In their first meeting since 1981, nations that are home to polar bears met on March 17-19 in Tromsoe, Norway, to write an action plan to ensure the mammals’ future. The five nations — Norway, Russia, Canada, the United States, and Denmark/Greenland — agreed in 1973 to protect polar bears.  
In 1973, the greatest known danger to […]

“The work must continue” was the message when the organizers of the International Polar Year 2007–2008 (IPY) presented the main research findings at a ceremony in Geneva in February. More than 160 projects involved researchers in more than 60 countries during the two-year scientific campaign focused on the polar regions.
IPY was a joint venture […]

If you are attending the NSTA national conference in New Orleans this week, be sure to connect with Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears! You’ll be able to find us at a variety of locations and events:
Exhibit Hall
National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Booth: #1532
Presentations
Energy and the Polar Environment
Saturday, March 21
5-6 pm
Convention Center, Room R04
Download the presentation […]

A team of scientists from the United Kingdom has announced that it will explore a lake that has been buried beneath Antarctica’s ice sheet for hundreds of thousands of years.
During the 2012-2013 Antarctic winters, researchers will sample water from subglacial Lake Ellsworth in the search for life forms and extract sediment from the lake […]

The USA-National Phenology Network (USA-NPN), a consortium of government, academic and citizen scientists, has launched a new program built on volunteer observations of seasonal changes in plant and animal behavior. The observations will be monitored by scientists and resource managers to track the influence of climate changes on the seasonal cycles of plants, animals, and […]

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights for one hour on Saturday, March 28, at 8:30 p.m. local time to make a global statement about the urgent need for action on climate change.
Observed annually, Earth Hour is expected to involve 950 cities […]

Integrating science and literacy content gets a boost every March when the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the Children’s Book Council release their list of Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12. Each year since 1973, the two organizations have been selecting high quality, engaging, and scientifically accurate books from publishers of books for […]

Did you know that Antarctica is home to just two species of plants? At the opposite end of the earth, over a thousand plant species grow on the Arctic tundra. And that’s not counting the many species of algae and lichens that are not classified as plants.
Polar Plants, Issue 12 of the Beyond Penguins and […]