L'intervention de Valérie PECRESSE à la conférence sur l'année polaire internationale organisée par le Sénat du France est disponible à www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr. «La France est aux avant-postes et reste un leader dans les activités scientifiques en milieu polaire», a souligné Valérie Pécresse lors du colloque de clôture de l'Année polaire internationale, qui s'est tenu le 14 mai 2009. À cette occasion, la ministre a annoncé la création de l'observatoire international de l'Arctique qui rassemblera l'ensemble de la communauté scientifique et aura le rôle d'une vigie ...

Documentary filmmaker Mark Terry, president of Polar Cap Productions, Inc., took a team to Antarctica last December and January to document the recent findings made by the world’s scientific community during International Polar Year. The documentary will focus on new discoveries made related to the ozone hole, the diminishing populations of penguins and other marine life, the greening of the world’s largest desert, warming temperatures, glacial melting and increased world sea level. Featuring interviews from polar scientists from Canada, the US, the UK, Ukraine and Russia, a global cross-section of research on climate change will be presented. One of these featured interviews will be with Dr. David Ainley, renowned...

9th ACUNS International Student Conference The Communities of Change – Building an IPY Legacy Conference will highlight research occurring at both poles, including interactions between the cryosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, atmosphere and society. Inter-disciplinary sessions will be arranged based on the number and breadth of Abstracts submitted. Poster Proposals and Travel Support applications are also now being accepted. For information regarding the submission of a poster proposal and regarding travel support, please visit www.communitiesofchange.ca. Abstract Submission Deadline: May 31, 2009 For guidelines a...

The National Academy of Sciences together with the National Science Foundation held a celebration on 6 April 2009 to recognize the achievements of the International Polar Year 2007-2008 (IPY). The meeting included highlights of IPY projects, including such topics as climate change, sea ice stability, Antarctic ecosystems, and people in the Arctic. Presentation videos detailing various aspects of IPY research are available on the NSF website. Posted presentations include: - "Welcoming and Opening Remarks," by James White, Ralph J. Cicerone, and Arden L. Bement, Jr.; - "How the Past Informs the Future," by Richard Alley, Pennsylvania State University;...

The Joint International Conference on Cryospheric Changes and Influences—Cryospheric Issues in Regional Sustainable Development will be held in Lijiang, China during August 12-14, 2010. The aim of the conference is to promote our understanding of changes in all components of the cryosphere and their interdependence and causes, our current capabilities to model and assess these changes, and mitigation and adaptability strategy for the changing global climate and cryosphere. To fulfill the aim, the conference strives to enhance and co-ordinate efforts in monitoring the cryosphere, to model and understand the cryosphere’s role in the climate system, to assess changes in the cryosphere as indicators of climate change, to quantify the frangibility of cryosphere and th...

Conference Date: 8-10 June, 2009 Location: Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsø, Norway The Norwegian Polar Institute is hosting a climate conference initiated by the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Scientists and government representatives will meet to address the challenges and impacts created by melting glaciers in high-mountain regions, including effects on downstream countries. For more information about the conference please see http://hmg.npolar.no/en/index.html. Special Travel Grants are available to participants from developing countries included in the DAC List of ODA Recipients, may apply for partial or full grants to cover travel-, hotel-, and/or registration expenses....

The 8th Polar Day (topic: Polar Oceans) elicited so much interest that it turned into a full week of events that took place across the globe from some likely places such as Edinburgh, Winnipeg and Nuuk to some not so likely places like Brazil & Malaysia. Take a peek at some of the exciting highlights from classrooms, radio stations, field schools and public outreach sessions around the world. Edinburgh, UK: March 14th - 15th The Dynamic Earth science center hosted a hands-on public session with researchers from the Scottish Association for Marine Science who displayed Arctic research footage from recent expeditions. The most popular part of the event was when people got a chance to don the equipment worn by polar scientists. We may have just h...

Science Centres in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico connected to IPY scientists in the first of many live events starting today (March 17) at 1600UTC. Students were able to interact with and ask questions directly of the scientists using videoconferencing technologies. Andy Mahoney (Scott Base, sea ice), Russ Hopcroft (Alaska, zooplankton and the Arctic Ocean Diversity project), Martin Nweeia (Massachusetts, narwhal tusks), Irene Schloss (Quebec, plankton ecology) and Rachael Mueller (Oregon, physical oceanography) talked about their research and answered students’ questions about climate change, snow and ice, and polar organisms. Students at UNAM (Mexico) and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry gave presentations on climate change and its impacts on local and polar environments. Stude...