News from the polar regions in March 2008 included many “firsts:” flights of unmanned vehicles, research during Antarctica’s “polar night,” and new insight into the polar regions from boulders, sediment cores, and other reports. Missed these stories the first time? Read on!

Last month, we reported on a fully robot astronomical observatory called PLATO. This month brings more news of technological advances in Antarctic scientific research – the first series of flights by autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The aircraft are controlled by radio for take-off and landing, but fly autonomously for the duration of the 40 minute flights. Use of these UAVs will allow scientists to gather data from previously inaccessible areas.

Researchers investigating the thinning of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) are using a new type of evidence in their studies: boulders exposed by thinning glaciers. By analyzing the amount of cosmic radiation that the boulders have been exposed to, scientists can begin to construct a long-term picture of glacial behavior in the region. Initial findings suggest that the glaciers are now thinning much more rapidly – about 20 times as fast – as they did during the preceding thousands of years. Other scientists are studying the tectonic activity of the base of the WAIS to determine if volcanic activity or crustal stretching and rifting will affect the stability of the ice sheet itself.

Research in Antarctica typically occurs from October to December. This year, however, a Montana State University scientist and his team are spending 2 ½ months during the coldest and darkest part of the year at McMurdo Station. From February to April, the team will collect data to get a more complete picture of what’s happening in the lakes and liquid water that exist under Antarctica’s glaciers, including how microorganisms adapt to the loss of light.

In the Arctic, studies continue to focus on climate change and its many impacts. A colder-than-average winter, which has continued controversy about the realities and rate of climate change, has not alleviated the perilous condition of the Arctic sea ice. While the colder recent weather conditions increased areas of new, thin sea ice, the thicker, perennial sea ice has continued to decline. This year, perennial sea ice (the long-lived, year-round layer of ice) covers less than 30 percent of the Arctic – as compared to 50-60 percent in the past. Additionally, the perennial ice is not as old as in years past, meaning that it thinner and more vulnerable to summer melting.

The decline of the sea ice is a threat to marine mammals such as the polar bear. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently considering a proposal to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Reports guiding the FWS’ decision making process are largely based on climate models – mathematical models designed to forecast how climate will respond to changes such as increased levels of greenhouse gases. While many climate models exist, and all contain some degree of uncertainty, the comparison of several models can provide an understanding of long term trends. Current models predict a 40% reduction in sea ice over the next fifty years, leading to an estimated 60% reduction in polar bear populations worldwide. Scientists estimate near extinction by the end of the century.

The latest official figures from the UN Environmental Programme revealed that the world’s glaciers are melting faster than expected. Data showed that between the years 2004-05 and 2005-06, the average rate of melting and thinning more than doubled. The increased melting has the potential for serious human impact, as millions of people around the world depend on glacially fed rivers and snowmelt for drinking water, agriculture, industry, and power generation.

Climate change will affect humans in other ways as well. A recent report released by the National Research Council revealed that as the climate changes, there will be considerable impact on transportation infrastructure and operations. While coastal infrastructure was identified as the greatest risk due to flooding from sea level rise and more intense storms, other areas such as the Midwest and California are also at risk due to flooding, drier watershed conditions in the Great Lakes, and the increased chance of wildfires. The report concluded that the climate predictions currently used by transportation planners and engineers may no longer be reliable and should be reconsidered in the face of climate change.

The increasingly ice-free Arctic Ocean may also lead to armed conflict. A former U.S. Coast Guard commander writing in the March-April 2008 issue of Foreign Relations, says the ice melting that has opened the Northwest Passage for shipping for the first time may also have opened the way for a “scramble for territory and resources among the five Arctic powers.” The recommendation set forth is that as part of the International Polar Year, the United States should convene a conference to draft an agreement for managing the vast natural resources and the shipping lanes of the future.

While much time and effort has been spent predicting the future of the Arctic, the past also can provide valuable information. Research studies of ancient sediment cores in remote Alaska showed that after the last ice age, the tundra was covered with tall birch shrubs instead of the grasses, herbs, and shorter shrubs found today. Charcoal in the cores revealed that this shrub-dominated tundra burned much more frequently than modern tundra. As the climate has warmed, moisture levels have decreased, and shrubs have expanded across the world’s tundra regions. All of these factors may lead to more frequent tundra fires and the release of large quantities of stored organic carbon into the earth’s atmosphere.

