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 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 ...

9th ACUNS International Student Conference on Northern Studies and Polar Regions October 2 to 5, 2009 Yukon College - Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada Second Call for Abstracts The Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies/Association universitaire canadienne d’études nordiques (ACUNS), in partnership with Yukon College in Whitehorse, is soliciting Abstracts that encompass the following areas: The impact of sustainable development, economic activity and polar law on communities, governance and natural habitats. The use of natural, physical and social sciences to help understand the causes and effects of the changing polar climate.

Content: 1. IPO Update 2. ATCM declaration 3. Update from EGU 4. Upcoming meetings 5. Update from APECS 6. Call for stories and blogs for ipy.org 7. Archiving IPY materials 8. Toward a Polar Information Commons Report no. 25, May 2009 From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups 1. IPO Update Please note that Nicola Munro will take maternity leave as of 1 May 2009. We will introduce the interim replacement person next month. To contact the IPO, please use ipyipo@bas.ac.uk we will respond, albeit perhaps not as quickly. Please note that Karen ...

Issue 14 of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears online magazine is now available! In Polar Oceans, learn about two very different oceans - the Arctic and Southern Oceans - at opposite ends of the Earth. As always, our magazine features science and literacy content knowledge for teachers, as well as a variety of other professional resources. This month, learn about ...

Content: 1. Polar Oceans Weeks - March 2009 2. Changes in the IPO 3. Changes to ipy.org 4. Polar plans and assessments from ISAC and SCAR 5. Upcoming conferences and meetings 6. Update from APECS 7. Archiving IPY materials 8. Data, data, data - monthly reminder Report no. 24, April 2009 From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups 1. Polar Oceans Weeks - March 2009 In March 2009, we focussed on Polar Oceans as the eighth IPY Polar Day. Our usual 'Day' turned into more than 2 weeks of activities, starting from 14th March and continuing to the end of March. Events and activities took ...

The Maryland Science Center at Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Credit: Maryland Science Center On the 6th of April 2009, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting and the Arctic Council met together in Washington DC. The fourty-seven signatory nations to the Antarctic Treaty include several northern countries that also hold membership on the Arctic Council, but in Washington the two polar political organizations met together for the first time. The USA hosted the meeting, at the US Department of State, in recognition of the initial signing of the Antarctic Treaty, also in Washington, in 1959, 50 years ago. The Treaty meetings extend for an additional two weeks, in Baltimore, and the Arctic Council will go on to its own meetings later this month, in Norway. This special...

Looking for some new ideas for your ecosystem unit? The latest issue of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears can help! In Tundra: Life in the Polar Extremes (Issue 13, April 2009), learn about the species and relationships that characterize the tundra in both the Arctic and Antarctica. Discover science and literacy as well as ...

Science Centres in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico connected to IPY scientists in the first of many live events starting today (March 17) at 1600UTC. Students were able to interact with and ask questions directly of the scientists using videoconferencing technologies. Andy Mahoney (Scott Base, sea ice), Russ Hopcroft (Alaska, zooplankton and the Arctic Ocean Diversity project), Martin Nweeia (Massachusetts, narwhal tusks), Irene Schloss (Quebec, plankton ecology) and Rachael Mueller (Oregon, physical oceanography) talked about their research and answered students’ questions about climate change, snow and ice, and polar organisms. Students at UNAM (Mexico) and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry gave presentations on climate change and its impacts on local and polar environments. Stude...

The International Polar Year science and education community warmly encourages you to join us from the 14th March to celebrate our IPY Polar Oceans Fortnight! Activities and events will continue throughout these last 2 weeks of March, focusing on physical oceanography, interface interactions, ocean biodiversity, and historical records in sea floor sediments to name a few! Local events have been stimulated to occur around the world including in Italy, Canada, Malaysia, Scotland, France, Germany, Brazil, USA, and Mexico. Events start with 'Our Dynamic Earth', Edinburgh, UK which is a hands-on public engagement with Drs Eleanor Bell and Arlene Rowan, researchers from the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) who will be displaying Arctic research footage from recent expeditions at...