Abstract: Atmospheric science has become a hotspot and frontier field in polar research. Here, we review atmospheric science research in the Arctic and Antarctic published between 2000 and 2022, using the three databases of the Web of Science core collection. We analyzed trends in the number of studies, keyword emergence, highly cited results, and the co-occurrence of keywords. (1) To date, Arctic research has mainly focused on topics such as the Arctic amplification effect, polar warming and glacier melting, climate model innovation and CMIP6 model application, east Asian extreme cold events, and the occurrence mechanism of extreme abnormal climate phenomena. (2) Antarctic research has mainly focused on topics such as surface mass balance, sea ice melting and climate variability, climate model innovation and CMIP6 model application, thermohaline circulation, and future climate change prediction. (3) China’s research on the polar regions is at a stage of rapid development, and the relationship between the polar regions and climate change in China should be further explored through the application of innovative theories and models. (4) To cope with climate change and promote the implementation of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality strategies, the mechanisms of atmospheric circulation and extreme climate events, as well as carbon emission monitoring, carbon cycle research, and polar climate simulation, should be a focus for future research.

Key words: Antarctic/Arctic, atmospheric science, bibliometrics, emergence analysis, frontier evolution