After a night of repositioning the drill and coring about 20 meters, the drill crew slept during the day as Jason and I headed downglacier to explore the lower valley to prepare for a hydrological monitoring during summer. Most of the snow and ice that melts on the glacier during summer ends up at the stream which emerges from under the terminus. By studying the stream and its dynamics, we can potentially learn many things about how the glacier works. For example, we know from previous studies using GPS to measure ice velocity, that the glacier moves faster on hot sunny days than it does on cloudy days. The reason has something to do with meltwater reaching the bottom of the glacier and by studying the stream that comes out we can gain more clues about exactly how this increased meltwater ...

One of the key legacies of the International Polar Year 2007-2009 is the development of a cadre of early career researchers working together to tackle the pressing scientific problems of today and tomorrow. In order to further catalyze this formation, the US National Science Foundation funded the IPY New Generation Polar Research (NGPR) Symposium, which was held May 4-11, 2008, in Colorado Springs, USA. The symposium, which is also part of the “University of the Arctic: Providing Higher Education and Outreach Programs for the International Polar Year” (IPY Project #189), provided a venue where 35 early career polar scientists, currently working in 7 different countries, (a) learned from each other and from 12 veteran polar scientists, some of whom took part in the 1957...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 11, 2008 The Greenland Ice Sheet is melting faster than previously calculated according to a scientific paper by University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Sebastian H. Mernild published recently in the journal “Hydrological Processes.” The study is based on the results of state-of-the-art modeling using data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as well as satellite images and observations from on the ground in Greenland. Mernild and his team found that the total amount of Greenland Ice Sheet freshwater input into the North Atlantic Ocean expected from 2071 to 2100 will be more than double what is currently observed. The current East Greenland Ice Sheet freshwater flux is 257 km3 per year from...

Press release: Bremerhaven, June 9th 2008. Research ice breaker Polarstern of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research of the Helmholtz Association puts out to the Arctic on June 12th after three weeks in the dockyards. The expedition of four months length is divided into three stages and leads via the Greenland Sea to Spitsbergen and up to the Fram Strait. The journey through the Northwest Passage up to the East Siberian Sea is planned as the third stage. Two days earlier, on June 10th, the research vessel Heincke leaves the island of Helgoland towards the Orkney Islands. Research is centred on marine biological investigations in the North Atlantic. The emphasis of research of the first part of Polarstern's journey are oceanographic read...

Student participants and educators of the 2007 Students on Ice Antarctic Expedition discuss the importance of the legacy of the International Polar Year.

Short clip explaining the International Polar Year and Students on Ice expeditions. Video includes interview footage from the Students on Ice Arctic expedition 2007.

Footage from the 2007 Students on Ice Antarctic Expedition. Students on Ice (SOI) is an award winning program dedicated to taking youth on educational expeditions to the Arctic and the Antarctic together with world-class teams of scientists and educators. As pioneers of experiential environmental education, the SOI experience has changed lives of students from all walks of life and backgrounds in what we like to call the greatest classroom on earth!

Contents: 1. IPY events in St Petersburg, July 2008 2. Land and Life Day 3. APECS Report 4. Videos on IPY.org 5. IPY events and activities Report no. 14, June 2008 From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups 1. IPY events in St Petersburg, July 2008 Several IPY meetings and workshops are occurring before and during the SCAR/IASC Open Science Conference in July. Below we list those that we know of, with location information to the best of our current knowledge. Much of the energy and networking central to IPY is stimulated in events like these - please do consider attending as appropriate....

By Antony Jinman (Read the full report, with photos and a map, via this downoadable PDF. This is an expedition that I put together to take part in the International Polar Year. I put this together because I’m a strong believer that one person can help make a difference. Its aims are to promote The International Polar Year and our charity British Schools Exploring Society and its 75 anniversary, by conducting school visits both on Baffin Island and here in the United Kingdom. It took 12 months to put together, over which time there where many highs and many lows and in true expedition style it didn’t exactly all go according to plan. Many decisions were hard to make and...

The main objective of the weekend was to emphasize the importance of the polar regions, and to showcase the various Portuguese science and education outreach activities currently underway. The weekend proved to be a wonderful opportunity for the wider public to get to know the Portuguese polar science community...