After two and half months of constant strain and uncertainty, it seemed that the Aurora's fate was finally sealed . . . [Wireless Operator Lionel Hooke] observed that 'The whole crew are like a pack of schoolgirls, our nerves absolutely shattered. The dropping of a book or the slamming of a door brings us all up with a start.' Such was the lamentable scene onboard Aurora, during Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (ITAE). Her odyssey in the Ross Sea is vividly brought to life in Stephen Haddelsey's new book, Ice Captain: The Life of J.R. Stenhouse (The History Press Ltd.; ISBN: 0750943483). After she was blown away from Cape Evans by a fierce gale in May 1915, stranding the shore party, Stenhouse's Aurora drifted helplessly for ...

contribution by Igor Krupnik and Grete Hovelsrud, members of the IPY Joint Committee, in celebration of People Day on September 24th, 2008 Also contains contributions by Michael Bravo, Yvon Csonka, Ludger Müller-Wille, Peter Schweitzer, Birger Poppel, Peter Schweitzer, and Sverker Sörlin One of the key tasks of the Internation...

“Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers”: A major philatelic event for the closing of IPY in March 2009 Last Saturday September 20t 2008, at the “Austria Center Vienna”, a few steps from the UN Headquarter in Vienna, have been officially presented the major philatelic event concerning the “International Polar Year 2007-2009”. To pay tribute to all the efforts made during this fourth “International Polar Year” 2007-2009 and to deliver a strong message aimed at the whole world, the postal administrations of around 40 countries have decided to joint to produce a common stamp issue concerning the problem of the Global Warming and featuring the slogan “Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers”. Started ...

For Immediate Release, Tuesday 16 September 2008 download MediaRelease Australia Post celebrates International Polar Year 2007–08 Australia’s role in International Polar Year 2007–08 is recognised by Australia Post with a four-stamp issue highlighting Australia’s important contribution to the science disciplines of astronomy, glaciology, oceanography and marine biology. This new Australian Antarctic Territories stamp issue, designed by Melbourne-based Chris Shurey, comprises two 55c stamps (astronomy and glaciology) and two $1.10 stamps (oceanography and marine biology), with some imagery captured by the scientists during their resear...

MEDIA ADVISORY People Media Advisory PDF (text below) photo: Amy Clapp September 22nd, 2008 On September 24th, 2008, the International Polar Year 2007-8 (IPY) will launch its sixth ‘International Polar Day' focusing on People in Polar Regions, especially on community and cultural well-being, health issues, and the role of the Arctic in the global economy. This Polar Day occurs at the time when combined effects of modern climatic, environmental, economic, and social change challen...

From October through December of 2008, the Offshore New Harbor Expedition will seismically image sediments located below the sea floor in the New Harbor area of Antarctica that were deposited when the Earth was transitioning from a Greenhouse World (>34 million years ago) to an Icehouse World (34 Ma to Today). This project is part of the ANDRILL Program (ANtarctic DRILLing), a multinational initiative with the objective to recover stratigraphic core records for the use of interpreting Antarctic’s climatic, glacial, and tectonic hi..

Contents: 1. People Day: September 24th 2. Conferences: Global Cryosphere Watch, Arctic Change, and AGU 3. EU funding opportunity for polar research 4. Arctic Sea Ice 5. Join an IPY Photo Exhibit 6. APECS Report no. 17, September 2008 From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups DATA REMINDER - HAVE YOU AND YOUR PROJECT PARTNERS DEVELOPED YOUR DATA MANAGEMENT PLANS AND CONVEYED THOSE TO THE IPYDIS? 1. People Day: September 24th Many thanks to all who are participating in this month's polar day focuss...

Permafrost research makes you happy Photo: Dominik Langhamer Thanks to Hanne H. Christiansen from UNIS for the text of this clog, sent from the field. To follow their adventures or get more details about the course have a look at www.tspnorway.com ! In just one long day 10 m of mainly frozen sediment cores were collected from 4 different parts of the landscape here in NE Greenland using hand held drilling machines. Thermistor strings were installed down to 3.2 m below the terrain surface in the deepest hole. This was done by the Interna...

Press release: Investigating sea ice decline A revised outlook for the Arctic 2008 summer sea ice minimum shows ice extent will be below the 2005 level but not likely to beat the 2007 record. In mid-September, the outlook will be confronted with real-time observations. DAMOCLES will dispatch eleven research missions into the Arctic this autumn to better understand the future of the sea ice. Chances that the 2008 ice extent will fall below last year's record minimum is about 8 percent, researchers forecast after having run a number of different models predicting the fate of the Arctic sea ice this summer. But there is still reason for concern; the scientists are almost certain the ice extent will fall below the minimum of 2005, which was...

Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre MEDIA RELEASE 5 August 2008 Call for action ocean acidification The world's leading scientists in ocean acidification have released today an open communique that says the issue an urgent scientific and policy challenge. The communiqu features the deliberations of world experts at the Ocean Acidification: Australian Impacts in the Global Context sponsored by the Australian Department of Climate Change, held in June in Hobart by the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE CRC). Dr Will Howard and Dr Bronte Tilbrook from the released the communiqu today, on behalf of the top-callibre participants of the workshop. ...