The third day of the IPY field school kicked off with another brisk stroll down to UNIS. Weather conditions were much clearer and warmer; the sun even popped its head out every now and again to see how the IPY students were getting along. The first lecture of the day was given by Prof. Hanne Christiansen, giving a thorough background on the Geology of Svalbard. Following Prof. Hanne Christiansen was a series of lectures given by PhD student Monica Sund covering glaciology and in particular the amazing glaciers covering the Svalbard landscape. It is very interesting to learn of the vast historical record that the geology of the region contains and the picturesque landscape made the task even better. Following the lectures and a brief lunch, the students met up at Nybyen for the geomo...

New record Arctic sea ice cover minimum? Climate researchers from Bremerhaven and Hamburg present new prognoses Bremerhaven/Hamburg, June 10th 2009. Climate researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and KlimaCampus of the University of Hamburg participate for the second time in an international scientific competition. Some of the most renowned climate research institutes worldwide fathom possibilities for seasonal prognoses of Arctic sea ice cover by means of different methods and climate models. The declared aim of all participants is to find the best method for reliable prognoses. The German researchers agree upon a continuing negative trend. Another critical minimum of Arctic sea ice is to be expected in the late summer of 2009. ...

Content: 1. IPO Update 2. Political Impacts of IPY 3. Polar Weeks 4. Upcoming meetings 5. Update from APECS 6. Update from Oslo 2010 Planning Process 7. Call for new stories and blogs for www.ipy.org 8. Archiving IPY materials Report no. 26, June 2009 From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups 1. IPO Update Please join us in congratulating Nicola Munro on the birth of her daughter Isabella Rose on May 11th. Mom and daughter are both doing well and we are very excited to welcome a new polar enthusiast into the world. An interim replacement for Nicola's position will hopefully ...

Documentary filmmaker Mark Terry, president of Polar Cap Productions, Inc., took a team to Antarctica last December and January to document the recent findings made by the world’s scientific community during International Polar Year. The documentary will focus on new discoveries made related to the ozone hole, the diminishing populations of penguins and other marine life, the greening of the world’s largest desert, warming temperatures, glacial melting and increased world sea level. Featuring interviews from polar scientists from Canada, the US, the UK, Ukraine and Russia, a global cross-section of research on climate change will be presented. One of these featured interviews will be with Dr. David Ainley, renowned...

9th ACUNS International Student Conference The Communities of Change – Building an IPY Legacy Conference will highlight research occurring at both poles, including interactions between the cryosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, atmosphere and society. Inter-disciplinary sessions will be arranged based on the number and breadth of Abstracts submitted. Poster Proposals and Travel Support applications are also now being accepted. For information regarding the submission of a poster proposal and regarding travel support, please visit www.communitiesofchange.ca. Abstract Submission Deadline: May 31, 2009 For guidelines a...

On the occasion of the 31st Antarctic Treaty Consultative meeting held in Kiev, Ukraine, from the 2nd to the 13th of June 2008, SciencePoles looks at one of the lasting legacies of the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-08: A series of high-tech scientific research stations recently completed, or in the process of being constructed in Antarctica. Never since the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58 has the frozen continent seen suc...

Over 4.5 months, from November 2007 to March 2008, the BELARE expedition built the Princess Elisabeth Station's outer shell and set up the seven remaining wind turbines at Utsteinen, East Antarctica. Princess Elisabeth Station: From Tour & Taxis to Utsteinen After the success it encountered during its pre-assembly and public viewing in Brussels, the elements of the Princess Elisabeth station were dismantled and packed into containers. They were then loaded onto a Russian ice-class cargo ship on November 6, 2007 for their twenty day journey ...

By John Mitchell, Voyage Leader. Now we are out of the inner Ross Sea the focus of the voyage has changed to sampling seamounts (underwater mountains) and the abyss (seafloor in the deep ocean 2000–4000 m). We’re surveying a series of seamounts, concentrating on the Scott complex around Scott Island north of the Ross Sea, at about 68 ºS, 180º followed by the Admiralty chain further to the west. Even further west are the Balleny Islands and associated seamounts, which will not be visited this trip as they have already been sampled during previous Tangaroa voyages. The composition of the fauna has gradually changed and reduced in quantity (but not quality) as we have moved north and is now ‘transitional’ i.e., is a mixture containing fauna typical of both the Ross ...

Drawing South is a website documenting the visual communication of artist Nicholas Hutcheson from on board the ship Aurora Australis as it visits 3 of the Australian bases on one of the annual re-supply trips. Nicholas will be heading to the Antarctic as part of the Australian Governments Antarctic Arts fellowship progam. Each week of the 8 week voyage, a new set of drawings will be uploaded featuring the weather, interviews with people working in the Antartic, answers to viewers questions and the daily observations of things around him. Part of this project is working with school students who are following the journey, asking him questions and learning about Ant...

The Last Polar Bear records and celebrates one of nature’s most majestic creatures — the polar bear — and examines how global warming is affecting the fragile, complex Arctic environment. Polar bears use sea ice to move about, find mates and hunt for seals. As temperatures warm, the loss of the pack ice directly impacts their ability to survive. Scientists agree that Arctic ice is disappearing at an alarming rate. Last summer, sea ice levels plummeted to their lowest since satellite measurements began in 1979. And a new scientific study by the U.S. Geological Survey, released last fall, predicts that two-thirds of the world’s polar bears, including Alaska’s entire population, may disapp...