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Ongoing Feature
NSIDC has launched Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis. The site provides year-round monthly updates on Arctic sea ice conditions. |
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NSIDC helped produce this poster in celebration of IPY. For more
information on getting your copy, please see the IPY
Poster page.
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NSIDC Senior Scientist Mark Serreze discussed Arctic sea ice at the 2007 American Geophysical Union Fall Conference. To listen to Serreze's lecture, scroll to "C24A Nye Lecture" on the AGU Web site. |
16 September 2008
The Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year. The near-record low reinforces the strong negative trend observed over the past thirty years.
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26 August 2008
Sea ice extent has fallen below the 2005 minimum, previously the second-lowest extent recorded since the dawn of the satellite era. |
Archives
2008 :: 2007 :: 2006 :: 2005 :: 2004 :: 2003 :: 2002
2008 [top]
16 September 2008
The Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year. The near-record low reinforces the strong negative trend observed over the past thirty years.
26 August 2008
Sea ice extent has fallen below the 2005 minimum, previously the second-lowest extent recorded since the dawn of the satellite era.
13 August 2008
"Meeting the Global Energy and Climate Challenge," August 22 to 23, will focus on climate change science and solutions.
17 June 2008
NASA has announced a search for a Physical Scientist in the Cryospheric Science Program.
10 June 2008
A new study from NSIDC and NCAR scientists explores the relationship between rapid sea ice melt and temperatures on land.
30 May 2008
NASA has selected the University of Colorado at Boulder for its Snow and Ice Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC), a five-year contract valued at more than $30 million.
6 May 2008
The CIRES Innovative Research Program has funded NSIDC scientist Ted Scambos to explore the causes of ice shelf breakup in Antarctica.
16 April 2008
A new NSIDC-CU museum exhibit opens, sharing Inuit knowledge of climate change.
15 April 2008
Senior research scientist Tingjun Zhang has been elected to the CIRES Council of Fellows.
7 April 2008
The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has launched Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis. The site provides year-round monthly updates on Arctic sea ice conditions; the April 7 entry details maximum sea ice extent and conditions as we enter the melt season.
25 March 2008
Satellite imagery from the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the
University of Colorado at Boulder reveals that a 13,680 square kilometer
(5,282 square mile) ice shelf
has begun to collapse because of rapid climate change in a fast-warming
region of Antarctica.
14 March 2008
A panel of scientists from NSIDC and NASA will hold a media teleconference on Tuesday, March 18, at 10:00 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). NSIDC will release full analysis of winter sea ice extent and conditions during the first week of April.
19 February
2008
NSIDC scientist Ted Scambos is one of a team of international collaborators who have been funded to begin a multi-disciplinary study focusing on the rapid effects of climate change now occurring on the Antarctic Peninsula.
7 February
2008
A new study co-authored by NSIDC Research Scientist Ted Scambos and published in Volume 54 of the Journal
of Glaciology sheds light on the 2002 collapse of a massive Antarctic ice shelf.
16 January 2008
NSIDC and CIRES invite applications for the position of Director,
NSIDC. Review of applications begins February 15, 2008. See About
NSIDC: Jobs for
a job description and instructions.
2007 [top]
16 October 2007
The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore for informing the world about the important issue of human-caused climate change. NSIDC scientists were among the many experts who contributed to the IPCC's efforts.
4 October 2007
NSIDC hosted former U.S. Vice President Al Gore for a private science briefing, yesterday, at the request of Mr. Gore.
1 October 2007
The melt season has come to a close; read the full analysis and download high-resolution images.
10 August 2007
The National Snow and Ice Data Center has launched this year's news and commentary Web site as we follow the Arctic sea ice melt season. From August 10, 2007, through the end of the summer melt season, we will post updates as events warrant.
25 June 2007
According to a new study led by National Snow and Ice Data Center scientist Tom Painter, wind-blown dust from drought-stricken and disturbed lands can shorten the duration of mountain snow cover hundreds of miles away by one month.
