MEDIA ADVISORY On December 4th, 2008, the International Polar Year 2007-8 (IPY) will launch its seventh International Polar Day focusing on research Above the Polar Regions, including meteorology, atmospheric science, astronomy, and the view of the polar regions from space. This event coincides with the start of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA). During the week of December 4th, IPY scientists will make themselves available to discuss their research and answer questions from university students, the media, general public, and school children. Activities include live events, a world-wide ‘launch a virtual weather balloon

Below is a list of Press officers responsible for IPY events around the world.

Please also consult National IPY Committees for information on national events.

ICSU: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , ICSU Paris
WMO: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Australia: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Government Antarctic Division
Canada: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Canadian IPY secretariat

Three new stamps featuring Antarctic landscapes have been issued by the Republic of San Marino on November 18th to celebrate the fourth International Polar Year. San Marino is one of the oldest republics in the world (it was created in 301 AD) as well as one of the smallest (61 Km2, with a population of 30,000). It is landlocked between the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche, in Italy. The Philatelic Bureau of the Republic of San Marino was created in 1981, but the republic issued the the first stamp back in 1877. The three IPY stamps were designed by Marco Mussoni, with photos taken by Lucia Simion, professional photograher and science writer specialized on Antarctica and the subantarctic. The three new stamps' dimensions are 30 x 40 mm; they feature Mount Melbo...

By Hayley Hung, INCATPA The IPY INCATPA (INterContinental Atmospheric Transport of Anthropogenic Pollutants to the Arctic) project has completed its first results workshop, held in Toronto, Canada, from September 31 - October 2, 2008. The workshop was attended by 34 participants and partners including international collaborators from China, Vietnam, Russia, U.S. and U.K. Presentations, discussions and activities during the 3-day workshop focused on current status of sampling activities, challenges and strategies for the next several months. Timelines were built for data submission and QA/QC. Achievements that were highlighted at the workshop included: Air sampling activities for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and mercury (Hg) have been ini...

SciencePoles science journalist Jean de Pomereu is currently aboard the research and logistics ice breaker, the Xue Long (Snow Dragon), covering the 25th Chinese Antarctic expedition (CHINARE). As the first ever non-Chinese journalist allowed to take part in a Chinese Antarctic expedition, Mr. de Pomereu will document this season’s expedition with regularly published articles on the International Polar Foundation's SciencePoles website. With 204 participants led by Professor Huigen Yang, developments during this year’s CHINARE expedition will be very interesting to follow as researchers conduct 36 different science programmes in fields ranging from marine ...

The Royal Society of Victoria, involved on polar (Antarctic) science since 1874 is conducting a flight to the South Magnetic Pole on 17 January 2009, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first party (Australians Prof. Edgeworth David and Douglas Mawson and Scotsman Dr Alistair Mackay) to locate the Magnetic Pole in January 1909. The 12 hour return flight ex Sydney and Melbourne has been arranged as an in-flight scientific program with international scientists presenting papers. Also onboard the 350 seat aircraft will be 60 final year students as "young science ambassadors" drawn from schools from all Australian States, New Zealand, Canada, Finland and the United Kingdom. A few seats are still available for interested scientists. Contact details:...

Google has just announced that they have begun making the entire 10-million photo archive of LIFE magazine available on their servers. To access the images just do an image search for a topic, adding "source:life" to your search query. Searching for "antarctica source:life" or "arctic source:life" serves up some stunning photography, most of it never published before. Here is just a small sampler:...

Dai Ghiacci allo Spazio — The history of the Navy Officer Carl Weyprecht and of the development of his international scientific research project in the political and cultural context of the 19th century, and up to the present IPY, IGY, IYPE, eGY and IHY. Published in Italian by Biblion Edizioni in 2008. The First International Polar Year was born from an idea of the Austro-Hungarian Naval lieutenant, Carl Weyprecht. Coming back to Trieste, Italy, from his expedition in the Arctics, Weyprecht developed his plan ...

POLAR PERSPECTIVES is now well underway, taking place at 15 venues across the country, in each of Canada's provinces and territories! This National IPY event is supported by the Government of Canada’s International Polar Year Program, the Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation, the Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada, Students on Ice, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and Canadian Geographic Magazine.   The Speaker Series consists of an evening lecture program delivered to a general audience by prominent scientists, writers, artists, filmmakers, adventurers and leaders. It is intended to ...

Press release: Scientists report major steps towards first census of marine life Meeting in Spain, global crew shares progress towards historic Census in 2010; Among revelations in fourth interim global report: Antarctic ancestry of many octopus species, Behemoth bacteria, colossal sea stars, mammoth mollusks, more The 2,000-strong community of Census of Marine Life scientists from 82 nations today announced astonishing ex...