While many view air pollution in the Arctic as a recent problem, a new study of historic records shows that Arctic explorers observed the “particulate haze” as early as the late 1800s. Particulate matter from coal combustion and other industrial processes in the mid-latitudes migrate to the Arctic, resulting in haze and layers of dust on the ice. Researchers speculate that the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s sparked the pollution and note that after the adoption of more efficient fossil fuel combustion in the mid 1900s, the levels of particulate pollution in the Arctic dropped. They hypothesize that recent increases may be due to higher emissions from developing countries.

Know of another significant news story from March that you’d like to share? Reactions to another of the stories discussed here? Post a comment – we’d love to hear from you!

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is offering a summer institute, July 14-18, for middle school and high school teachers to promote teaching of science concepts and processes related to the polar regions. The institute, titled International Polar Year: Science, Technology, Engineering, and

Mathematics Polar Connections, is sponsored by the STEM Education Institute and the Climate System Research Center. Three graduate credits are available at reduced cost; professional development points are free. April 1 is the application deadline. Applicants should include a statement of how they plan to use information from the institute within their classroom and disseminate the study of polar regions in a wider area. For further information, go to: http://www.umassk12.net/ipy.

Doing Antarctic research while watching and listening for volcanic rumblings seems farfetched, but it is reality for researchers from the United States, Spain, Britain, Argentina, and Chile stationed on Deception Island. The five countries work here under the Antarctic Treaty, which protects the area from over-use by humans. The treaty is no protection, however, from the active volcano that blew mud and ash as recently as 1970.

Deception Island is the subject of Expedition 10 of the Dive and Discover project of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The expedition took place in 2006 but highlights are available online.

An eruption 10,000 years ago blew off the top of an island mountain, leaving an almost enclosed seawater lagoon in the center. In addition to visible signs of volcanic activity in the past, Deception Island is something of a museum of the history of whaling. At one time, seal hunters and later whalers maintained a station here with residences, a kitchen, a hospital and a cemetery. After whaling was no longer profitable, British researchers took over the site—until volcanic activity sent ash into their labs and living quarters. The remains of the whaling station are preserved and have become a tourist site for the limited number of people who are allowed to visit.

On the expedition web site, you will find a slide show with shots of whale bones, rusting oil tanks, and the hulls of whaling ships. In addition, the site offers a map and interviews with expedition crew members.  

On Sunday, March 23, Animal Planet will air a 60 minute broadcast about the Adelie penguins of Antarctica and the challenges they face due to rapid climate change. Return to Penguin City will feature the work of scientists Grant Ballard and Viola Toniolo.

Animal Planet’s description of Return to Penguin City:

“Millions of Adelie penguins storm the beaches of Antarctica every October, as they undertake an annual migration to their breeding grounds. For over half a century, researchers have been coming here, hoping to unlock the secrets of these penguins’ lives. Braving fierce storms, outsmarting predators, and scaling rogue icebergs — these birds are extraordinary survivors. But they may now face the ultimate challenge. In Return to Penguin City, scientists Grant Ballard and Viola Toniolo discover that rapid climate changes may not only affect the penguins in Antarctica, but could also have major repercussions well beyond this remote corner of the world.”

Return to Penguin City premieres Sunday, March 23 at 7 p.m. (ET/PT) on Animal Planet. A video clip is available on the Animal Planet website.

The consequences of global warming are often predicted in terms of washed-out coastal cities, displaced populations, and changed weather patterns, but only recently have some warned of armed conflict in the icy waters around the North Pole. A former U.S. Coast Guard commander writing in the March-April 2008 issue of Foreign Relations, says the ice melting that has opened the Northwest Passage for shipping for the first time may also have opened the way for a “scramble for territory and resources among the five Arctic powers.”  

Scott G. Borgerson notes that one nation, Russia, has planted its flag on the North Pole’s sea floor. Canada is investing in new naval patrol vessels. In addition to the natural resources that may lie off the coasts of the countries surrounding the Artic Ocean, shipping shortcuts are eyed by many countries as they build fleets of icebreakers. Making the opening of the sea lanes and access to natural resources a problem is the lack of any regulations; the Artic Ocean was never expected to become a navigable waterway or a site for commercial development.  

