This week, a Nordic tissue paper company called Metsa? Tissue, launched it's campaign announcing a one million kronor donation to IPY. The majority of these funds were directed to the IPY project, KINNVIKA , but about one third was used to support the first meeting of the International Youth Steering Committee and Association of Polar Early Career Scientists. The meeting was essential for bringing together key volunteers who have been working hard over the last two years to establish an international network of polar researchers, and aspiring polar researchers, between the undergraduate and early-career stages of their careers. At the meeting, the two groups agreed to merge under the common title: APECS, Association of Polar E...

Contents: 1. Report from the JC Meeting 2. IPO announcement 3. International Polar Days 4. Ice Sheet Day: December 13th 2007 5. AGU 6. EGU/SCAR-IASC 7. Call for 2012 Science and Policy Conference Venue From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups 1. Report from Joint Committee Meeting The IPY Joint Committee held its 6th meeting in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, on two days in late October. For most of one afternoon we joined the Canadian National IPY Committee to learn and discuss the many facets of Canada's IPY programme. The JC focussed on IPY legacies, and pa...

In light of record low sea ice levels, several people have asked us for information on Sea Ice animations and images. NASA has released new images and animations showing changing sea ice and comparing with the average between 1979-2007. In addition, NSIDC (National Snow and Ice Data Centre) have regular updates and latest news about Sea Ice and links to a wide range of sea ice images, graphics and animations...

The IPY International Programme Office (IPO) has recently received some sponsorship to seed a meeting of the IPY International Youth Steering Committee (IYSC), including the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS). This meeting will occur in Stockholm at the end of September. Below is background material for this meeting. Meeting Details (252 KB DOC) includes participants, overview, agenda, and logistics Planning Information and Summary (128 KB PDF) APEC...

EcoKids is Earth Day Canada’s program for kids who care about the planet. Our website has tons of fun and educational games and activities on a range of environmental topics. Our 2007 theme is ‘Exploring Canada’s North’. We have created a new informational section for this theme along with the following online features: Northern Seasons – A glimpse of the landscape through the four seasons in Canada’s north. Mush Rush – A game that puts you in the driver’s seat of a dogsled team. Canada’s North Quizzes – Three challenging quizzes about the environment, wildlife and people in the north. Eco-Field Guide Northern Organisms – Information about 24 different species of fl...

The Smithsonian Institution announces the release of the Proceedings of the 2007 International Polar Diving Workshop. With major support from the National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, NERC Facility for Scientific Diving, and Diving Unlimited International an interdisciplinary, international polar scientific diving workshop took place at the Artctic Marine Laboratory in Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, March 15-21, 2007. Twenty-eight participants from around the world discussed scientific, physiological and operational considerations of working under ice using scuba in polar environments. Sixteen papers, edited discussion sessions and consensus recommendations are presented in this volume, an IPY contribution from the international polar scientific diving community....

"Never give up your dreams". Jean-Louis Etienne — the French doctor and explorer — knows more than anyone what these words mean; for four years he has been involved with the Total Pole Airship project, which aims to fly a blimp over the Arctic ocean and the North Pole, measuring the thickness of the sea ice with an instrument designed by the Alfred-Wegener Institute. Last Friday, October 12, Jean-Louis Etienne could finally smile. The expedition blimp was inaugurated during a ceremony in Marseille — it was christened Total Pole Airship, after the sponsor Total. The blimp arrived in France from Russia (whe...

Ice Sheet Press Release More About Ice Sheets Please use the listed press contacts, lead scientist, or profiled expert in the following pages to learn more about IPY Projects Studying Ice Sheets ...

The first International Polar Science Day was held on September 21st and focussed on Sea Ice. The second will occur on Thursday, December 13th, and will focus on Ice Sheets, Traverses, and Exploration. Below is a list of IPY projects that study, or are concerned with, some aspect of Ice Sheets. Their webpages contain a huge amount of information, and the full proposals contain contact information at the end. The following list includes IPY ID and chart name, and short title: 13 Sea Level & Tides in Polar Regions 20 ...

Educational posters for the International Polar Year: First announcement, and call for partnerships UNEP/GRID-Arendal For further information, please go to: http://polar.grida.no/ipyposters UNEP Key Polar Centre at UNEP/GRID-Arendal has received support from the Research Council of Norway (Forskningsradet) to prepare a set of posters for the International Polar Year (IPY). This project supports the education, outreach, and communication efforts of IPY. The posters will primarily present polar science and issues and secondarily create awareness of IPY and its research activities. The main objective is to try to answer the question: Why, and how, are the ...