Fifty young researchers from thirteen countries around the world will meet for three days (Nov. 29 – Dec. 2, 2007) in Saint-Petersburg to learn more about the latest permafrost research methods and to discuss future plans to address climate change issues in permafrost areas. Permafrost underlies up to 20% of the world land surface and is highly sensitive to changes in air temperatures. Large parts of the world’s uppermost permafrost are likely to disappear with increasing global air temperatures. This can lead to the release of additional greenhouse gases (in the form of carbon dioxide and the more powerful greenhouse gas methane) to the atmosphere from carbon pools that are currently stored in the permafrost. In addition permafrost degradation will pose threats on infra...

PRESS RELEASE Bremerhaven, November 22, 2007. On December 9, 2007, the ice-breaking research vessel Polarstern will celebrate her 25th anniversary of service: since 1982, the world¹s most powerful polar research vessel has been venturing to the Arctic and Antarctic on behalf of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, part of the Helmholtz Association. 7600 scientist from 36 nations have gained insights into the polar oceans aboard Polarstern, facilitating our current understanding of the earth as a system. Polarstern provides ideal working conditions for international and interdisciplinary research teams and offers safe transport in polar seas. Currently, Polarstern is on her way to the Antarctic as part of the International Polar Year 2007/08. T...

By, Louise Huffman, Kate Pound & Robin Frisch-Gleason (with help from the galley staff, McMurdo Station, Antarctica!) Background: Ice sheets cover almost all of East and West Antarctica, and most of Greenland. They are as much as 3 km thick. As snow accumulates, it gets buried and turns to ice. The ice flows out from the center of accumulation, and then moves across the landscape under the influence of gravity. The ice follows existing valleys and other low points; eventually it will cover the entire landscape; only the highest peaks might poke through the ice. The ice may also carve its own valleys. The ice may be blocked by mountains. If the ice reaches the ocean it floats on the water as an ice shelf. Objectives: To model how ice shee...

Thursday, 22 November, 2007 3280 meters above sea level Today was Thanksgiving Day in the United States, a holiday typically marked by a turkey dinner with family. Einar was well aware of this holiday, and had arranged to have some turkey brought along. Lou coordinated the cooking, and with help from Glen and Tom, managed to prepare an excellent Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat with the turkey, fresh bread, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables, with ice cream, sliced pears and whipped cream for dessert. The leisurely pace of dinner was a welcome change from our typical routine. ...

Thursday, 22 November, 2007 3280 meters above sea level Today was Thanksgiving Day in the United States, a holiday typically marked by a turkey dinner with family. Einar was well aware of this holiday, and had arranged to have some turkey brought along. Lou coordinated the cooking, and with help from Glen and Tom, managed to prepare an excellent Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat with the turkey, fresh bread, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables, with ice cream, sliced pears and whipped cream for dessert. The leisurely pace of dinner was a welcome change from our typical routine. ...

Tuesday, 20 Nov 2007 3177 meters above sea level. After a late arrival last night, we slept for an extra hour or two to get ready for the day ahead. We are now at Site I, which is our first stop where we do more than a few hours of science; in fact we plan to spend a full day and a half here. Today gave everyone a chance to work on the traveling conditions in the modules, vehicles and science gear. In particular, Helgard and Karsten took the opportunity to fix radar antennas that had been acting up in the last few days; Atsu worked at getting a measurement of the firn temperature at 10 meters depth; Stian replaced the power supply in one of the UAVs; Mary made measurements of the physical properties on the top 2 meters of the firn, and Glen, Tom, Lou a...

Nicola Munro, the volunteer coordinator, communications centre, finance officer, and all-around administrator for the IPY International Programme Office, travels south in the next few days to work as the administrator at the Halley Research Station of the British Antarctic Survey. We in the IPO regard this as a fabulous opportunity for Nicola and as a good connection for IPY - we hope Nicola will post some of her stories on this blog. We thank BAS, Kathy Salisbury, and Cynan Ellis-Evans for helping the IPO support this adventure and survive Nicola’s absence. (If you like Nicola’s anorak in the picture, you can f...

Polar bear family feeding on a seal, Northwest Passage, 1999. © Hinrich Bäsemann, www.polarfoto.de In the September issue of Polar Research, the politics of science is one of the themes in an essay by historian Stian Bones, who examines Norway's role in past International Polar Years, starting with the first one in 1882-83. Bones describes the strengths of the scientific traditions of this polar nation, and he examines the varying motivations that have driven Norwegian involvement in International Polar Years. Also in this issue, scientometrician Prabir Dastidar presents the results of his research on sc...

Submitted: Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007 Position: -72.7116, 3.7829 Altitude: 2786m Air temperature (22:20 local time): -27.2 degrees C Today we made another good progress distance wise, covering nearly 70 km. And the science is in full swing too! Helgard and Karsten have been collecting data since the start of the traverse using their radar equipments but today Glen and Mary started making their measurements as well. Glen is interested in the evolution of topographical features on the ice sheet and made surface roughness measurements. Mary, with helping hands of Tom and Lou, collected two 50 cm snow core...

Submitted Friday, Nov. 16, 2007 Altitude: 2400m Air temperature (23:00 local time): -21 degrees C It was the long awaited day for us all, the departure of our traverse from Troll Station. At 10:10, the traverse train started rolling under a beautiful Antarctic blue sky. Emotion of team members were a mix of the excitement of embarking on a journey we have been preparing for more than 2 years, and sentimentality, to say good bye to people of Troll station who were so generous and provided us with all the helping hands we needed. Today we gained almost 1200m in altitude, from ~1250m at Troll to 2400m at the camp site. At some of steep climbs we had to get through today, one vehicle was caught in soft snow and needed a towing support by another one....