International Polar Year

[Grant]

International Polar Year (IPY) will see thousands of scientists, from more than 60 nations, working together on 220 projects at high latitudes.
Scientists hope to improve their understanding of how changes to the polar regions affect the planet.
IPY will be officially launched in Paris on 1 March. IPY actually runs for two years in order to allow equal coverage of both the Arctic and the Antarctic. It is organised by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).


There are six major research themes within the programme:

• determine the current environmental status of the polar regions
• quantify past and present environmental and social changes, and improve future projections
• understand links between the poles and the rest of the planet
• investigate the frontiers of science in the regions
• use the polar areas to develop and enhance observation of the Earth's interior and of space
• explore the cultural, historical and social aspects of circumpolar human communities

[Kiwi]

There could be some interesting results coming from these studies over the next couple of years. It must be great to get all those countries on bord at the same time and pool resources.

[Grant]

One of the world's biggest research programmes of the past 50 years is due to be launched in Paris.


International Polar Year (IPY) is a $1.5bn (£763m) collaborative effort to study the north and south poles. Thousands of researchers will be carrying out more than 200 projects, with climate change top of the agenda.
This will be the fourth IPY since 1882 but the first one in which the impact of man-made global warming will be clearly visible at both poles.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Major polar study set for launch