This press release is available for download as a PDF in these languages: English, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese - Brazil, Portuguese - Portugal, ...

The State of Polar Research is a statement from the International Council for Science / World Meteorological Organization Joint Committee for the International Polar Year 2007–2008. It is available for download in PDF format in these languages: English Spanish French ...

February 24, 2009 — The International Polar Year provides a unique opportunity to assess the global State and Fate of Permafrost on a Warming Planet. Recent observations indicate a warming of permafrost in many northern and mountain regions with resulting degradation of ice-rich and carbon-rich permafrost. Permafrost temperature has increased by 1 to 2°C in northern Russia during the last 30 to 35 years. This observed increase is very similar to what has been observed in Alaska where the detailed characteristic of the warming varies between locations, but is typically from 0.5 to 2°C. The last 30-years warming in permafrost temperatures observed in the Russian North and Alaska has resulted in thawing of natural, undisturbed permafrost in areas close to the southern boundary of t...

Berlin — February 20th, 2009 — The Federal Minister for Education and Research, Dr Annette Schavan, inaugurated Neumayer Station III today at noontime. The new German research facility thereby starts its scientific operation. It is located 6.5 km south of the old Neumayer Station on the Ekström ice shelf in Dronning Maud Land in the Antarctic. The station serves as a base for scientific observatories as well as logistic centre for inland expeditions and polar aircraft. The Neumayer Station III was erected during seven months in two Antarctic summer seasons by the Alfred Wegener Station for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association. It offers accommodation for up to 40 people. Nine people ensure the year-round operation of the station. The construction project of about 40...

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...

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 ...

February 17, 2009 — FAIRBANKS, Alaska — The Greening of the Arctic (GOA) IPY initiative is comprised of four projects each contributing to documenting, mapping and understanding the rapid and dramatic changes to terrestrial vegetation expected across the circumpolar Arctic as a result of a changing climate. These changes will likely affect the permafrost, active layer, carbon reserves, trace-gas fluxes, hydrological systems, biodiversity, wildlife populations and the human habitability of Arctic ecosystems, says GOA principal investigator Donald “Skip” Walker, director of the Institute of Arctic Biology’s ...

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

The UK Polar Network is proud to present the Atmospheric Sciences Workshop, to be held at the British Antarctic Survey from April 29 to May 1, 2009. This workshop is aimed at early career polar researchers with an interest in atmospheric chemistry or climate modelling. Up-to-date information can be found here. Full registration is now open. Deadline is February 28. Application form is here. Places are limited, so you are advised to sign up quickly. Registration is free, and you will only be asked for a small contribution (£20) towards hospitality. ...

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...