International Polar Year celebration concert to be held Feb. 1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The University of Alaska International Polar Year office is sponsoring a concert by the Inuit tribal funk band Pamyua at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, at the Hering Auditorium, Fairbanks, Alaska. The concert is a celebration of the unique cultures of the north and their people’s ability to adapt to changes in both cultural and natural landscapes. An Alaska-founded group, Pamyua started 10 years ago as a dream by two brothers to share the ancient stories of their people through music and dance. Stephen and Phillip Blanchett, who are of Yup’ik Inuit and African American descent, quickly gained international attention and after being joined by Chefornak, Alaska, dance...

PRESS RELEASE North3 Goes Live on the Internet From: Canadian Embassy Heads of Mission: Ralph Lysyshyn (MOSCOW) Anna Blauveldt (REYKJAVIK) Scott Fraser (HELSINKI) Fredericka Gregory (COPENHAGEN) Jillian Stirk (OSLO) and Alexandra Volkoff (STOCKHOLM) Date: 2008-01-10 Summary: To mark the International Polar Year, Canada's circumpolar embassies have launched an internet outreach project to engage northern youth. Canadian embassies in COPENHAGEN, HELSINKI, MOSCOW, OSLO, REYKJAVIK and STOCKHOLM are pleased to announce that North3 is now on the internet (www.ookpik.org/north3). These missions have collaborated...

Press release Exploration of lake hidden beneath Antarctica's ice sheet begins 15 January 2008 PR No. 1/2008 A four-man science team led by British Antarctic Survey's (BAS) Dr Andy Smith has begun exploring an ancient lake hidden deep beneath Antarctica's ice sheet. The lake - the size of Lake Windermere (UK) - could yield vital clues to life on Earth, climate change and future sea-level rise. Glaciologist Dr Smith and his colleagues from the Universities of Edinburgh and Northumbria are camped out at one of the most remote places on Earth conducting a series of experiments on the ice. He says, "This is the first phase of what we think is an incredibly exciting project. We know the lake is 3.2km beneath the ice; l...

Press Release from RV Polarstern 04.01.2008 Antarctic biodiversity research hits Time magazine’s “Top 10” scientific discoveries for 2007 Time Magazine has recognised Antarctic biodiversity research in its Top 10 scientific discoveries for 2007. The discovery was reported in the journal Nature in May 2007. The researchers found over 700 new species of organisms, including isopod crustaceans, carnivorous sponges and giant sea spiders on the seafloor of the Weddell Sea off Antarctica, at bottom depths from 700 m to 6,000 m. The Nature paper on biodiversity and biogeography of the Southern Ocean deep sea was published by a team of 21 biologists. Right now, four of them are at sea off Antarctica on the German icebreaker RV Polarstern, conti...

PRESS RELEASE Climate change and life in the Southern Ocean Research vessel Polarstern sets out for Antarctic research season Bremerhaven, November 27, 2007. A ten-week expedition to the Lazarev Sea and the eastern part of the Weddell Sea opens this years Antarctic research season of the German research vessel Polarstern. On the evening of November 28, just some two hours after an official ceremony at the Berlin Museum of Natural History honouring Polarsterns 25th anniversary of service, the research vessel will begin its 24th scientific voyage to the Southern Ocean from Cape Town. The 53 scientists from eight nations aboard Polarstern will focus much of their work on climate-related research as part of the International Polar Year. In additio...

Watch the glaciers of Kenai Fjords transform before your eyes as nearly a century of change is revealed by repeat photography. Dr. Bruce Molnia, glaciologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, has been conducting repeat photography research throughout Alaska for the last decade. His work in Kenai Fjords National Park focuses on photographs shot in 1909 by U.S. Grant and D.F. Higgins. Between 1905 and 1909, they completed the first detailed survey of the glaciers of Prince William Sound and the Kenai Fjords coast. Their photographs, archived in Denver, Colorado, provide an opportunity to document a century of change. With support from the Park Service motor vessel Serac, Molnia traveled the Kenai Fjords coast, duplicating the 1909 photos. Using clues such as mountain ridge lin...

The Shamrock Glacier in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska, USA, has receded about 2 miles from its 1928 position near its terminal moraine. Some newly exposed morainal surfaces are now vegetated. 1928 photograph by Stephen R. Capps. 2004 repeat photography by M. Torre Jorgenson. The Southwest Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network (SWAN) is an office of the National Park Service dedicated to providing the scientific foundation for effective, long-term protection and management of natural resources in five units of the national park system. Collectively these units comprise approximately 9.4 million acres, 11.6 percent of the land managed by the National Park Service, or 2 percent of the Alaska landmass, and include a diversity of geologic features, eco...

Climate Change ‘Magic’: Disappearing Lakes and Reappearing Artifacts In the summer of 1999, artist Hamish Fulton took a hike through the icefields of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST). One highlight of his journey was a traverse near Iceberg Lake on the Bagley Icefield. Imagine his surprise when he crested a low pass expecting to see the lake, but all that remained was a small creek emerging from the melting terminus of a small alpine glacier. Icerberg Lake had disappeared. While in another area of WRST, scientists were discovering rare archeological materials melting from ancient glaciers. How and why these events happened is covered in the latest issue of Alaska Park Science. The tenth issue of Alaska Park Science, entitled “S...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In a mission of unprecedented scale, scientists are about to cover West Antarctica with a network of sensors to monitor the interactions between the ice and the earth below -- 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The National Science Foundation (NSF) just awarded the collaboration, called POLENET, $4.5 million to plant global positioning system (GPS) trackers and seismic sensors on the bedrock that cradles the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Lead institution Ohio State University will receive more than $2.2 million, and the rest will be divided among partners in the United States as part of an International Polar Year project. As scientists have tried to understand how climate change is af...

MEDIA ADVISORY: DECEMBER 13TH: IPY DAY FOCUSSING ON ICE SHEETS IPY_Ice Sheet Press Release PDF December 5th, 2007 On December 13th, 2007, the International Polar Year (IPY) will launch its second 'International Polar Day', focussing on Ice Sheets and Traverses. In preparation for this, a special webpage, has been prepared with information for Press and Educators, details of current projects and expeditions, contact details for scientists around the world, including in the polar regions, images, background information and useful links and resources. ...