Return to Main Land and Life pages Several IPY projects study water within the Land system. Here are some examples profiling in the Antarctic: • Antarctic Peninsula • Dry Valleys in the Arctic: • Soil Moisture • Arctic Char ____ Hydrology in the Antarctic Peninsula ...

There are many IPY projects studying Polar Flora, Fauna, and Ecology and several of these projects also are members of other collectives focussing on the Arctic and Antarctic. For more information, please see: Conservation for Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic (EBA) Examples of some of these project areas are described below in the following topics: Arctic Adaptations Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic Soil Ecosystems in the Antarctic Dry Valleys Springtails Nemetodes...

Hello, everyone-- The departure date for my Antarctic voyage is rapidly approaching (May 26). Preparations are well underway, with many last-minute items to attend to. I'm posting to my two blogs as often as I can ("Rime of the Modern Mariner" for teens and up, and "Unarctica" for middle-graders). Some of what I'm writing about now is personal preparations, and some is about preparations the researchers are making. My most recent "Unarctica" post is about Chaiten volcano, which we may be seeing from the airplane on our flight southward from Santiago to Punta Arenas to catch the NSF icebreaker that will be our home for a month. Most recent "Rime" post concerns the radio-controlled airplane the researchers will use for reconaissance and planting GPS beacons on i...

Return to Main Land and Life page Many thanks to Jerry Brown for text, images, and enthusiasm. Further permafrost resources can be found at the end of this page. The following text and selected figures are based mainly on excerpts from a chapter entitled Permafrost and Periglacial Environments by J. Alan Heginbottom (Canada), Jerry Brown (USA), Ole Humlum (Norway) and Harald Svensson (Denmark). It is scheduled for publication later in 2008 in the U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386-...

Contents: 1. IPO Planning - 2008 and Beyond 2. February 2009 dates and events 3. Canada 2012 4. UNEP Children's Conference - call for material 5. Polar Books 6. IPY.org,- , bloggers needed, fly the IPY flag! 7. Report from SAON 8. IPY Science at the European Geophysical Union (EGU) meeting 2008 Report no. 13, May 2008 From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups 1. IPO Planning - 2008 and Beyond Many IPY participants consider post-IPY activities and events. IPY Project Coordinators consider project data responsibilities, special publications, project summary meetings, and th...

On Christmas Eve morning 2007, as I listened intently to the steady and pleasing voice of 85-year-old William H. "Tommy" Thomson, I detected only a faint accent — not what one usually encounters with a Scottish native. Sensing a story, I asked Thomson about his accent, and his past began to roll smoothly off his lips. In the early years of the Second World War, Thomson was at Glasgow University — and bored. Since the nearest recruiting station was a naval one, that's where he ended up. Given his education standard, it was suggested he try for the Fleet Air Arm, and Thomson duly became an officer in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). The obvious necessity for clear radio communications while flying meant only one thing: the suppression of Thomson's Sco...

PRESS RELEASE Commencing in August 2008, the University of Akureyri will be offering a Master's Program in Polar Law. This Program is designed for both lawyers (two semesters leading to an LLM-degree) and non-lawyers (four semesters leading to an MA-degree), preparing them for work in both public and private sector, in national and local governments, international organizations, with indigenous peoples of the Circumpolar North, academic institutions and non-governmental organizations, and national and transnational corporations. The deadline for applications is June 5 for Home/EU students and April 15 for overseas students. The Master's Program will provide a unique focus on Polar Law. It lays emphasis on certain chapters in public international law, such as...

By Jonathan Amos Science reporter, BBC News, San Francisco US scientists have reconstructed a 40,000-year record of wind conditions at the South Pole. They assembled the climate data by measuring the distribution of dust layers seen in two ice boreholes. A comparison of the layers allowed the University of California-Berkeley team to gauge how rough snow surfaces would have been in ancient times. The researchers then used this "proxy" to assess the probable strength of wind needed to produce those features. The technique needs refinement and works best in the deeper parts of the ice. Nonetheless, scientists are confident it gives at least a broad record of conditions at the pole some 30,000 to 70,000 years a...

Return to Main Land and Life page Talk to Polar Researchers Studying Land and Life!! There will be 3 opportunites throughout the week of June 17 - 20th to talk to scientists studying Land and Life. These are Wednesday June 18th, UTC 1300 This is UTC 1300, east coast US 0900, UK/Portugal 1400, continental Europe 1500, Kuala Lumpur/Beijing 2100, Adelaide 2230, Sydney 2300 PARTICIPATION INSTRUCTIONS Watch this archi...

Return to Main Land and Life page Here is a list of IPY projects studying Land and Life. In addition, there are several organisations that have further information and activities. Land: Glacier and Permafrost Hazards in Mountains (GAPHAZ) Antarctic Permafrost and ...