International Polar Year (IPY), which extends from March 2007 through to March 2009, is a worldwide initiative involving thousands of scientists from over 60 countries and focuses on both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Although it is called

Cape Farewell Education aims to: facilitate learning about climate change and participation in the climate change debate among teachers and pupils in UK schools. give school students a voice in the climate change debate and to enable them to take what they have learnt and talked about back home into their communities and families spread enthusiasm and strategies for learning about climate change throughout UK schools. We have a number of resources available to teachers and pupils Life in the Water is a GSCE Science resource commissioned by Nuffield Curriculum Centre and developed with scientists at the National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton as part of the 21st centu...

An essay has just been published in March issue of the InfoNorth section of the journal "Arctic", published by the Arctic Institute of North America, on the history of research at McCall Glacier, Alaska. McCall Glacier, located in the eastern Brooks Range of northern Alaska, has the longest and most complete history of scientific research of any glacier in the U.S. Arctic. Spanning the period from the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1957-58 to the Fourth International Polar Year (IPY) in 2007-08, this research has resulted in perhaps the best record of recent climate change and its impacts in this region of the Arctic. Creation of this record played a major role in the lives ...

WHITEHORSE, YUKON. The exciting start of the 2007 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race is only days away and as the 28 mushers make their final preparations for the epic two-week journey, along with dog food, booties and trail supplies, they will be carrying something very special in their sleds this year. Commemorative Yukon Quest envelopes bearing Canada Post Corporation International Polar Year (IPY) stamps will be carried by each of the 28 sled dog teams between the Whitehorse race start this coming Saturday and the mid-way point in Dawson City, Yukon next week. The historic and well-traveled envelopes will then be presented to an IPY Canadian National Committee member at the Yukon IPY launch celebration on March 1, 2007 at the Westmark Whitehorse H...

Children in Kent will be the first to take part in a unique educational project to link schools in Britain with those in the Arctic. The project, called "Arctic Voice", aims to teach children at both primary and secondary level about the effects of climate change and the impact it is having on the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of the Arctic. Schools will be linked through the Internet, allowing children in Kent and elsewhere in the UK the opportunity to talk directly to Inuit school children in Greenland and Arctic Canada, and so begin a dialogue between their communities. The project is supported by Jonathon Porritt, the head of the government's sustainable development commission, who describ...

Celebrate the start of IPY by climbing the snow-covered mountains of the Polar Urals in the heart of the Russian Arctic! Date: 11-15 April, 2007 Application deadline: March, 9 Place: Salekhard, Yamal-Nenets district, Russia Event: IPY mountain climbing Activities: sport, cooking, tourist video and music contests, skiing, mountain climbing Who: students, scientists, educators, press, anyone involved in IPY or wishing to do so Danger: None Fun: loads! Age: 14-18 18-30 30- any Countries: any Funding: apply early and get full funding!* *What is covered by the travel grant: 1. Letter of invitation from Russian Ministry of Foreign affairs 2. Fl...

The International Polar Year has begun. What a week! With US and UK launches on the Monday stirring up media attention, followed by an event in Portugal on the Wednesday and over 20 more national events on the day itself, March 1st 2007, we definitely hit the news! While traveling to Paris with Nicola, to prepare for the international launch, the phone didn't stop ringing, both sides of the Channel Tunnel and even on the Paris subway system! I was contacted by journalists as diverse as New Zealand Radio, an In-flight magazine, BBC World Service, Vatican Radio, Al Jazeera English, an Italian science magazine, Chinese TV networks, and Scientific American to name a few. During the International Ceremony itself, my phone kept shaking, and afterwards, on a tour of Paris, I saw ...

The French claim, with some justice, that Dumont d'Urville can rank with James Cook as the greatest navigator of them all. Like Cook, he made three voyages round the world as well as important contributions to all the sciences, most of which were then in their lusty infancy.— Helen Rosenman, translator and editor of D'Urville's accounts of South Seas voyages Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville was born in Normandy in 1790, and his childhood saw the development of a keen intellect that served the makings of a future explorer. A lifelong passion for the study of languages first showed itself so early that by the age of ten d'Urville was fluent in Latin. Past voyages of discovery were also on the boy's mind and he de...

Thank-you to everyone who was involved with launch events, who launched virtual balloons, who launched real balloons (see the Swedish launch web-cast!), those behind the scenes, and those on stage. IPY Celebrations around the world on March 1st, and throughout this week, have been a huge success. You can watch those you missed on the Arctic Portal, or still launch your virtual balloon now, and throughout IPY, to recognise the importance of the polar regions to the whole planet. Here is a map showing balloons that have been launched around the world (you can zoom in on where you live or zoom out to see the world map!): ...

The International Polar Year Publications Database (IPYPD) is now available at the IPYPD website. The IPYPD will attempt to identify and describe all publications that result from, or that are about, the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 and the three previous IPYs. The IPYPD currently describes 60 publications. This number is expected to grow to approximately 20,000 publications ten years from now. The IPYPD will be updated four times per year. The records in the IPYPD contain citations, detailed subject and geographic indexing terms, abstracts, and, in most cases, links to the online full text of the publications. The IPYPD is part of the IPY Data and Information Service (IPYDIS). The success of t...