Friday, March 02, 2007

IPY starts today!

The 1st of March 2007 marks the start of one of the grandest undertakings of the 21st century, and one that the Frozen Five project is proud to be affiliated with.

The International Polar Year (IPY) is a large scientific programme focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic from March 2007 to March 2009. Further information is, of course, available on the official and new IPY website.


IPY, organized through the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), is actually the fourth polar year, following those in 1882-3, 1932-3, and 1957-8. In order to have full and equal coverage of both the Arctic and the Antarctic, IPY 2007-8 covers two full annual cycles from March 2007 to March 2009 and will involve over 200 projects, with thousands of scientists from over 60 nations examining a wide range of physical, biological and social research topics. It is also an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate, follow, and get involved with, cutting edge science in real-time.

Our education and outreach iniatiatives, including classroom presentations, documentaries and exhibitions, make young students aware of the problems facing the Arctic and demonstrate the need for further research in the area. These aims fit well with the hard work of the Youth Steering Committee (for details on the YSC's activities and ways to get involved click here), with which the Frozen Five team is collaborating. In addition, data collection for snow isotope studies will be collected en route, more details on which to follow in another blog.

Good luck to all the other IPY projects! The Frozen Five

No comments: