Polar News and Notes Polar News & Notes

News from the polar regions in August includes alarming news for Arctic sea ice, polar bears, and Greenland’s massive glaciers and insights into Antarctica’s past climate and current response to global climate change. Missed these stories the first time? Read on!
While news early in the month predicted that the 2008 Arctic sea ice minimum would […]

PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is currently accepting applications. Teachers are invited to submit an application to participate in field research learning experiences during the 2009 (Arctic) or 2009-2010 (Antarctic) field seasons.
Through the PolarTREC program , over 40 K-12 U.S. teachers will spend two to six weeks in the Arctic or Antarctic, working […]

Would you like to add some real-time data to your penguin unit this year? Thanks to education outreach resources from an Antarctic research team, you can!
Dr. David Ainley studies Adelie penguin populations in Antarctica. His long term research of 30 years has recently shown indication of the penguin populations reacting to climate change. His web […]

September 24 will be the officially designated Sixth International Polar Day. Polar days are held every three months during the two-year-long scientific program focused on the poles, the International Polar Year 2007-2008 (IPY). The days are occasions for schools, science centers, and museums to engage their audiences in learning about the importance of the poles […]

Looking ahead to a time when the “freezing land and seas of the Arctic are likely to be getting hotter in terms of geopolitics,” Durham University in the United Kingdom has dawn up a map that plots boundaries, disputed claims, and potential trouble spots.
Martin Pratt of the university’s International Boundaries Research Unit says the map […]

Well inside the Arctic Circle, scientists have found vents in the submerged Mid-Atlantic Ridge spewing out water as hot as 570 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the farthest north anyone has seen black smoker vents — so called because it appears as if dark smoke is billowing from them. In fact, the “smoke” is actually iron- […]

Last fall, Iceland established a committee on climate change to guide the government’s policy on environmental issues. This summer the first report was delivered—with predictions of significant changes. For example,

 Farmers will be able to grow wheat and pumpkins by the middle of the century.
 Fish species, such as cod, haddock flounder, halibut, and sole, that have […]

After three million years of being frozen out, mollusks and other marine creatures in the North Pacific will be able to move into the Arctic Ocean thanks to global warming. Researchers from the University of California and the California Academy of Sciences say warmer waters and ice-free conditions will likely allow Pacific species of mussels, […]

Starting September 30, NSTA will offer a online short course about energy for teachers of grades 3-9. Course participants will meet on five consecutive Tuesday evenings (Sept. 30, Oct. 7, 14, 21, and 28) to ask questions and have discussions. A course listserv and self-paced completion of course materials round out the experience.
Fees, which include all […]

After working on the next generation of robots for NASA’s exploration of Mars, Ayanna Howard wondered if a similar rover could be used to collect multiple science measurements on this planet, especially in the polar regions.
 In June, three SnoMotes, designed by Howard and a team of engineers and scientists, were on the ice of Mendenhall […]