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Hot Science in Polar Regions

'IPY Special' on Hot Science in Polar Regions
WCRP's Special on the International Polar Year will feature constant updates on those IPY projects affiliated to the WCRP or the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP), of which WCRP is part of, throughout the IPY period from 1 March 2007 to 1 March 2009 (read more). Contribute to WCRP/IPY climate and cryosphere research by sending a message to wcrp@wmo.int.

sea-level rise

U.S. assessments on climate change impacts on coasts and the high latitudes 26.01.09
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has released a report that discusses the impacts of sea-level rise on coasts and coastal communities (more). A second report prepared by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program highlights the rapid climate changes in the Arctic and at high latitudes (more).

Evidence of warming of the Antarcic ice-sheet surface 22.01.09
Earlier assessments of Antarctic temperature change have emphasized the contrast between strong warming of the Antarctic Peninsula and slight cooling of the Antarctic continental interior in recent decades. A recent study led by Dr Eric Steig from the University of Washington, Seattle, now reveals that significant warming extends well beyond the Antarctic Peninsula to cover most of West Antarctica, an area warming much larger than previously reported. The study was published in Nature.

Special Issue: Hydrologic Effect of a Shrinking Cryosphere 13.01.09
The WCRP Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) project and the Water and Climate Impacts Research Centre (W-CIRC) have joined expertise to prepare a special issue on the Hydrologic Effect of a Shrinking Cryosphere. The publication edited by Terry Prowse, member of the CliC Scientific Steering Group, contains comprehensive review articles on the response of the world's glaciers and ice sheets, snowpack and permafrost to global warming and their effects on river run-off, water quality and geomorphology. More.

International Polar Day: Above the polar regions 04.12.08
Today, the International Polar Year (IPY) launches its seventh International Polar Day focusing on research 'above the poles', including meteorology, atmospheric science, astronomy, and the view of the polar regions from space (media release). The WCRP-SPARC project prepared educative background material on the polar atmosphere focusing on stratospheric ozone and polar vortex (more; read feature article).

EOS: Sustained Arctic Observations 23.09.08
Today, Arctic vulnerability to climate change and other human impacts is clear cause for concern. How can the scientific community best bring its expertise to bear on addressing this concern? The first need is to provide sustained and integrated monitoring of the Arctic system including, of course, its ocean. EOS article by K. Alverson.

Ice and Climate news: August 2008 issue 02.09.08
Number 11 of the CliC newsletter includes a warm welcome to the new CliC Project Office Director Dr Daqing Yang and feature articles on Antarctic ice Shelves in a Changing Climate; Predicting the Fate of Ice Shelves; Monitoring Arctic Coastal Dynamics; Arctic River Runoff in the Context of Globa Warming; Landfast Ice Variation during the Past Five Decades; and many other topics. Download CliC news.

Workshop: Climate product generation, user liaison and training 10.08.08
The WMO/WCRP/IPY Workshop on CLIPS in Polar Regions aims to bring together climate and user representatives with interests in polar regions, so share information and identify requirements for climate information, products and services, and to engage in awareness and technical training. This first-of-its kind workshop will be held in St Petersburg, Russian Federation, 8-11 September 2008. More.

Congralutations to this year's IMO Prize Laureate: Dr Qin Dahe, WCRP/CliC scientist 07.07.08
Dr Qin Dahe from China, member of the WCRP/CliC Scientific Steering Group, won this year’s prestigious International Meteorological Organization (IMO) Prize for his achievements in cryosphere and climate research, and for promoting international cooperation in meteorology. Read feature article.

Climate-and-cryosphere challenges in Canada 15.04.08
Much of Northern Canada is covered by snow and ice for 7 to 10 months of the year, and below that: seasonally frozen ground and permafrost. Aboriginal peoples living in the High Arctic depend heavily on a firm and persistent snow and ice cover as transportation routes during winter. But rapid environmental changes pose new challenges to local communities. Read feature article.

China's National Committee on Climate and Cryosphere enters a new phase 15.04.08
The second Chinese National Committee of the WCRP/SCAR Climate and Cryosphere project (CNC-CliC) met in Beijing on 26 February 2008 to launch a new phase. Phase 2 is expected to strengthen research on climate and cryosphere in China. More.