7 June 2007
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded funding to NSIDC
to help manage scientific data taken during the International Polar Year
(IPY).
9 May 2007
Roger Barry is this year's recipient of the Founders Medal.
7 May 2007
We have changed our online look as part of an ongoing project to make
our site easier to navigate.
30 April 2007
Arctic sea ice is melting at a significantly faster rate than projected
by the most advanced computer models.
4 April 2007
NSIDC scientists announced that the winter 2007 Arctic sea ice maximum
was the second-lowest in the satellite record.
27 March 2007
Canada Post has released a commemorative stamp series in celebration
of the International Polar Year (IPY).
8 March 2007
NSIDC Senior Scientist Mark Serreze is first author on a March 16 Science article
that reviews current scientific knowledge of the Arctic sea ice system.
5 March 2007
NSIDC is participating in Ice Fest, a free event being held from March
8 through March 11 at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
29
March 2007
Roger Barry is the first recipient of the new Francois Emile
Matthes Award, given to recognize his accomplishments in
the field of cryospheric science spanning fifty years.
26 February 2007
NSIDC is one of hundreds of international organizations that are participating
in the International Polar Year (IPY).
19 February 2007
Senior Research Scientist Tingjun Zhang has been invited to be the first
Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) 2007 Arctic Visiting
Speaker.
14 February 2007
NSIDC Lead Scientist Ted Scambos has contributed to two studies that
discuss new discoveries from Antarctica and glacier surge and recovery
in Greenland.
23 January 2007
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release a
new report concerning global warming on February 2, 2007.
2006 [top]
18 December 2006
NSIDC releases NASA: Supporting Earth System Science 2006
The annual publication highlights research that uses NASA Earth-observing
data. Articles explore research on habitat mapping, sea and lake ice,
hurricanes, pollution drift, and more. Access the publication from the NASA
Earth System Science Data and Services Web site.
9 December 2006
Senior Scientist Mark Serreze will participate in a press conference
on Monday, December 11.
3 October 2006
Despite cool temperatures in August, summer sea ice falls below normal
for fifth year.
14 September 2006
Roger Barry has received the Byrd Polar Research Center's prestigious
award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to polar research.
Barry will present the Goldthwait Lecture on October 13, 2006, in Columbus,
Ohio.
14 September 2006
DADDI is a NASA-supported project to improve the availability of arctic
coastal data and develop a system that can be readily extended to support
the International Polar Year (IPY).
23 August 2006
In September 2005, sea ice melted to lows not seen in at least 100 years.
This year, will the ice hold? Check this special news section for ongoing
updates on sea ice conditions through the end of the melt season.
7 July 2006
People have asked us if the science presented in An Inconvenient Truth
is correct. NSIDC scientists Walt Meier and Ted Scambos answered some
Frequently Asked Questions about the snow and ice science presented in
the movie. 1 June 2006 International Polar Year Data Management Report
Released A report that compiles recommendations from a data management
workshop for the International Polar Year is now available.
1 June 2006
A report that compiles recommendations from a data management workshop
for the International Polar Year is now available.
22 May 2006
The United Nations has declared that 2006 is the International Year
of Deserts and Desertification; NSIDC scientists are working on several
projects related to deserts.
18 May 2006
Mark Serreze will be one of three speakers at a May 23 Congressional
Briefing, "Recent Scientific Findings of Arctic Environmental Change."
18 May 2006
NSIDC has made a select set of data viewable through the popular interactive
desktop application, Google Earth.
14-16 May 2006
The meeting, held at NSIDC May 14-16, will include presentations of
recent climatological, oceanographic, and glaciological research in the
Antarctic Peninsula.
27 April 2006
On April 28, more than 180 eighth-graders from Boulder's Southern Hills
Middle School will visit NSIDC as part of an open house.
21 April 2006
Arctic explorers Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen will collaborate with
NSIDC scientists Walt Meier and Thomas Painter to take scientific snow
and ice measurements. 5 April 2006 Winter Sea Ice Fails to Recover, Down
to Record Low Scientists at NSIDC announce that March 2006 shows the
lowest Arctic winter sea ice extent since the beginning of the satellite
record in 1979.
