PRESS RELEASE Alfred-Wegener-Institut for Polar- und Meeresforschung in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Institute for Polar and Marine Research Communications Dept. Postfach 12 01 61, 27515 Bremerhaven/Germany Tel. ++49 471 4831-2008, Fax ++49 471 4831-1389 email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Methane sources over the last 30,000 years New insights into natural changes in atmospheric methane concentrations Bremerhaven, April 17, 2008. Ice cores are essential for climate research, because they represent the only archive which allows direct measurements of atmospheric composition and greenhouse gas concentrations in the past. Using novel isotopic studies, scientists from the European Project for Ice Coring In Antarctica (EPICA) w...

PRESS RELEASE Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Institute for Polar and Marine Research Communications Dept. Postfach 12 01 61, 27515 Bremerhaven/Germany Tel. ++49 471 4831-1376, Fax ++49 471 4831-1389 email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Seven months on a drifting ice floe Drift expedition NP 35 has produced unique data about the hibernal atmosphere above the central Arctic Bremerhaven, April 14, 2008 For the first time, a German has taken part in a Russian drift expedition and has explored the atmosphere above the central Arctic during the polar night. Jürgen Graeser, a member of the Potsdam Research Unit of the Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and M...

Antarctic expedition a success The Prague Post, March 26

In April of 2008 a team of scientists and Canadian Rangers will traverse the northern coast of Ellesmere Island to study the state of the ice shelves and associated ecosystems in this remote region. The Canadian high Arctic is undergoing substantial climate-related changes; ice shelves along Ellesmere's northern coast that have been attached to the shore for thousands of years, some over 30 meters thick, and thousands of square kilometers of land-fast sea-ice have been breaking-up. The loss of these dominant features has dramatically changed the coastal landscape, leading to the drainage of massive volumes of freshwater from fiords previously dammed by the ice shelves and the creation of vast ice islands. These physical changes are altering the habitat of aquatic microbial communities ex...

Free lecture - Arctic Caribou for International Polar Year Come to the Canadian Museum of Nature on April 1 for a free lecture by wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer about Arctic Caribou. The presentation is the launch of a national speakers series for International Polar Year. Research frenzy greets Arctic spring ABOARD CCGS AMUNDSEN-After being icebound on the Coast Guard's Amundsen icebreaker for nearly four days, dozens of researchers yesterday fanned out on the ice in a controlled scientific frenzy. They're racing against time to begin taking measurements and placing crucial detectors before the looming chemical and biological explosion o...

Media release: 22 March 2008 The final sailing south in the world’s largest Southern Ocean climate experiment gets underway today when the Aurora Australis sets sail from Hobart. Aurora Australis is the last of 20 international research vessels deploying instruments in the Southern Ocean as part of an International Polar Year (IPY) experiment known as CASO, for Climate of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE CRC) is leading the voyage, which includes a team of researchers from the Centre’s partner organisations includ- ing the Alfred Wegner Institute (Germany) and the National Institue of Water and Atmospher- ic Research (New Zealand). “By pooling resources, s...

An article on Earthzine by Mark R. Drinkwater — Coordinating Satellite Observations during the International Polar Year 2007-2008 — looks at all the different ways in which satellite remote sensing programs are contributing to our understanding of the poles during IPY. The article includes an overview of the Global Interagency IPY Polar Snapshot Year (GIIPSY), the IPY Space Task Group (STG) and the Integrated Global Obser...

360-degree panoramas are more and more the rage because they are wonderfully immersive and give users the chance to explore a space themselves. Panoramas of the polar regions are especially interesting, as very few people get the chance to visit these places, so anything that gives us an inkling of what it is like there is welcome. The latest issue of VRMag, an online magazine of panoramic photos, contains a huge collection of polar and ice-themed panoramas. Here is a brief description of what is inside: Jordi Clariana, takes you on a 2 weeks photographic expedition to the Svalbard Island; Witek Katzskin, who lives and works at the Horsund polish Polar station shares his experiences; Dr Matt Nol...

Published quarterly in March, June, September and December, the multiple writing award winning journal "The Fan Hitch", now in its tenth year, has been enjoyed not only by Inuit Dog enthusiasts, but also has been appreciated as a valuable resource for information as well as a connection to other people, by scientists, historical researchers (including IPY contributors), tourism businesses, filmmakers, authors, veterinarians, universities, government agencies and NGOs. In addition to being principally a free "e-zine", "The Fan Hitch" is also available in paper form, which is imaged and distributed by the IPL students of the Ulluriaq School, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik. As part of our mission to help restore and pr...

Columbus, Ohio …This year and next, middle school teachers have a unique opportunity to engage their students in one of the most massive scientific programs ever undertaken--the International Polar Year. Scientists from 60 countries are studying changes in the polar regions while many other groups are involved in educating the public via content-rich web sites, real-time broadcasts, and exhibits. How to make this complex undertaking accessible to students is the subject of Science and the Polar Regions, an online publication from the Middle School Portal of the National Science Digital Library. Mary LeFever, author of the publication, has identified more than three-dozen web-based resources for use in the middle school classroom. Among them are activities t...