WCRP IPY activities 11.03.08
A year ago, on 1 March 2007, the International Polar Year 2007/2008, one of the most ambitious coordinated international science programmes was launched. Many of the IPY leaders and participants are members of WCRP projects and groups. Climate issues are at the forefront of the majority of IPY studies. More on WCRP IPY activities.

Antarctic ice loss speeds up nearly matching Greenland ice sheet loss 27.02.08
Ice loss in Antarctica increased by 75 per cent in the last 10 years, according to an international team led by Eric Rignot of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. More.

Ice and Climate News: Global Prediction of the Cryosphere 24.01.08
Global Prediction of the Cryosphere is one of the four themes of the CliC project. The Workshop on Global Prediction of the Cryosphere that took place in October 2007 identified gaps in our current understanding of how sea ice, ice shelves, glaciers, snow cover, lake ice, river ice, permafrost and the large ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica might change in the future. Learn more in the Cryosphere in the Ice and Climate newsletter of CliC.

Arctic sea ice 'faces rapid melt' 21.01.08
The Arctic may be close to a tipping point that sees all-year-round ice disappear very rapidly in the next few decades, US scientists have warned. The new study, by a team of scientists from NCAR, the University of Washington, and McGill University, found that the ice system could be being weakened to such a degree by global warming that it soon accelerates its own decline. See more information.

Better collaboration in sake of the Asian cryosphere 18.10.07
At the 2nd Asia CliC Symposium held in China, 22-26 October, collaboration among researchers was considered not sufficient to make optimal use of existing data. Read the Symposium statement.

WMO Bulletin on the International Polar Year 2007-2008 18.10.07
WMO devoted the October Bulletin to this global focus on frozen regions, which simultaneously provides a test of our ability to understand the planet, a warning of our impact on the planet and an opportunity to develop a new science paradigm-public partnership that will act for the benefit of the planet and humanity. WCRP/CliC Chair Barry Goodison provided an article on the State and Fate of the Polar Cryosphere, a CliC IPY initiative. Read more about the WCRP IPY activities and download WMO Bulletin articles from www.wmo.int/pages/publications/bulletin/october_2007.html.

Participate in the Marine Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project! 09.10.07
Researchers are invited to participate in the Marine Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project (MISMIP), which will assess the ability of numerical marine ice sheet models to track grounding line migration, with particular emphasis placed on representations of the ice sheet-ice shelf transition zone. All marine ice sheet models that incorporate grounding line migration are invited to participate. Deadline for sumission of results: 1 March 2008. Please contact Mr P. Huybrechts, ISMIP Coordinator, phuybrec(at)vub.ac.be.

News from the SPARC-IPY Mission 25.09.07
The WCRP/Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC) project created a new website on the 'SPARC-IPY Mission' to document progress of the SPARC IPY Activity No. 217 on 'The Structure and Evolution of the Polar Stratosphere and Mesosphere and Links to the Troposphere during IPY'. This project studies the dynamics, chemistry and microphysical processes within the polar vortices during the IPY period, with a focus on the stratosphere-troposphere and stratosphere-mesosphere coupling. See website.

International Sea Ice Day on 21 September 20.09.07
The International Polar Year (IPY) will launch Sea Ice Day, its first International Polar Day, on Friday, 21 September 2007. More than thirty IPY projects presently study some aspect of sea ice or sea ice ecology. The IPY Sea Ice Day represents an opportunity to learn about these (and many more) sea ice projects and to talk to sea ice experts. See new website.

WCRP/CliC scientist Dr Drinkwater on Sea Ice Day 18.09.07
Sea Ice Day is appropriately timed to focus attention on the recent historical minimum arctic summer sea-ice extent in September 2007. As part of the CliC-led GIIPSY IPY Project (#91) the European Space Agency, together with the world's Space Agencies is providing satellite data which are being used to capture a snapshot of the current 'ice-scape' of the Arctic and Southern Oceans. Read more.

Quicklook at fast melting Arctic Sea Ice 10.08.07
From 10 August through the end of the summer melt season the US National Snow and Ice Data Center will post updates on the state of the Arctic sea ice as events warrant. See website. Arctic sea ice extent continues to decline; it is currently tracking at 4.92 million square kilometers, below the 2005 record absolute minimum of 5.32 million square kilometres.

