Over the past month, there has been an unusual abundance of negative environmental news coming from Antarctica. First, at the end of November, a well-tested, ice-strengthened Antarctic cruise ship sank near the Antarctic Peninsula. The 154 people onboard were all safely rescued. The ship sank to the bottom of the ocean, with all the fuel, machinery and furniture that was onboard. The environmental impacts are being closely monitored. However, with today’s technology, there is precious little that one can do to a ship (spilling...

On 23 November, 2007, the M/S Explorer, a well-tested, ice-strengthened Antarctic cruise ship sank in Bransfield Strait near the Antarctic Peninsula. The 154 people onboard were all safely evacuated and rescued. The ship sank in waters 1100 – 1500 m deep, bringing down with it approximately 185000 L of diesel, 24000 L of lubricants, 1200 L of gasoline and all the machinery, equipment and furniture that was onboard. Its environmental impacts are still unknown and are being closely monitored. There are not many options available to clean up oil spills in icy seas. Some of them, such as burning or using chem...

A new satellite image of the Antarctic continent is now ready for all to see and use. The IPY Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) project has been completed and its stunning result is freely available for the first time today. Compiled from over 1000 Landsat scenes, the result is a 15-metre resolution, near seamless and cloudless image mosaic of the continent. A team from NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National science Foundation and the British Antarctic Survey have worked together for more than a year to produce this uniformly and rigorously processed surface reflectance dataset. In addition to providing sci...

Permafrost underlies up to 20% of the world land surface and is highly sensitive to changes in air temperatures. Large parts of the world’s uppermost permafrost are likely to disappear with increasing global air temperatures. This can lead to the release of additional greenhouse gases (in the form of carbon dioxide and the more powerful greenhouse gas methane) to the atmosphere from carbon pools that are currently stored in the permafrost. In addition, permafrost degradation will pose threats on infrastructure built on frozen ground. Paradoxically, permafrost temperature evolution is relatively unknown and global approaches to monitor ground temperatures are lacking. The location of permafrost areas in often remote areas of the Arctic and the Antarctic makes it a challenge to provide a c...

Fifty young researchers from thirteen countries around the world will meet for three days (Nov. 29 – Dec. 2, 2007) in Saint-Petersburg to learn more about the latest permafrost research methods and to discuss future plans to address climate change issues in permafrost areas. Permafrost underlies up to 20% of the world land surface and is highly sensitive to changes in air temperatures. Large parts of the world’s uppermost permafrost are likely to disappear with increasing global air temperatures. This can lead to the release of additional greenhouse gases (in the form of carbon dioxide and the more powerful greenhouse gas methane) to the atmosphere from carbon pools that are currently stored in the permafrost. In addition permafrost degradation will pose threats on infra...

PRESS RELEASE Bremerhaven, November 22, 2007. On December 9, 2007, the ice-breaking research vessel Polarstern will celebrate her 25th anniversary of service: since 1982, the world¹s most powerful polar research vessel has been venturing to the Arctic and Antarctic on behalf of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, part of the Helmholtz Association. 7600 scientist from 36 nations have gained insights into the polar oceans aboard Polarstern, facilitating our current understanding of the earth as a system. Polarstern provides ideal working conditions for international and interdisciplinary research teams and offers safe transport in polar seas. Currently, Polarstern is on her way to the Antarctic as part of the International Polar Year 2007/08. T...

An immediate reduction of methane, tropospheric ozone and black carbon may delay the melting of the Arctic, is the unanimous recommendation from a group of leading climate scientists after an international conference in Oslo, Norway. The 2nd Short-lived Pollutants and Arctic Climate Workshop, gathering 40 leading climate scientists from Europe, Asia and the U.S., was hosted by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) in Oslo, Norway, 5-7 November. Reductions in the atmospheric burden of CO2 are the backbone of any meaningful effort to mitigate climate forcing. But, even if swift and deep reductions were made, given the long lifetime of CO2, the reductions may not be achieved in time to delay a rapid melting of the Arctic. Hence, the goal of constraini...

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...

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...

Mark Speight and Simon Webbe honour young artistic talent in charity pavement art competition Monday 22 October 2007 -For Immediate Release- On Friday 19 October at The Royal Society in London, young people across the UK were honoured for their exceptional artistic talent and creative achievements in the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s Young Pavement Artists Competition 2007. TV presenter and competition president, Mark Speight was joined by R & B singer, Simon Webbe, at the special awards ceremony. Arthur Morris wit...