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magazine / jf10
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January/February 2010 issue |
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INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR
 Scientists brave chilling winds near the ship Amundsen.
Photo: Doug Barber
Two ways of knowing: What Inuit wisdom and Arctic science can teach us about global warming
Papikatuk: A boy and his grandfather talk about Arctic change
Arctic shadows: R.M. Anderson expedition footage, part 1 and part 2
IPY aims: Learn more about the goals of IPY in 2007-08
Into the unknown: Follow the 1881-84 Greely Expedition
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What is IPY?
International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-08 is a collaborative international effort to research the polar regions. Discover its key issues. Read more »
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Community research station
At the Kluane Lake Research Station, what’s happening in the Arctic is a family affair. Read more »
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Are the Inuit Healthy?
A mass health checkup of the Inuit attempts to set right a terrifying legacy left by the C.D. Howe. Read more »
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The Arctic mercury mystery
Scientists rush to unlock why Mercury taints the Arctic air and what this means for the planet. Read more »
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A Canadian scientist in Norway
Does sending a geography student to Norway offer the answer to fostering Arctic scientists of the future?
Read more »
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The Future of Arctic Research
After the glut of International Polar Year funding evaporates, what does the future hold for Arctic exploration?
Read more »
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Multimedia
Discover videos, interactive features and photo essays mapping the issues, science and communities behind the International Polar Year.
View now »
The planet’s polar regions are home to almost four million people and teem with animals, plant life and abundant resources. They are also, of course, integral to the health of the Earth’s environment.
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IPY around the world
To view an interactive chart with links to all IPY projects, click on the chart above |
The impact of rapid melting in the continent-sized ice sheets covering the poles’ surfaces isn’t limited to local communities — it is being felt around the globe.
“Changes we’re seeing in the North indicate what we’ll need to deal with further south in the very near future,” says David Hik, executive director of the Canadian International Polar Year (IPY) Secretariat and a Canada Research Chair in northern ecology at the University of Alberta.
Yet, the poles are remote places that scientists can only reach by air or sea, leading to limited research there. The IPY in 2007-08, organized by the International Council for Science and the World Meteorological Organization, sought to change that. Pooling the intellectual resources of researchers from more than 60 nations, it brought them to the Arctic and Antarctica to broaden and advance our knowledge of these global climate barometers.
Canada focused its attention on our nation’s final frontier, and the resulting Arctic explorations flowed from research collected during three previous IPYs in 1882-83, 1932-33 and 1957-58. By comparing data collected in the past with environmental conditions today, scientists will be able to more clearly chart our planet’s future.
However, IPY’s vision not only involved scientists and researchers, but Northern community leaders and Inuit elders. “Without meaning to the people living in these environments or connecting this research back to issues of social and cultural importance,” says Hik, “IPY doesn’t have the same importance.”
With its focus on global linkages and human communities, the 2007-08 IPY went beyond the geosciences to raise awareness of what the changing environment means for people worldwide. Now the legacy it leaves is up to us.
Related content and resources:
Photo Club
Read a one-on-one interview with photographer Fritz Mueller and view a gallery of his photos.
The Canadian Atlas Online
A great source of information on International Polar Year in Canada, from its origins to the latest research findings.
Interactive IPY Map
An interactive map that locates, describes and illustrates more than 50 IPY projects across Canada’s North.
| Comments on this article | Leave a comment | I wish I was a scientist, because I believe in what these are doing and I wish I could participate in determining the facts in this issue. There is a lot of science that I think most people are particularly unaware of and it's important the information get out. I envy the writer's ability to cover this story. The best I can do is bug my MP to get some traction on the issue. Good luck writer and scientists all. The north is Canada and we shouldn't forget about it.
Nice to read an article on another promising young Labradorian! Good Luck, Robert!!
Not really a cause for rejoicing. Dozens of reports indicate this ice is thin and that the Arctic has changed in a disastrous way.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/02/21/arctic-ice.html
http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/canada/article/414964melt-season-for-canadian-arctic-sea-ice-outpacing-global-average-study
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/25/melting-arctic-north-pole-explorers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/sep/05/climatechange.sciencenews
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/science/earth/02arct.html
I was fortunate enough to do some research at KLRS with the University of Ottawa and let me tell you, Andy and the gang really make you feel at home. I wish you all the best with renovations and I hope to one day go back to the station to show my children how wonderful it is.
It's good to know that polar ice is increasing again: "A report from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado finds that Arctic summer sea ice has increased by 409,000 square miles, or 26 per cent, since 2007."
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