Ocean Modelling for Climate - and Antarctic Sea Ice Thickness 13.07.07
No. 42 of the WCRP/CLIVAR Exchanges newsletter is on Ocean Model Development and Assessment - download here.
The WCRP/CliC project issued a flyer on Antarctic sea ice thickness...the way forward stating that "there has never been a greater demand for climate data, yet sea ice thickness remains arguably the largest single gap in our knowledge of the climate system". Download the flyer here.

Ice and Climate News: Mountain Cryosphere 12.07.07
Mountain glaciers are the source of water for over half of humanity, yet almost everywhere they are rapidly disappearing, and many have already disappeared. A group of scientists from Europe and South America agreed on a statement at a scientific meeting in Chile that mountain glaciers are shrinking alarmingly. Download press release in English/Spanish/Italian and the Ice and Climate newsletter of CliC.

Cryosphere Layer for Google Earth to learn about IPY projects 26.06.07
The new layer created for the International Polar Year will evolve constantly throughout the IPY period 2007-2008 through contributions of IPY scientists. Take a guided tour of all 240 endorsed IPY projects and submit background information on your own project! Read more.

State and Fate of the Cryosphere 20.06.07
Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) is coordinating all IPY projects on behand Fate one of the largest WCRP IPY project is 'State and Fate of the Cryosphere' which aims at studying the state of the cryosphere, its associated past, present and future variability, to understand physical and biogeochemical interactions between the oceanic, atmospheric, terrestrial, social, cultural and economic systems. Read about CliC's IPY projects.

'Melting Ice - A Hot Topic?' New UNEP Report published 04.06.07
The futures of hundreds of millions of people across the world will be affected by declines in snow cover, sea ice, glaciers, permafrost and lake ice a new and unique report launched to mark World Environment Day says. Several crucial chapters in this UNEP report Global Outlook for Ice and Snow were led by WCRP/Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) scientists, and CliC documentation and plans were acknowledged in scoping the outlook. See UNEP website for press releases and download of the report.

'Ice is now considered a component of the Earth System!' 30.05.07
The Cryosphere Theme Report of the Integrated Global Observing System (IGOS-cryo) was approved today at the 14th session of the IGOS Partners, held at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. WCRP, all WCRP sponsors and other IGOS Partners agreed on the implementation of a more comprehensive, coordinated and integrated cryospheric observing system. Keith Alverson, one of the two IGOS co-chairs, concluded the discussions following the report's presentation that 'ice is now considered a component of the Earth System!'.

State of the Cryospheric Observing System 02.05.07
The Cryosphere Theme of the Integrated Global Observing System (IGOS-cryo) is a combined initiative of WCRP's CliC project and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Their report published on 1 May 2007 aims at initiating a more comprehensive, coordinated and integrated cryospheric observing system, which is considered an important legacy of the ongoing International Polar Year 2007-2008.

ESA supports WCRP/CliC's IPY projects 19.04.07
In June 2006, the European Space Agency announced the opportunity to conduct scientific research and application development in support of the IPY, and encouraged WCRP/CliC scientists in particular to submit their proposals (see news archive). GIIPSY, a CliC-led IPY project in conjunction with IGOS-cryo (the cryospheric theme of the Integrated Global Observation System) is now coordinating data acquisition requests for several space agencies (see ESA-funded IPY projects).

Challenges and Legacies of International Polar Research 26.03.07
On 1 March 2007, the International Polar Year 2007-2008 was launched. It builds on a 125-year history of internationally coordinated studies of polar regions. However, it is the first time that the Polar Year tries to capture the human dimension of societies living in the far North. Read WCP's feature article.

WCRP involvement during IPY 20.03.07
What the 50-year Return Period Event offers to Global Change Science is the title of a presentation Dr Vladimir Ryabinin, Senior Science Officer in the WCRP Joint Planning Staff, gave on 8 March at the 50 Ans du Centre d'Etudes Arcticques event held in Paris, France. See presentation.

The Scope of Science for the IPY 19.03.07
The IPY is organized around six scientific themes: to determine the environmental status of the polar regions; to quantify the ongoing changes; to advance understanding of global linkages; to investigate the frontiers of science; to develop and enhance observatories from the interior or the Earth to the sun and the cosmos beyond; and to investigate human dimensions in polar regions. Read more in the WMO-ICSU brochure 'The Scope of Science for the IPY'.