5 April 2006
Scientists at NSIDC announce that March 2006 shows the lowest Arctic
winter sea ice extent since the beginning of the satellite record in
1979.
1 February 2006
Mark Serreze and Roger Barry received the award for Best Book of 2005
from the Atmospheric Science Librarians International (ASLI) for their
book The Arctic Climate System.
30 January 2006
NSIDC scientist Tingjun Zhang's invited overview of snow cover and frozen
ground was published December 31, 2005, in the journal Reviews of Geophysics.
24 January 2006
NSIDC scientists Walt Meier and Julienne Stroeve will discuss the decline
of Arctic sea ice at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science tomorrow.
24 January 2006
NSIDC scientist Oliver Frauenfeld has received the CSG Paper of the
Year award from the Association of American Geographers.
2005 [top]
20 December 2005
Recent analysis of model results by NCAR and NSIDC scientists suggests
that global warming may decimate the top 10 feet (3 meters) or more of
perennially frozen ground across the Northern Hemisphere.
20 December 2005
A team led by British explorer Jim McNeill will take scientific snow
and ice measurements in collaboration with NSIDC scientists Ted Scambos
and Walt Meier.
13 December 2005
Mark Serreze, Senior Scientist, and Roger Barry, NSIDC Director, announced
the publication of their textbook, The Arctic Climate System.
30 November 2005
NSIDC has just released a new, high-resolution image mosaic of the Antarctic
continent and surrounding islands.
30 November 2005
NSIDC is working with Google in the testing of Google Base, a free extension
of Google's existing content collection efforts.
30 November 2005
More than twenty-five people from NSIDC are attending AGU, this year.
They are presenting a variety of posters and oral presentations, as well
as presiding over several sessions.
28 September 2005
Summer Arctic sea ice falls far below average for fourth year, winter
ice sees sharp decline, spring melt starts earlier.
28 September 2005
NSIDC scientists Mark Serreze and Ted Scambos answer some questions
about the connection between the Arctic, sea ice, and hurricanes.
14 September 2005
As arctic temperatures rise, shrubs along Alaska's North Slope are increasing
in size and abundance. This new study cites snow and vegetation data
that are housed at NSIDC.
2 August 2005
When sea ice and ice shelves melt, water level doesn't rise because
the freshwater ice displaces the same volume of water that it would contribute
once it melts…right? A visitor to NSIDC suggests otherwise.
27 July 2005
Studying historic glacier photographs helps experts understand climate
change. The Glacier Photograph Collection, housed at NSIDC, has
tripled in size and now offers users 2,914 photographs to search and
download.
12 May 2005
NSIDC researchers are leading or contributing to three proposals funded
under the 2005 CIRES Innovative Research Program. The awards will help
explore Mars sea ice, climate change in Tibet, and the use of economical
new temperature gauges.
18 March 2005
The past three years have witnessed a strong decline in summer ice
extent in the Arctic, but ice concentration has rebounded in the winters
of 2002-2003 and 2003-2004. The winter of 2004-2005 has been different.
Besides a strong summer decline in ice concentration, the Arctic now
shows a winter decline as well.
16 March 2005
In the Hindu Kush Mountain Range in southwest Asia, severe snow has
devastated Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. Heavy snow that has
already crushed homes and spawned avalanches threatens to flood the region
with meltwater when temperatures rise. NSIDC scientists are developing
innovative tools to monitor catastrophic events such as the severe snowfall
in the Hindu Kush.
18 February 2005
NASA DAAC Annual Celebrates 10 Years
This multidisciplinary volume, which highlights new uses of data from
NASA's Earth Observing System, features a 10th anniversary section highlighting
10 years of publishing research uses of Earth Science data and information.
Access the publication from the NASA
Earth System Science Data and Services Web site.
