Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The fourth IPY, running between March 2007 and March 2009, in order to allow two field
seasons, was the most ambitious ever, and included unprecedented opportunities for public
involvement, especially in the inhabited Arctic. Involving 50,000 people - including 10,000
scientists and associated logistical support staff and 60 countries- the fourth IPY supported
some 200 Arctic and Antarctic projects. As with the IGY some 50 years earlier, the rationale
for those approved projects lay in a widely held belief that the polar regions are
experiencing significant environmental changes and that there remains a pressing need to
better understand the physical and biological dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic. Leaving
a legacy of new and or enhanced observation systems, facilities, and infrastructure was
considered to be critical by the IPY planning group, because long-term data collection and
analysis is essential for making sense of the current and future transformation of the
Antarctic and its connections to the rest of the planet. In contrast to the IGY logo, the fourth
IPY emphasized the role of people, both in the generation and en Apsley Cherry-Gerrard"
aid="Cgagement of polar knowledge, and the arrow encapsulating the globe no longer
evokes the
Sputnik
trajectory. Unlike the IGY logo, English is the only language
represented, indicative of the fact that so much polar science is presented and written in
English.
The IPY demonstrates only too clearly the hegemonic position of science within the
Antarctic. The explicit rationale of IPY was to collect and process information on the polar
regions specifically and connect up with global processes affecting the Earth generally.
Antarctic science has also revealed some counter-intuitive and cautionary findings. The
well-publicized discovery of the ozone hole in the 1980s by British Antarctic Survey
scientists led to widespread global concern about atmospheric/stratospheric change and the
likely implications of increased UV-B radiation for human and non-human communities.
But that loss of ozone has also protected the Antarctic from global warming, especially
outside the Antarctic Peninsula region. The loss of ozone has intensified the polar vortex
and led to no significant temperature changes in the polar interior and increased sea ice
extent in the Southern Ocean. As Professor John Turner of British Antarctic Survey noted:
For me the most astonishing evidence is the way one man-made environmental impact - the
ozone hole - has shielded most of Antarctica from another - global warming.
Understanding the complexities surrounding these issues is a challenge for scientists-and
communicating these in a meaningful way to society and to policymakers is essential.
Telling stories: Pine Island Glacier
