Content: 1. IPY Data letters to National Committees 2. Publications, Reports, Special Issues 3. IPY Celebrations, February 2009 4. IPY at AGU Conference, December 2008 5. Current Antarctic Season 6. Images 7. IPY Closure over Holiday Season Report no. 20, December 2008 From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups 1. IPY Data Management letters The IPY Joint Committee co-chairs have sent Data Management letters to 10 IPY National Committees (Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK). These letters encourage those countries that have national IP...

Today, Thursday December 4th, IPY is celebrating it's seventh International Polar Day, this time focussing on research Above The Polar Regions. In conjunction with this event, several IPY partners have released new information about their projects. Here are some examples: *** Global Interagency IPY Polar Year Snapshot GIIPSY ...

MEDIA ADVISORY On December 4th, 2008, the International Polar Year 2007-8 (IPY) will launch its seventh International Polar Day focusing on research Above the Polar Regions, including meteorology, atmospheric science, astronomy, and the view of the polar regions from space. This event coincides with the start of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA). During the week of December 4th, IPY scientists will make themselves available to discuss their research and answer questions from university students, the media, general public, and school children. Activities include live events, a world-wide ‘launch a virtual weather balloon

Background NISSE may evoke for some of us a short Elf type fellow with a long beard and a red knitted cap. According to an old tradition Norwegian farmers believe that if Nisse lives in their barns, they will be blessed. Therefore around Christmas when the Nisses are active, they prepare food for them and, believe it or not – it's always eaten up by the next morning! Some other readers may be familiar with the name NISSE because of a Norwegian s...

Did you know that Antarctica is home to the world's southermost active volcano? Do you teach about the forces that change Earth's surface: wind, water, and ice? If so, you'll want to check out the latest issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine! In the December 2008 issue, Earth's Changing Surface, you can explore topics such as erosion, earthquakes, and volcanoes and discover ideas and resources for including the polar regions in an earth science unit, including: Content refr...

Three new stamps featuring Antarctic landscapes have been issued by the Republic of San Marino on November 18th to celebrate the fourth International Polar Year. San Marino is one of the oldest republics in the world (it was created in 301 AD) as well as one of the smallest (61 Km2, with a population of 30,000). It is landlocked between the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche, in Italy. The Philatelic Bureau of the Republic of San Marino was created in 1981, but the republic issued the the first stamp back in 1877. The three IPY stamps were designed by Marco Mussoni, with photos taken by Lucia Simion, professional photograher and science writer specialized on Antarctica and the subantarctic. The three new stamps' dimensions are 30 x 40 mm; they feature Mount Melbo...

How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming by Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch For grades 4-9 (and their teachers and parents!) As Environmental Education professor David Sobel writes in this book’s introduction: “The global climate change wave is cresting and it’s about to crash on public schools. Empowerment needs to be the core element of the approach.” Robert Coontz, deputy editor of Science Magazine wrote: “This beautiful and informative book fills a major gap in environmental writing for children. It cove...

We have been preparing for a week to move to our deep field location: Tango 1. Tango 1 is a camp deep in the Transantarctic Mountains about 800 miles from the McMurdo Station. The camp will need to be fully erected, meaning that three us of us will precede the majority of the team by three days to create the camp we will be working out of for a couple of weeks. This is going to be a completely new Antarctic experience for me. My previous work in the Dry Valleys was remote in the sense that we were not at the research station, but we were always less than a 45-minute helicopter flight from resources. Tango 1 is truly going to be a deep field experience. I am very much looking forward to being there, and excited to be on the advance team… I mean isn’t this one of the reaso...

The Royal Society of Victoria, involved on polar (Antarctic) science since 1874 is conducting a flight to the South Magnetic Pole on 17 January 2009, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first party (Australians Prof. Edgeworth David and Douglas Mawson and Scotsman Dr Alistair Mackay) to locate the Magnetic Pole in January 1909. The 12 hour return flight ex Sydney and Melbourne has been arranged as an in-flight scientific program with international scientists presenting papers. Also onboard the 350 seat aircraft will be 60 final year students as "young science ambassadors" drawn from schools from all Australian States, New Zealand, Canada, Finland and the United Kingdom. A few seats are still available for interested scientists. Contact details:...

Dai Ghiacci allo Spazio — The history of the Navy Officer Carl Weyprecht and of the development of his international scientific research project in the political and cultural context of the 19th century, and up to the present IPY, IGY, IYPE, eGY and IHY. Published in Italian by Biblion Edizioni in 2008. The First International Polar Year was born from an idea of the Austro-Hungarian Naval lieutenant, Carl Weyprecht. Coming back to Trieste, Italy, from his expedition in the Arctics, Weyprecht developed his plan ...