As part of an ongoing coverage of China's IPY Polar research projects and activities, SciencePoles interviewed Professor Yang Huigen, the new Director of the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC), responsible for carrying our scientific research in the Polar Regions, operating Chinese research stations and vessels, and promoting cooperation with international Polar research organisations. In this interview, Professor Yang discusses the current upgrade of China's Polar research infrastructure, including existing Chinese research stations in the Arctic and Antarctic, the Chinese ice breaker Xue Long, and the planned...

During the Antarctic summer season 2007-2008, the International Polar Foundation and its partners have pulled through an amazing achievement: the Princess Elisabeth station building can now be seen atop the Utsteinen Nunatak. After a pre-mounting phase in Brussels last September, the objective of this year's expedition was to transport the station's modules to the construction site and to build the foundations, anchoring points, garages and outer shell of the first "zero emission" Antarctic station. The team has been working nearly every day since November 2007 to complete these tasks, with a c...

As part of an ongoing coverage of China's IPY Polar research projects and activities, SciencePoles recently interviewed Mr Qu Tanzhou, Director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration (CAA) responsible for steering Chinese policy and scientific activities in the Polar Regions. In this interview, Mr Qu discusses the planning and construction of China's third Antarctic station to be built in at Dome A, the culminating point of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. He also answers questions about Chinese Polar research and international collaborations in both the Arctic and the Antarctic during the IPY, a...

For the longest time, it was thought that the waters of the Polar Regions were relatively low in biodiversity. Research that has been conducted over the past few decades has proven otherwise, particularly research that has been conducted in the Southern Ocean. Researchers are only beginning to understand the incredible biodiversity that lies beneath the surface and its importance in local, regional and global ecosystems. Making sure that we don't negatively influence the biodiversity of the very delicate Antarctic ...

SciencePoles interviewed Meredith Hooper to mark the publication of her new book: 'The Ferocious Summer: Palmer's Penguins and the Warming of Antarctica'. A trustee of the IPF-UK and recipient of the US National Science Foundation Antarctica Service Medal, Meredith Hooper's writing ranges from award-wining non-fiction books for all ages to academic articles and highly acclaimed fiction and information titles for children. During the last fourteen years, she has been invited as a writer on United States and Australian Antarctic programmes and has specialised in writing about the history, geology and wildlife of Antarctica.I...

The International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-08 is a catalyst for nations to significantly increase their investment and level of activity in polar research. Among those that have risen to the challenge, few are more noteworthy than China, a country that, at a key time in its history and economic development, is in the process of raising its status as one of the leading powers in the field of polar research. Science and Prestige Scientific research in the Polar Regions is central to understanding our planet, the mechanisms that drive it, and the changes that affect it. It is also often...

Dr. Grete Hovelsrud of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research - Oslo (CICERO) Institute recently talked to SciencePoles regarding the role social sciences are playing in the International Polar Year 2007-08. Dr. Hovelsrud is a member of both the International Polar Year 2007-08 Joint Committee and the Norwegian National Committee for the International Polar Year 2007-08.D...

Following the launch of the International Polar Year (IPY) on the 1st of March, the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2007 will see a flurry of research activity across the Arctic ocean and the Northern circumpolar region.With around 120 research projects either planned, announced, or already deployed, this massive effort will cover a panoply of disciplines across the Earth, oceanographic, biological, atmospheric, and social sciences. It will involve logistics large and small ranging from powerful icebreakers to dog sledges. In response to the most pressing questions and challenges of our ...

Dr Susan Solomon is a senior scientist at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Chemical Sciences Division. Widely recognized as one of the leaders in the field of atmospheric science, Dr Solomon is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a foreign associate of the French and European Academy of Sciences. She was awarded the United States' highest scientific honor, the National Medal of Science, in 1999 for linking synthetic chemicals to the seasonal ozone hole over Antarctica. In 2002, she was elected by governments to co-chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I. SciencePoles interviewed Dr Solo...

ANDRILL is a USD 30 million multinational sedimentary drilling program to recover a history of paleoenvironmental changes in Antarctica. It will guide our understanding of the speed, size and frequency of past and future glacial and interglacial changes in the Antarctic region, and test global linkages between climate changes in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. On 16 December 2006, the ANDRILL program drilled to a new record depth of 1,285 metres below the seafloor from a site on the Ross Ice Shelf near Scott Base in Antarctica, making it the most successful Antarctic drilling program to date in terms o...