IPY launch events around the world can be viewed live at the Arctic Portal. We also encourage everyone to launch a virtual balloon and show how many people around the world care about the polar regions and are interested in IPY. Everyone is welcome to join in, young or old, polar or tropical! The Official Opening Ceremony takes place in Paris at 11am local time. That is UTC 10:00, or, 1am in Anchorage, 5am in New York, 7am in Santiago, 3.30pm in Calcutta, 7pm in Tokyo, and 9pm in Sydney. You can watch it live or after the event on the web at the Arctic Portal, where you will also find webcasts of other national launch events from around th...

Join the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) team on the redesigned Antarctica UAB website as we explore the spectacular marine life around Palmer Station on the western Antarctic Peninsula. As part of the celebration of the International Polar Year, we want to help showcase the diversity of international cooperation in polar research and validate its worth in the public's eye. We invite you to visit the site, post comments/questions and join us as we bring the world to Antarctica during our NSF-funded expedition. The site combines traditional Web features with social networking Web sites like Digg.com and Del.icio.us. You can contribute your own knowledge, images and viewpoints as well as fo...

ICSU and WMO launch the largest polar research programme in 50 years IPY Launch Press Release (PDF) 26 February, 2007 International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 officially gets underway on 1 March, 2007. IPY, which is a programme of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), will be the largest internationally coordinated scientific research effort in 50 years. During the course of IPY, thousands of scientists, from over 60 countries and a wide range of research disciplines, will carry out 220 science and outreach projects under six major themes: Status: to determine the present environmental s...

The International Polar Year 2007-08 will be launched on the 1st of March. Across both hemispheres, dozens of nations are organizing events and ceremonies both large and small to celebrate the occasion. Together, they will engage experts, children and the general public, and will play an important role in raising awareness as to the Polar Regions' central relevance as climate archives, early warning systems, threatened habitats, and (in the case of the Arctic) homes to indigenous cultures.(This article does not aim to present each and every IPY related event or initiative. For more information on this vast collaborative effort, please refer to the ...

The USGS Educational Resources Index for IPY let's you explore a variety of USGS resources on polar research, from maps and fact sheets to photographs and databases. Designed for researchers, students, teachers, and others interested in research and findings related to polar science, this index contains more than 65 different resources. To make finding information you're interested in easier, these resources are divided into eight categories: Alaska and the Arctic, Antarctica, Climate Change, Glaciers and Ice, Photographs, Satellite Imagery, Wildlife, and Other USGS Resources. Each entry is then broken down by three questions—What is it?,...

After a short period in the harbor of Punta Arenas, the German research icebreaker Polarstern will start for its next Antarctic Expedition. More than 40 scientists, students and technicians will be working on board until the middle of April. The two days stay in Punta Arenas were used to get all preparations done for the upcoming 12 weeks on sea. Containers were put on board or taken off, provisions were topped up and the fuel tanks were filled with 2,800 tonnes of diesel at the bunker pier "Cabo Negro" — rnough to keep the "Polarstern" running for 12 weeks and more. On February 1st all scientists and technicians finally arrived in Punta Arenas, and all were on board Polarstern by the next day. Passports were checked and collected by the first mate S...

There is a variety of material available for journalists about IPY. The IPY Brochure is a colourful hand-out about IPY for a general audience. This IPY Science Summary gives an brief overview of IPY science and activities. And here are some Frequently Asked Questions about IPY. The IPY Scope of Science provides a much more in-depth account of the breadth, variety, complexity and ...

February 15, 2007

The 8th International ACUNS Student Conference on Northern Studies, titled Melting Boundaries: Carrying Out Effective Research in the Circumpolar World will be held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada on October 19-21, 2007. We are expecting participants from around the circumpolar world, including Canada, United States, Finland, Norway, Russia, and other countries. Additionally, an International Polar Year (IPY) themed workshop will be held on Thursday October 18, 2007 to provide an opportunity for students to interact with leading Arctic and Antarctic researchers. The intent of this conference is to showcase student rese...

The five members of the Svalbard Scientific Skiing Expedition, colloquially known as the “Frozen Five”, met in Grenoble last week for the final preparations before embarking on their 11 week voyage through the Arctic wilderness on the 29th March. We’re a group of graduate students of various geosciences that met at UNIS in Longyearbyen during our diverse university careers. From March-June 2007, we will be skiing across the length of Spitsbergen, Svalbard’s largest island. The route, measuring about 1000 km, will take us over numerous glaciers, patches of sea ice and through the territory of the polar bear. Through this expedition, we wish to share our passion for the Arctic regions with the general public and, in particular, high school students. Blo...