WWF-UK: International Polar Year
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International Polar Year
The International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 is set to be a scientifically important year focussing on the two polar regions; the Arctic and the Antarctic.
The IPY is organized through the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and will involve 200 projects with thousands of scientists from over 60 nations examining a wide range of physical, biological and social research topics.
Throughout the year, they will learn how scientists and conservationists are working to protect nature, species and habitats through campaigning, fundraising, science and technology.
The polar regions of the world have possibly suffered more from global warming than any other area. Yet we are talking about two entirely different areas with discrete characteristics: Antarctica is a continent with a huge landmass, covered with the biggest glaciers on Earth. The Arctic is a sea, covered with floating frozen sea water.
Since 1992, WWF's International Arctic Programme has been working with our partners across the Arctic to combat the threats and preserve the Arctic's rich biodiversity in a sustainable way. WWF's work in the Arctic currently focuses on three priority regions: Barents Sea , Bering Sea and Mackenzie Valley . More
WWF is working to combat the increasing threat to fragile Antarctic marine habitats, primarily through climate change. WWF heralded the start of the International Polar Year, on March 1 this year by launching a key campaign to create a network of marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean by 2012. More
The Arctic ice has been reducing dramatically over the last few decades. The year 2005 showed the smallest summer ice measurement, 2004 the second smallest. Warming has a dramatic effect on the Arctic – white ice – which reflects much of the sunlight back into space, thus avoiding the greenhouse gas effect, is replaced by dark water which absorbs the incoming light and only radiates back warmth (infrared radiation). This is one of the reasons why the Arctic warms twice as fast as the average temperature of the world.
People of the Arctic
People in the Arctic already suffer from a shortening winter season (the 'good' season in the Arctic where everything from hunting to transport on the ice is possible), unpredictable ice cover, more icebergs, melting permafrost destabilising buildings, and changing weather. In 2005, the Inuit Circumpolar Council submitted an official complaint against the United States government to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, claiming that the emissions from the United States – and their obvious unwillingness to reduce those emissions – poses a threat to the traditional culture of the Inuits.
The plight of the polar bear
Nature also suffers – for instance, the official Red List of threatened animals has recently upgraded the polar bear's status to 'vulnerable' and threatened by extinction because of global warming. Polar bears hunt seals on the pack ice – this is their main feeding season. They also need ice and snow for digging dens to raise their young. As the ice melts faster, the rich hunting season is shortened, lengthening the amount of time polar bears go without food. Recently there have been signs of polar bear cannibalism – another indication of drastic food shortages.
Few of the earth's remaining wilderness environments are more vulnerable or valuable than the Antarctic continent and the surrounding Southern Ocean. A globally important ecosystem, just a few decades ago the region was virtually untouched by human exploitation.
Today, the entire Southern Polar region is under sustained attack from land, sea and air and many species that once thrived have been pushed to the brink of extinction.
It is now clear that, without concerted and immediate international action to halt and reverse the damage being done, the entire Antarctic and Southern Ocean food chain could collapse, with devastating consequences that would be felt on a global scale.
The Antarctic is the coldest, driest and windiest continent on earth.
If the Antarctic ice were to melt, scientists predict global sea levels would rise by an average of 200ft.
Krill – a tiny shrimp like crustacean – has been called the lynchpin of the Antarctic ecosystem. It is the basic building block of the entire region's food chain.
Alarmingly, populations of krill may have dropped by as much as 80% since the 1970s as a result of climate change. The decline in populations of certain penguin species has been attributed to this reduction.
Without urgent intervention, several Antarctic species – including albatross and petrels – could be extinct within five years.
Scientists have calculated that there is only a limited window of opportunity to protect the Antarctic and Southern Ocean. More
The IPY is organized through the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and will involve 200 projects with thousands of scientists from over 60 nations examining a wide range of physical, biological and social research topics.
Throughout the year, they will learn how scientists and conservationists are working to protect nature, species and habitats through campaigning, fundraising, science and technology.
WWF at the Poles
The polar regions of the world have possibly suffered more from global warming than any other area. Yet we are talking about two entirely different areas with discrete characteristics: Antarctica is a continent with a huge landmass, covered with the biggest glaciers on Earth. The Arctic is a sea, covered with floating frozen sea water.
Since 1992, WWF's International Arctic Programme has been working with our partners across the Arctic to combat the threats and preserve the Arctic's rich biodiversity in a sustainable way. WWF's work in the Arctic currently focuses on three priority regions: Barents Sea , Bering Sea and Mackenzie Valley . More
WWF is working to combat the increasing threat to fragile Antarctic marine habitats, primarily through climate change. WWF heralded the start of the International Polar Year, on March 1 this year by launching a key campaign to create a network of marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean by 2012. More
Arctic
The Arctic ice has been reducing dramatically over the last few decades. The year 2005 showed the smallest summer ice measurement, 2004 the second smallest. Warming has a dramatic effect on the Arctic – white ice – which reflects much of the sunlight back into space, thus avoiding the greenhouse gas effect, is replaced by dark water which absorbs the incoming light and only radiates back warmth (infrared radiation). This is one of the reasons why the Arctic warms twice as fast as the average temperature of the world.
People of the Arctic
People in the Arctic already suffer from a shortening winter season (the 'good' season in the Arctic where everything from hunting to transport on the ice is possible), unpredictable ice cover, more icebergs, melting permafrost destabilising buildings, and changing weather. In 2005, the Inuit Circumpolar Council submitted an official complaint against the United States government to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, claiming that the emissions from the United States – and their obvious unwillingness to reduce those emissions – poses a threat to the traditional culture of the Inuits.
The plight of the polar bear
Nature also suffers – for instance, the official Red List of threatened animals has recently upgraded the polar bear's status to 'vulnerable' and threatened by extinction because of global warming. Polar bears hunt seals on the pack ice – this is their main feeding season. They also need ice and snow for digging dens to raise their young. As the ice melts faster, the rich hunting season is shortened, lengthening the amount of time polar bears go without food. Recently there have been signs of polar bear cannibalism – another indication of drastic food shortages.
Antarctic
Few of the earth's remaining wilderness environments are more vulnerable or valuable than the Antarctic continent and the surrounding Southern Ocean. A globally important ecosystem, just a few decades ago the region was virtually untouched by human exploitation.
Today, the entire Southern Polar region is under sustained attack from land, sea and air and many species that once thrived have been pushed to the brink of extinction.
It is now clear that, without concerted and immediate international action to halt and reverse the damage being done, the entire Antarctic and Southern Ocean food chain could collapse, with devastating consequences that would be felt on a global scale.
The Antarctic is the coldest, driest and windiest continent on earth.
If the Antarctic ice were to melt, scientists predict global sea levels would rise by an average of 200ft.
Krill – a tiny shrimp like crustacean – has been called the lynchpin of the Antarctic ecosystem. It is the basic building block of the entire region's food chain.
Alarmingly, populations of krill may have dropped by as much as 80% since the 1970s as a result of climate change. The decline in populations of certain penguin species has been attributed to this reduction.
Without urgent intervention, several Antarctic species – including albatross and petrels – could be extinct within five years.
Scientists have calculated that there is only a limited window of opportunity to protect the Antarctic and Southern Ocean. More