Canadian Government Supports WCRP's IPY activities 08.03.07
A total of 44 Canadian science and research projects selected for IPY receive funding from the Government of Canada - the bulk are WCRP activities. Read more.

The Big IPY Online Library 07.03.07
The International Polar Year Publications Database is now
available online at http://www.nisc.com/ipy. The Database contains bibliographic records for publications about or resulting from the IPY 2007-2008 and the three previous IPYs and is expected to grow to approximately 20,000 records in the next ten years.

WMO Brochure and Movie on Polar Meteorology 06.03.07
This year's theme for the celebrations of the World Meteorological Day (23 March) is on Polar Meteorology - understanding global impacts. The World Meteorological Organization has issued a brochure and a short 2-minute movie. See WMO-Brochure No. 1013 (PDF, 1.5 MB) and download Movie from FTP-server.

German Research "Log-Books" on IPY 05.03.07
What is today's science plan of the icebreaker Polarstern? And what is the progress in the Antarctic Drilling Programme? The German Commission for the International Polar Year has developed a new website on German IPY activities on the North and South Poles (see website).

Launch of International Polar Year 2007-2008 Today 01.03.07
The World Meteorological Organization and the International Council for Science, two of the WCRP sponsors, lead the International Polar Year (IPY), which is envisioned as an intensive burst of internationally coordinated, interdisciplinary, scientific research and observations focussed on the Earth's polar regions. "Climate research dominates the IPY agenda" says Dr Barry Goodison, Chair of the WCRP Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) project, in his background paper on the WCRP and the IPY. Press release.

WCRP's IPY Projects 27.02.07
WCRP's core project on Climate and Cryosphere, CliC, stimulated and coordinate the preparations for IPY on behalf of the WCRP. Indeed, almost all aspects of IPY planning involve coordination with the WCRP. The Programme and its projects are a lead international agency of 22 major projects and a few more affiliated with the ESSP. Projects are concerned with the Land, Ocean, Ice, Atmosphere, Space and Data sections of the IPY-Chart; some projects cross-cut to the Education, Outreach Earth or People categories (see honeycomb illustration).

Find out more about WCRP's IPY Projects:

No.	Domain or Name	IPY No.
1	Synoptic Antarctic Shelf-Slope Interaction Study (SASSI)	8
2	Sea level and tidal science in the polar oceans	13
3	Integrated Arctic Ocean Observing System (iAOOS)	14
4	Bipolar Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation (BIAC)	23
5	Polar study using Aircraft, Remote sensing, surface measurements and modelling of climate, chemistry, aerosols and transport (POLARCAT)	32
6	Ocean-Atmosphere-Sea Ice-Snowpack Interactions affecting Atmospheric Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems in the Arctic (OASIS-IPY)	38
7	Data and Information Service (IPYDIS)	49
8	Permafrost Observatory Project: Thermal State of Permafrost (TSP)	50
9	Monitoring of the upper ocean circulation, transport and water masses between Africa and Antarctica (UCAA)	70
10	Arctic Circumpolar Coastal Observatory Network (ACCO-Net)	90
11	Global Inter-agency IPY Polar Snapshot Year (GIIPSY)	91
12	The Arctic Hydrological Cycle Monitoring, Modelling and Assessment Program (Arctic-HYDRA)	104
13	The State and Fate of the Cryosphere	105
14	Sea Ice from Space for the IPY (iAOOS-SISI)	108
15	Climate of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean - Ocean Circulation Cluster (CASO)	132
16	Cold Land Processes in the Northern Hemisphere (CLPNH)	138
17	Hydrological Impact of Arctic Aerosols (HIAA)	140
18	Antarctic Sea Ice in IPY	141
19	Antarctic Climate and Atmospheric Circulation	180
20	Impacts of Surface Fluxes on Arctic Climate: Severe Storms, Effects on Coastal Processes and Relationships to Changing Climate	205
21	The Structure and Evolution of the Polar Stratosphere and Mesosphere and Links to the Troposphere during IPY (SPARC-IPY)	217
22	Comprehensive Meteorological dataset of active IPY Antarctic measurement phase (COMPASS)	267
23	Program of Antarctic Nova Disciplines Aspects (PANDA)	313

Contact: WCRP

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