International Polar Year

Facts Background Australia's response The global agenda   Facts Antarctica is one of the coldest, driest, highest and windiest places on earth. The lowest recorded temperature is -89°C, only 50–200 mm per year falls as snow, the average height above sea level is 2,500 metres and winds gust at up to 320 kilometres per hour. Antarctica, is nearly twice the size of Australia, at 13,661,000 square kilometres compared with 7,686,850 square kilometres. The area of sea ice in Antarctica changes each year, from about 4 million square kilometres in late summer to 19 million square kilometres in late winter. Ice covers 12.4 million square kilometres of Antarctica and comprises 25.7 million cubic kilometres of ice, or 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water, which if melted would raise the sea level by nearly 65 metres. In the Arctic the sea ice varies from 9 million square kilometres at its minimum around September, to about 15 million square kilometres between March and May. Polar ice and the associated snow cover play an important role in the global climate. They reflect the sun’s energy, limiting absorption, while the freezing water and melting ice inhibit the transfer of heat between the ocean and the atmosphere. Temperatures around the Antarctic Peninsula have risen by 2.5°C over the past 50 years. Sources: http://www.aad.gov.au/ http://polar.grida.no/index.cfm   Background International Polar Year During International Polar Year (IPY), from March 2007 to March 2009, interdisciplinary research will be undertaken into climate change and the interactions of climate, oceans, ice, land, ecosystems and human society in the Arctic and Antarctic. The International Polar Year (IPY) will address the following six themes: Status: to determine the present environmental status of the polar regions Change: to quantify, and understand, past and present natural environmental and social change in the polar regions; and to improve projections of future change Global Linkages: to advance understanding on all scales of the links and interactions between polar regions and the rest of the globe, and of the processes controlling these New Frontiers: to investigate the frontiers of science in the polar regions Vantage Point: to use the unique vantage point of the polar regions to develop and enhance observatories from the interior of the Earth to the Sun and the cosmos beyond Human Dimension: to investigate the cultural, historical, and social processes that shape the sustainability of circumpolar human societies, and to identify their unique contributions to global cultural diversity and citizenship. Polar regions The polar regions, geographically, are those that are higher than 66° 33´ latitude. The polar region in the northern hemisphere consists of the frozen Arctic Ocean and surrounding countries, while that in the southern hemisphere consists of the continent of Antarctica, a land covered with ice and surrounded by sea. Arctic The Arctic region is defined as that area whose average temperature in the warmest months is less than 10° C. The ocean is frozen, with 3-metre thick ice and frozen land, including the northern parts of Canada, Finland, Greenland/Denmark, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and United States ( Alaska). Freezing temperatures and the long winter darkness and summer light make living conditions a challenge for the approximately 3.5 million people who live in the region. Indigenous people make up 80 per cent of the population in Greenland and smaller percentages of other countries. While some still live a traditional nomadic lifestyle, depending on hunting for their survival, many now live in settlements all year round. Many other people have migrated to the area and live in large towns making a living from forestry, mining and tourism. Hundreds of species of plants and animals are endemic to the Arctic, but this biodiversity is threatened by both direct and indirect human activities in and outside the region. Although there are several global and regional multilateral environmental agreements relevant to the Arctic, none have an exclusive Arctic scope. Antarctica The continent of Antarctica is almost entirely covered by ice, some of which is up to 4 kilometres deep. The ice flows from the centre towards the surrounding ocean, with glaciers forming ice shelves along about half of the coastline. Pieces of ice break away, or calve, from the coast and drift across the sea as icebergs. In recent years huge icebergs, some larger than the Australian Capital Territory, have been observed. While the surrounding waters teem with wildlife, from tiny krill to enormous whales, the only animal that is based on land all year round is the emperor penguin. Scientists from many countries also live there temporarily, studying how the climate has changed over thousands of years by analysing the air trapped in ice bubbles in ice cores, or long cylinders drilled into the ice. The area is also visited by thousands of tourists each year. The Antarctic Treaty, signed by 45 countries, governs the region, committing countries to peaceful scientific investigation, and prohibiting them from pursuing territorial claims and exploring for oil and minerals. Polar regions and global warming The polar regions have a huge influence on the earth’s climate, weather patterns and consequently on its environment through the reflection of heat into the atmosphere and the transfer of heat through ocean currents. Changes in the polar regions will affect flora and fauna not just locally, but also globally. The three fastest warming regions on the planet in the past two decades are Alaska, Siberia and parts of the Antarctic Peninsula. Scientists are concerned that higher greenhouse gas concentrations caused by human activities, such as deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels, are having the greatest impact on the polar regions. They are investigating the global effects of the melting of ice, changes in ocean currents and increased snowfall to increase understanding of the changes in climate and sea levels. Warming ocean water increases in volume and hence contributes to rising sea levels. The rapid changes in temperature make adaptation difficult, particularly for finely tuned plants and animals that depend on an icy environment. Rising sea levels will also affect human populations living in coastal areas, particularly those with few resources to protect themselves, such as low lying small island countries that have contributed little to increased greenhouse gases. Australia's response The Australian Government’s overseas aid program (AusAID) supports projects that contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing carbon sinks and adapting to the adverse effects of climate change. Many projects focus on poorer countries in our region because these countries will be affected sooner and most severely but have few resources to manage the environmental, economic and social change. These projects variously involve institutional strengthening, climate and sea level monitoring, and the transfer of practical technologies in areas such as energy efficiency, solar energy, forestry and land management. http://www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pdf/climate.pdf The Australian Government Antarctic Division’s scientists are involved in more than 60 International Polar Year projects, including the Census of Antarctic Marine Life. It is looking at the biodiversity, distribution and abundance of species in the Southern Ocean and what they can tell us about the known and as yet unknown aspects of marine biodiversity and ocean change. http://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp

Global Environment Facility (GEF) URL:  http://www.gefweb.org/ The Global Environment Facility brings together member governments, working in partnership with the private sector, NGOs, and international institutions to address complex environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. It finances actions to address six critical ... International Polar Year URL:  http://www.ipy.org/ The remote polar regions of the earth have profound significance for the Earth's climate and consequently environments, ecosystems and human society. The IPY aims to undertake a concerted and coordinated series of interdisciplinary research projects related to climate change and interactions of clim... United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) URL:  http://unfccc.int/2860.php The 1994 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) commits its 189 signatories to consider what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with the resulting increase in temperatures. Recognising that more needed to be done, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol introduced more powerful...

Photo by Wayne Papps (3654-B2) © Commonwealth of Australia 2006 Photo by Rob Easther © Commonwealth of Australia 2006 Snow clouds gathering over Casey Station. Photo by Doug Ross © Commonwealth of Australia 2006