Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre MEDIA RELEASE 5 August 2008 Call for action ocean acidification The world's leading scientists in ocean acidification have released today an open communique that says the issue an urgent scientific and policy challenge. The communiqu features the deliberations of world experts at the Ocean Acidification: Australian Impacts in the Global Context sponsored by the Australian Department of Climate Change, held in June in Hobart by the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE CRC). Dr Will Howard and Dr Bronte Tilbrook from the released the communiqu today, on behalf of the top-callibre participants of the workshop. ...

Return to Educators Page Here you can find instructions on how to launch a virtual balloon in several languages: ??: (Chinese) ??????????????????“???????????”??? ??????????????????????????? 1. ?Tagzania??? 2. ??“??(Add point/route)”?????????????????“??(Ad...

Call for Researcher Applications Host a PolarTREC Teacher (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) Researcher Application Deadline: Monday, 8 September 2008 Teacher application information will follow shortly. For further information, please contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 907-474-1600 or visit the PolarTREC website: http://www.polartrec.com -------------------- APPLY NOW TO PARTICIPATE AS A 2009/2010 POLARTREC RESEARCHER PolarTREC is currently accepting applications from researchers for the third year of teacher research experiences. Researchers are invited to submit an application to host a PolarTREC teacher in the Arctic o...

The next International Polar Day is in ONE MONTH: on September 24th we will be focussing on People and the Polar Regions. There are many ways you can get involved.. please consider some of the following, share with your networks, and let us know if you have any feedback or further ideas. Links to the following planned activities can be found from the sidebar at http://www.ipy.org/index.php?/ipy/detail/people 1. Launch a Virtual Balloon: show the involvement of your class or school in this event and watch balloons flying around the world. Launching instructions are available in several languages or email your loc...

People have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years developing skills, strategies and community knowledge to survive harsh polar conditions. In recent centuries, resource exploitation and political activities imposed by non-Arctic communities have changed the livelihoods and well-being of Arctic residents in good and bad ways. Now, climate change is adding new challenges to the well-being of Arctic communities. Researchers and Arctic community leaders are working together to study how these changes are affecting the health, education and material well-being, culture, food supplies, natural resources and economics of Arctic communities. By combining ‘western’ science with traditional knowledge, we can learn a lot about people and how they adapt. ...

I'll let the pictures tell today's story — and the Students On Ice journals that I have just been proof-reading prior to transmission. It was a great day for me, but an amazing day for most of them. The highlight without a doubt was the Arctic Swim, and the phenomenal weather. Then, in the evening, hearing the students telling their ideas for activities they want to get involved in when they get home. But as I said, the pictures tell a thousand words. ...

It gets a bit tiresome starting every new entry with 'what a great day' but the truth is, most are... and it wouldn't be appropriate to focus on any lower moments in this forum. That said, yesterday we tried a smaller group exercise, "high - low - wow - now" which gave the students and mentors the opportunity to be that bit more reflective and open about how the trip is going so far. What was your high point, low point, wow moment... and where are you at right now? For many, the lows were the lectures. Not the content, just the format. In fact, they wanted to stay awake... they want this information and knowledge... but after long hikes outside or big meals it's hard to stay alert in a warm, dark, rocking room. I empathize. The information has been heard and we already notice that ...

photo credit: Alex Taylor We've been on this 'expedition' for a week now, half way through, and I can feel the dynamic shifting. Faces are pretty much all familiar and I'm not doing badly on names either... only a few students left whom I haven't had at least a brief conversation with. Amongst the students cliques have formed, as expected, but there is also a sense of change — more pondering, clearer questions, greater attentiveness, thoughtful poetry, and increasing questions about the educational content of the coming week. ...

The intercom system has just announced that wake-up tomorrow has been postponed by half an hour to 8am. Everyone cheered. We have a happy, but very tired, shipful of folk today. It was a wonderful day, awe-some, in its true sense. In the morning we glided down Hirbilung Fjord, sheer cliffs on both sides, glaciers and waterfalls pouring off them. It was almost too much to take in, to process. For the first half hour on deck everyone milled, took photos, chatted, gaped... but what to do after that? How to take this in? Spontaneous groups of painters, writers, singers, players gradually filled the decks... a singsong on the back-deck, group games on the very top, somehow laughter and fun was the magic missing ingredient that made it all digestible again. In the afternoon we wer...

Another great day and we'll all go to sleep buzzing. Qikiqtarjuaq was fab: the people, the place, the food, the air, the weather, the crafts, the welcome, the kids. Kids everywhere, excited about strangers in their town, better yet, students. Craftspeople displaying sealskin hides, jewelry from bone and baleen, walrus tusk carvings, polar bear claws. The naturalists among us also came home with skulls from polar bear and walrus and, most impressive, narwhal tusk. NARWHAL TUSK. No, really. The first time I saw one, never having heard of a narwhal, I battled with my inner belief system. What from this earth could this beautiful spiralling ivory possibly have been created by if it wasn't a unicorn? I saw three or four on display today,- the smallest about the length of my fore-arm, the tall...