) warmer than it is today.

The warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor, which falls as snow on East Antarctica. But even this behemoth is unlikely to survive a return to an Eocene Climate. West Antarctica: Like the ...