February 20, 2009 The multinational ANDRILL (ANtarctic geological DRILLing) program, involving scientists, engineers, students, and educators from Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the United States, has contributed exciting scientific results during the International Polar Year (IPY). In addition to the science outcomes there has been a focused effort to expand education and public outreach activities. These activities have engaged teachers, students and the general public. ANDRILL successfully implemented two scientific drilling expeditions during the IPY, one in the austral spring and summer of 2006 and one in the austral summer of 2007. These expeditions recovered long sediment and rock cores that preserve the geologic and paleoclimatic record of Antarctica from the ...

As predicted by all IPCC models, Arctic sea ice will most likely disappear during summers in the near future. However, it seems like this is going to happen much sooner than models predicted, as pointed out by recent observations and data reanalysis undertaken during IPY and the Damocles Integrated Project. On February 25, 2009, there will be a celebration in Geneva, Switzerland to officially close the 4th IPY that started on March 1st 2007 in Paris, France. It is not a surprise that one of the main topics of this 4th IPY was climate change, since the polar regions play a very important role in Earth's climate. This role is magnified by the combined effect of two main processes: one is due to the presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trapping longwave solar radiat...

Recent observations of Arctic Ocean outflow in the Fram Strait suggest that freshwater is piling up in the Arctic Ocean. A change in wind direction could release the largest amount of freshwater through Fram Strait ever recorded. Photo: Rudi Caeyers The freshwater transport from the Arctic to lower latitudes is one of the main ways of the Arctic to interact with the global climate system. The effect of such a release of freshwater depends on the final magnitude and nature of the release. “The effects this release will have on the climate processes are in the focus of ongoing res...

Winnipeg, Canada — 18 February 2009 — The University of Manitoba-led project that gained worldwide appeal and interest will be one of the highlights of a conference in Europe Feb. 25, 2009 as International Polar Year (IPY) wraps. An IPY committee will release its State of Polar Research report at that time to summarize all the IPY studies, one of the largest of which was led by a climate change expert at the University of Manitoba. “Our data is coming in and our team is looking forward to the next phase of our research,” says Barber, David Barber, Canada Research Chair in Arctic System Science and director of the Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS) at the University of Manitoba. “IPY gave us this tremendous window into climate change. What we learned about...

Version Française March 18, 2009 – International Polar Day – “Oceans and Marine Life” “Oceans and Marine Life Polar Day”, an International Polar Year (IPY) webcast event, is taking place live on March 18, 2009, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., originating from the theatre of the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec. The webcast will include presentations about marine mammal research including satellite tagging of beluga whales, and a live link to researchers on the ice of the Beaufort Sea examining key big-picture science issues about air-surface chemical interactions in the Arctic. This event is one of several IPY education and outreach activities focussing on ocean science in the Polar Regions taking place around...

Throughout the week of March 17th - 26th, the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-8 will be celebrating its eighth polar day, this time focussing on 'Polar Oceans'. This includes physical oceanography and marine biodiversity. These Days are designed as a way for the general public, teachers, and their classes to learn more about the Polar Regions and connect directly to polar researchers through simple, fun, and accessible activities. We also encourage students to launch a virtual weather balloon once completing the activity: it's great fun watching balloons go up as classrooms around the world get involved. The new “Polar Oceans” pages can be found via the Educators section of www.ipy.org, or directly at ...

Below are documents that we will be discussing and developing at the IPY/Oslo 2010 meeting for Education, Outreach, and Communication in Geneva, February 23-24th 2009.

The meeting will occur at WMO headquarters. Directions to meeting building.

Please become familiar with these documents prior to the meeting. Hard copies will not be made available,- it is your choice to bring them either as hard copies or electronically.

Logistics & Committee Business
Agenda & Participant List
EOC Committee Mandate

Oslo 2010 Conference
Overarching principles for EOC activities during OSC 2010 K Ulstein
Categorising EOC activities during OSC 2010 K Ulstein, R Malherbe, S Zicus
APECS Participation in Oslo 2010 J Baeseman
Catalogue of EOC Session proposals K Ulstein
Virtual Component L Murphy

Polar Resource Book
Vision Document - discussion paper R Salmon, B Kaiser
All content collected so far

Photo-exhibit
Poles Apart flyer

Back to Polar Oceans Home page Back to educational activities page You can download this bookmark as a PDF and the activity text as a Word document Background: The ocean plays a huge role in climate change. Covering 70% of the globe, they store 1,000 times more heat than the atmosphere (water can store four times more heat per...

Polar Bears and Penguins May Live at Opposite Poles, But Census of Marine Life Explorers Find Hundreds of Identical Species Thrive in Both Arctic and Antarctic Contacts: Mr. Terry Collins, +1-416-878-8712; +1-416-538-8712; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Ms. Darlene Trew Crist, +1-401-295-1356; +1-401-952-7692; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Mr. Gregg Schmidt, +1-202- 448-1231; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Experts are available for advance interviews. Video and high-resolution images are online at www.coml.org/embargo/polar2009 Download PDF of CoML IPY Press Release for i...

Content: 1. IPY feature projects throughout February 2. Issue of the State of Polar Research Report, Feb 25th 3. Update from HAIS meeting 4. Archiving IPY: a process for storing your critical files for the future 5. Polar Oceans Day : a chance to engage the public 6. IPY Success? Report no. 22, February 2009 From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups 1. IPY feature projects throughout February Many thanks to all projects and participants who have been busy preparing concise summary and media material for our February profile. In the lead-up to the release of the State of Polar Research report on February...