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 ...

A Capstone of NSF-supported International Polar Year Deployments, AGAP Project May Help Determine What Caused Ice Sheet to Form Flying twin-engine light aircraft the equivalent of several trips around the globe and establishing a network of seismic instruments across an area the size of Texas, a US-led international team of scientists has not only verified the existence of a mountain range that is suspected to have caused the massive East Antarctic Ice Sheet to form, but also has created a detailed picture of the rugged landscape buried under more than four kilometers (2.5 miles) of ice. ...

Press Release: The Polar Information Commons (PIC): Establishing the Framework for Long-term Stewardship of Polar Data and Information

In the Arctic, climate change is more than just a topic of conversation: it’s a fact of life. Arctic communities have already begun to feel the impacts of climate change, both large and small. Land erosion, melting permafrost, and flooding are forcing several Alaskan villages to consider relocation. The Arctic, like most other parts of the world, has warmed substantially over last few decades. This warming trend is projected to continue, and may lead to significant economic and cultural upheaval particularly for the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. It is anticipated that Arctic communities will be disproportio...

23 February 2009 — For the first time, more than 1400 professionals from 40 different countries working in the coldest and most remote places on this planet are united in crossing national and disciplinary boundaries to help address the rapid changes occurring in the Polar Regions and how these changes are affecting the entire planet. Working collaboratively to ensure a continuum of polar research leadership after the International Polar Year, these young researchers created a new organization called the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS). To emphasize the outstanding contributions to polar research from this organization, APECS President Daniela Haase, has been asked to be the Master of Ceremony at the IPY Celebrations held on 25 February in Geneva, Swi...

Columbus, Ohio — In a mission of unprecedented scale, scientists are covering West Antarctica with a network of sensors to monitor the interactions between the ice and the earth below — 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Credit: POLENET. GPS system at Pecora Escarpment, Antarctica In 2007 the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded the collaboration, called POLENET (The Polar Earth Observing Network -- www.polenet.org), $4.5 million to plant global positioning system (GPS) trackers and seismic sensors on the bedrock that cradles the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). Lead insti...

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...

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...

Video Release: Follow the students and staff of the Students on Ice University from Grise Fiord, Nunavut - the northernmost community in the Americas - to Ushuaia, Argentina - the southernmost city in the world. On February 12, 2009, an international team of 71 students and 18 world-class scientists, environmentalists, researchers and educators began their journey to Antarctica, an initiative led by Canadian adventure educator Geoff Green, the founder of Students on Ice Expeditions (SOI). The ship-based expedition is part of the...

By Jenny Rock, School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University Climate change and polar oceans: With global warming, the world's ecosystems have been described as migrating toward the poles, such that when the ice disappears entirely the ecosystems at the poles will be "pushed right off the planet". For the polar environment, these are of course dominantly marine ecosystems, and although many organisms are/or will soon feel the effects, the polar bears have become iconic for polar organisms in peril. There is grim irony here: Until very recently the ice bear was unconditionally feared by western man. As the early explorer's discovered, even when dead the beasts could kill you (their liver had the final say on numerous occasions). Polar bears we...