Symposium held to mark International Polar Year April 2 Chinese Academy of Sciences With an objective of better analyzing the recent developments of polar research, upgrading China research capacity and presenting strategies and priorities for polar research and capacity building in the future, a session of the Xiangshan Science Conferences opened on 2 April in Shanghai. Under the theme of "Scientific frontiers of International Polar Year (IPY) and future polar research, the three-day meeting will invite scholars from various disciplines to have an in-depth discussion on various topics, ranging from Dome A science, astronomy in the Antarctic, Arctic Ocean Science, and Antarctic geology....

SciencePoles recently interviewed Dr Cynan Ellis Evans of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) on the subject of Antarctic sub-glacial lakes: Large bodies of water that have accumulated beneath the vast ice sheet of Antarctica. In his interview, Dr Ellis Evans answers questions about how these lakes formed, how they are being studies, and what their significance is for Polar researchers including glaciologists, geologists, biologists, and paleo-climatologists. In addition, he sheds light on the nature of the international effort to research these lakes, and addresses more contentio...

Arctic researchers go with the floes march 31, 2008 ABOARD CCGS AMUNDSEN Canada's peripatetic polar researchers are about to roll the dice in hopes of a bigger scientific payoff. Current plans call for the Amundsen icebreaker to shake free of its frozen berth later this week and knife farther west through the ice-encrusted Arctic. … Barber is a driving force behind the Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study, Canada's largest project for International Polar Year which runs from March 2007 to March 2009. More than 200 scientists from 14 countries are involved and making exhaustive use of the Amundsen. Earth f...

Antarctic expedition a success The Prague Post, March 26

A number of research projects during the current International Polar Year are using the traditional knowledge of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic as well as sociological studies of these societies in conjunction with research in the natural sciences on climate variability and change. With climate change rapidly altering the face of the Arctic, it is particularly important to document indigenous knowledge while it is still available. The inherent knowledge of snow and snow conditions that reindeer herding communities have accumulated over the centuries can be of great value to researchers studying snow and ice conditions in these regions. In the IPY EALÁT project (n°399), researchers are examining reindeer herding societies and how they are coping with climate change wh...

In April of 2008 a team of scientists and Canadian Rangers will traverse the northern coast of Ellesmere Island to study the state of the ice shelves and associated ecosystems in this remote region. The Canadian high Arctic is undergoing substantial climate-related changes; ice shelves along Ellesmere's northern coast that have been attached to the shore for thousands of years, some over 30 meters thick, and thousands of square kilometers of land-fast sea-ice have been breaking-up. The loss of these dominant features has dramatically changed the coastal landscape, leading to the drainage of massive volumes of freshwater from fiords previously dammed by the ice shelves and the creation of vast ice islands. These physical changes are altering the habitat of aquatic microbial communities ex...

Free lecture - Arctic Caribou for International Polar Year Come to the Canadian Museum of Nature on April 1 for a free lecture by wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer about Arctic Caribou. The presentation is the launch of a national speakers series for International Polar Year. Research frenzy greets Arctic spring ABOARD CCGS AMUNDSEN-After being icebound on the Coast Guard's Amundsen icebreaker for nearly four days, dozens of researchers yesterday fanned out on the ice in a controlled scientific frenzy. They're racing against time to begin taking measurements and placing crucial detectors before the looming chemical and biological explosion o...

Media release: 22 March 2008 The final sailing south in the world’s largest Southern Ocean climate experiment gets underway today when the Aurora Australis sets sail from Hobart. Aurora Australis is the last of 20 international research vessels deploying instruments in the Southern Ocean as part of an International Polar Year (IPY) experiment known as CASO, for Climate of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE CRC) is leading the voyage, which includes a team of researchers from the Centre’s partner organisations includ- ing the Alfred Wegner Institute (Germany) and the National Institue of Water and Atmospher- ic Research (New Zealand). “By pooling resources, s...

An article on Earthzine by Mark R. Drinkwater — Coordinating Satellite Observations during the International Polar Year 2007-2008 — looks at all the different ways in which satellite remote sensing programs are contributing to our understanding of the poles during IPY. The article includes an overview of the Global Interagency IPY Polar Snapshot Year (GIIPSY), the IPY Space Task Group (STG) and the Integrated Global Obser...

360-degree panoramas are more and more the rage because they are wonderfully immersive and give users the chance to explore a space themselves. Panoramas of the polar regions are especially interesting, as very few people get the chance to visit these places, so anything that gives us an inkling of what it is like there is welcome. The latest issue of VRMag, an online magazine of panoramic photos, contains a huge collection of polar and ice-themed panoramas. Here is a brief description of what is inside: Jordi Clariana, takes you on a 2 weeks photographic expedition to the Svalbard Island; Witek Katzskin, who lives and works at the Horsund polish Polar station shares his experiences; Dr Matt Nol...