2007 International Science School 4 July 2007 Taronga's penguin colony had a temporary population boost today to raise awareness of the International Science School, which began in Sydney this week. The extra members were popular television scientist Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and Antarctic researcher Dr Rhian Salmon, who were introduced to the Zoo's Little Penguin colony and talked with keepers about the impact of climate change on the penguins and other polar species, such as Leopard Seals. Dr Karl, a regular speaker at the Professor Harry Messel International Science School (ISS), is raising awareness and prompting discu...

Researchers and explorers will probe the Gakkel Ridge during expedition that begins on July 1. They will be using new robotic vehicles to hunt for life and hydrothermal vents on the Arctic seafloor. Researchers will use two new autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs)--Puma and Jaguar--in tandem to locate hydrothermal vent sites on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean. (Illustration by E. Paul Oberlander, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) More information can be found on the project website. ...

The National R&D Plan will finance six polar research projects this summer. The Oceanography Research Ship Hesperides, carrying out two projects, will travel to the Arctic Ocean for the first time. June 18, 2007. On June 20, the Hesperides will initiate the Spanish arctic campaign held in honour of the International Polar Year, co-ordinated in Spain by the Ministry of Science and Education (MEC). This is the first time the research ship, sailing from Vigo, will carry out projects in the Arctic Ocean. These projects are Spain's contribution to the objectives of the Polar Year, an international initiative aimed at increasing the knowledge of polar regions and the implications of climate change on a global level. The first project of t...

The ice caps are melting but Brits still think polar bears live in Antarctica - home of the penguins. A new exhibition - Ice Station Antarctica - opens at Natural History Museum for International Polar Year 2007-2008. It will challenges kids to understand the importance of the frozen continent. Antarctica is a continent 58 times the size of the UK and it plays a crucial role in understanding global climate change, but one in ten Brits doesn't know where it is and a third of us still think polar bears live there. The Natural History Museum today launches Ice Station Antarctica, a new family blockbuster exhibition developed in partnership with the British Antarctic Survey that challenges kids to survive the extreme conditions faced by scientists researc...

World Environment Day 2007 Tromso/Nairobi, 4 June 2007 - The futures of hundreds of millions of people across the world will be affected by declines in snow cover, sea ice, glaciers, permafrost and lake ice a new and unique report launched to mark World Environment Day (WED) says. Impacts are likely to include significant changes in the availability of water supplies for drinking and agriculture, rising sea levels affecting low lying coasts and islands and an increase in hazards such as subsidence of currently frozen land. An estimated 40 per cent of the world's population could be affected by loss of snow and glaciers on the mountains of Asia says the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in the Global Outlook for Ice and Snow. Simila...

OZZY GOES POLAR Ozzy and Zoe Ozone invite the World's Children to Take Action on Ozone, Climate and Pollutants Ozzy goes polar comic book launched on World Environment Day, a special day by which the UN stimulates worldwide awareness and action to protect the environment. Tromso, June 5th 2007 Ozzy Ozone is the United Nations Environment Programme's flagship illustrated booklet series for children regarding stratospheric ozone protection. It is targeted at children between 8 to 14 years old and is devoted to raising awareness about the importance of the protection of the ozone layer. This issue of Ozzy Ozone, entitled "Ozzy Goes Polar", has been prepared on the occasion of the World Environmen...

Oxford, UK, March 29, 2007 Global publisher, Wiley-Blackwell, which is part of John Wiley & Sons Inc., today announced publication of Polar Research, Issue 1, Volume 26, on behalf of the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI). The first issue under the new partnership coincides with the commencement of International Polar Year, a major scientific initiative focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic that runs from March 2007 to March 2009. Polar Research is a leading international publication aimed at promoting the exchange of high-quality scientific knowledge about the Arctic and Antarctic across disciplinary boundaries. "We are delighted to be partnering with the Norwegian Polar Institute at such a critical point in the field of polar science," said Dr. Mik...

DRAFT 19th April, 2007 The Smithsonian Institution will host a polar science symposium as one of the inaugural U.S. contributions to celebrate the International Polar Year 2007-2008. "Smithsonian at the Poles: Contributions to International Polar Year Science" is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, May 3-4 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution Building (Castle) in Washington, D.C. The symposium, which is also supported by the National Science Foundation, will present research findings by Smithsonian scholars and their collaborators from Arctic and Antarctic research, with particular attention to changes in polar systems past, present and future, and their global impact. The symposium will ...

Until today any journey in the ice-infested waters of the Arctic Ocean was a journey into the unknown with no up-to-date detailed map of the ice conditions readily available in such a remote region of the world. Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) are now able to provide the latest satellite image from the European Space Agency satellite, Envisat and the Canadian Radarsat-1 satellite to any International Polar Year (IPY) expedition in the Arctic Ocean. Users will be able to connect to KSAT in Troms

National UK Children’s Art Competition Today, the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign announced its Young Pavement Artists Competition 2007 and is on the look out for the next Picasso. Young people in the UK aged 4-19 are invited to take part in the national art-based, educational and fundraising initiative where they get the chance to create their masterpieces on a novel canvas – the pavement. To coincide with the International Polar Year (IPY), the theme is the Arctic and Antarctic, home of polar bears and penguins. Mark Speight, from Children’s BBC and president of the Young Pavement Artists Competition said: “Pavement art ca...