Borgerson’s proposed solution: As part of the International Polar Year, the United States should convene a conference to draft an agreement for managing the vast natural resources and the shipping lanes of the future.

March 20 is Sun-Earth Day 2008, an annual event scheduled on or near the date of the spring equinox. It is sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to engage K-12 schools and the public in space science activities and interactions with space scientists.

This year’s theme is Space Weather Around the World. At the web site, you’ll find resources for teachers (including lesson plans for K-5), a downloadable flyer and a poster, podcasts, an image gallery, and printable books in English and Spanish.  

Some Sun-Earth Day resources will prepare participants to watch a total solar eclipse on August 1 via a live webcast from China.

The Arctic Circle, generally recognized as a barometer of climate change, recently became a safety net for the world’s food crops.

Inside a frozen mountain on the island of Svalbard, about 500 miles from the North Pole, the Global Crop Diversity Trust has opened a vault capable of holding tons of seeds in some 4.5 million samples. Scientists see the vault as a safeguard against disaster when seed collections in existing seed banks are destroyed. In recent years, some seed banks have been destroyed by war and by flooding.

The vault is designed to keep seeds frozen for centuries and to withstand man-made and natural threats, such as earthquakes or even a direct nuclear strike. It is high enough up the mountain to be safe from catastrophic rises in sea levels. Even if global warming causes the permafrost to start melting, the seeds would be safe for up to 200 years.

At the opening ceremony on February 26, 2008, 100 million seeds from more than 100 countries were placed inside the vault. Included were seeds from varieties of potatoes, barley, lettuce, black-eyed peas, sorghum and wheat.

 More about the vault and its mission is found in worldwide coverage of the opening, including the New York Times article Near Arctic, Seed Vault Is a Fort Knox of Food, with photos and maps, and The Times of London article Doomsday Vault for World’s Seeds Is Opened under Arctic Mountain. Tips for using the news articles in middle school science classes appear in the NSDL Middle School Portal’s blog post  What Are Seed Gene Banks and How Do They Work?  

The Arctic Ocean was once home to a 50-foot-long, dinosaur-era marine reptile. On February 26, Norwegian scientists reported that the fossil found on the archipelago of Svalbard is a new species and larger than the previous pliosaur record-holder found in Australia.

Paleontologist Joern Hurum said that a small car could fit in the reptile’s mouth, surrounded by jagged, dagger-like teeth. Pliosaurs were the top predators in the sea. Team members, who excavated the fossil in temperatures hovering around freezing and on the watch for polar bears, called their find simply “The Monster.”

The Natural History Museum in Oslo plans to return to the area this year to excavate a skull and skeleton of another pliosaur found near The Monster. The finds indicate that pliosaurs inhabited the northern seas during the Jurassic era. Svalbard may have one of the richest accumulations of marine-reptile fossils in the world.

Lance Mackey, a musher from Fairbanks, won his second straight Iditarod on Wednesday morning, crossing the finish line in Nome at 2:46 a.m. Mackey’s team ran the 1150 mile race in 9 days, 11 hours, 46 minutes, and 48 seconds. The musher won both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod in 2007. He repeated the feat this year, and is looking ahead to the All-Alaska sweepstakes, another large-purse race.

Two other mushers have finished the grueling race: Jeff King, who placed second and Ramey Smyth, who finished third. A webcam shows the finish line in Nome and updates every minute. Many other mushers will be arriving in the next few days, so check the cam and the Iditarod web page for updates!

When the USCGC Healy left Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on March 11, middle school science and technology teacher Craig Kasemodel began two weeks of research on late winter conditions in the Bering Sea. The Anchorage, Alaska, teacher will be working with Lee Cooper, chief scientist for several science cruises that will take place in 2008. The expeditions are sponsored by (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating in the Arctic and Antarctic). PolarTREC teachers participate in field research in the Arctic or Antarctic for two to six weeks as an integral part of the science team.

Teachers maintain online journals and answer questions from students and others while they are onboard the research ship. When they return, teachers and researchers continue to share their experience with the public through public presentations, scientific conferences, teacher workshops, and journal articles. Each PolarTREC teacher will also create instructional activities to transfer scientific data, methodologies, and technology into their classrooms.