The International Polar Years from 1882 to 2008

Updated November 2026

Four International Polar Years have taken place in about 125 years: in 1882–83, 1932–33, 1957–58 (as the International Geophysical Year) and 2007–2009. Each one built on the last, and each left behind new stations, new data and new ways of working together.

Weyprecht's idea

Carl Weyprecht was an Austrian naval officer who co-commanded the Austro-Hungarian polar expedition of 1872–74. He came home convinced that lone expeditions racing for geographic records could not answer the big questions about polar weather and Earth's magnetism. By 1874 he was arguing for a series of coordinated expeditions, using instruments that were precisely alike and following precisely the same instructions, so that their observations could be compared hour by hour.

Weyprecht died in 1881, before his plan was carried out. But the idea of synchronized, shared observation became the model for every polar year since.

The first IPY, 1882–83

About a dozen countries took part. Sources differ slightly on the exact count (11 or 12 nations), but agree on the shape of the effort: 14 stations in the Arctic and 2 in the sub-Antarctic, all recording weather, magnetism and related geophysical observations.

Stations included Fort Rae in Canada, Cap Thordsen on Spitsbergen, Sodankylä in Finland, Bossekop in northern Norway, Jan Mayen, Godthaab in Greenland and sites on Novaya Zemlya and at the mouth of the Lena River in Russia. The United States Army Signal Corps sent two expeditions: one to Point Barrow, Alaska, and one led by Lieutenant Adolphus Greely to Fort Conger on Lady Franklin Bay, the northernmost site of the year. The Greely expedition is also remembered for its hardships: it was not rescued until 1884.

The first IPY is widely described as the first major international scientific collaboration. Its weather records still matter: NOAA has digitized meteorological data from first-IPY stations so they can be compared with the Arctic of today.

The second IPY, 1932–33

The International Meteorological Organization proposed a second polar year to mark the 50th anniversary of the first. More than 40 countries joined (44 or 46, depending on the source), even though it took place in the middle of the Great Depression.

The focus was meteorology, Earth's magnetism, the upper atmosphere and radio science. Its results improved knowledge of the magnetic field and atmospheric conditions and fed into the development of radio communication.

The International Geophysical Year, 1957–58

On 5 April 1950, at a dinner at the home of physicist James Van Allen in Silver Spring, Maryland, the scientist Lloyd Berkner proposed a third polar year. The idea grew into something wider: a study of the whole Earth, not just the poles. The International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) backed it and on 16 May 1952 set up a special committee to organize it.

The result was the International Geophysical Year (IGY), which ran for 18 months, from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. Although it was not called a polar year, it is counted as the third one because of its strong polar focus. Participation grew from 23 nations at the start to 67.

Its results were large:

• Antarctica. Countries set up permanent research stations on the continent.
• Space. The United States announced on 29 July 1955 that it would launch a satellite during the IGY, and the Soviet Union announced its own plans four days later. The Van Allen radiation belts around Earth were discovered during the IGY.
• Data. The IGY created the World Data Centres to store and share its observations, a system that lives on in today's World Data System.

From the IGY to the Antarctic Treaty

The cooperation of the IGY carried straight into diplomacy. On 1 December 1959, twelve countries whose scientists had been active in Antarctica during the IGY signed the Antarctic Treaty in Washington. It entered into force on 23 June 1961.

The treaty's second article says that freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica, "as applied during the International Geophysical Year, shall continue." In other words, the way scientists worked during one research year became international law for a whole continent. Read more on Antarctica and the Treaty.

The fourth IPY, 2007–2009

The fourth IPY was co-sponsored by ICSU and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It marked the 125th anniversary of the first IPY and the 50th anniversary of the IGY. Officially called IPY 2007–2008, its intensive observing period actually ran for two full years, from 1 March 2007 to 1 March 2009, which covered two full summers and two full winters in each polar region.

It was the largest polar research program to date: 228 international projects (170 in science, 1 in data management and 57 in education and outreach) and an estimated 50,000 participants from more than 60 countries. Its themes were climate change, biodiversity and human impacts on the polar regions, and it stressed the role of Indigenous communities in polar science. Its results and legacy are covered on IPY 2007–2008.

Polar years at a glance

Notice the rhythm: 50 years, then 25, then 50 again. The fifth polar year is planned for 2032–2033, 25 years after the fourth. See IPY 2032–2033.

Sources

• History of the First International Polar Year, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
• First International Polar Year data, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
• IPY reports (first IPY station reports), NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
• Signal Corps birthday, U.S. Army
• Past IPYs, IPY-5 (International Polar Year 2032–33)
• Driemel et al. (2015), The IPY 2007–2008 data legacy, Earth System Science Data
• 70 years ago: scientists establish the International Geophysical Year, NASA
• The Antarctic Treaty, Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty
• Text of the Antarctic Treaty (PDF), Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty
• Parties to the Antarctic Treaty, Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty
• IPY summary report published by ICSU/WMO Joint Committee for IPY, UArctic