2004 [top]
16 November 2004
On 16 November, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
held a hearing about Global Climate Change to hear testimony on the assessment
recently released by the Arctic Council and the International Arctic
Sciences Committee. NSIDC's Mark Serreze participated in the first of
two panels, presenting information about findings in the Arctic. Serreze
highlighted changes in sea ice concentration, and the acceleration in
sea ice losses, noting in particular the record or near-record lows of
the last three years.
4 October 2004
The extent of Arctic sea ice — the floating mass of ice that covers
the Arctic Ocean — is continuing its rapid decline. Records of
the extent of Arctic sea ice extend back to the early 1950s, with the
most accurate information starting in 1979, when systematic monitoring
with satellites began. Satellite information shows a general decline
in sea ice extent of about 8 percent over the last two and a half decades,
with the greatest losses in the last three years. This year's sea ice
extent is a very close second to the record-setting low of September
2002. See the short official Press Release.
21 September 2004
Antarctic glaciers respond rapidly to climate change, according to new
evidence found by NSIDC scientists. In the wake of the Larsen B Ice Shelf
disintegration in 2002, glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula have both
accelerated and thinned en route to the Weddell Sea. The findings indicate
that ice shelf breakup may rapidly lead to sea level rise.
19 June 2004
Is the Arctic in for another record low sea ice year? It is starting
to look like it. The recently released June 2004 ice extent and concentration
are much lower than normal, indicating that annual minimum ice extent
and concentration, which occurs in September, is likely to be well below
normal. If so, this would be the third year in a row with substantial
below-normal ice conditions in the Arctic, an unprecedented event in
the 30+ year record of satellite observations of Arctic sea ice.
26 May 2004
"The Day After Tomorrow"
The motion picture The Day After Tomorrow may leave many viewers with
questions about climate change. In the movie, recent events on Earth's
ice sheets and hypothetical future events based on what is known about
how climate, oceans, and ice sheets interact, are woven into an exciting
but fictitious story about a future climate disaster. The kind of disaster
portrayed in the movie is impossible, but the patterns described by the
movie have a distant basis in real concepts being discussed by climate
scientists, oceanographers, and glaciologists.Read
NASA's official response to the movie with additional information from
NSIDC.
1 May 2004
NSIDC and the Arctic System Science (ARCSS) Data Coordination Center
have released a new multi-media, interactive CD, entitled "When
the Weather is Uggianaqtuq: Inuit Observations of Environmental Change." Uggianaqtuq
(pronounced OOG-gi-a-nak-took) is a North Baffin Inuktitut word that
means to behave unexpectedly, or in an unfamiliar way. From the perspective
of many Inuit in the Arctic, the weather has been uggianaqtuq in recent
years. In this CD, Inuit from two communities in Nunavut, Canada (Baker
Lake and Clyde River), share their observations and perspectives on recent
environmental changes. Maps, text, photos, video and music are integrated
to help illustrate the changes Inuit have observed in their environment
and the impacts on their livelihoods.The CD, authored by Shari Fox Gearheard,
is available free of charge. To read more about the project or to order
a copy of the CD, please see the the product page.
21 April 2004
Steven Chan of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory used AMSR-E soil moisture
data available from NSIDC to quantify the extent of flooding after a
large-scale thunderstorm swept through the midwestern U.S. in March 2004.
Chan created maps that show a gradual buildup and reduction of soil wetness
as the storm moved through the region.
4 March 2004
NSIDC Director Roger Barry named Distinguished Professor
Roger Barry, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center for the
past 27 years, was named Distinguished Professor by the University of
Colorado Board of Regents. The designation of distinguished professor
is bestowed on members of the university faculty who have distinguished
themselves as exemplary teachers, scholars and public servants and who
are individuals having extraordinary international importance and recognition.
President Elizabeth Hoffman and Chancellor Richard Byyny praised Barry's
work, recognizing his research in the climates of arctic and alpine environments
as well as his contributions to NSIDC. Read more about Barry's accomplishments
in the Colorado
Daily and the University
of Colorado press release; or, see NSIDC
Director.
5 February 2004
USA Today's Web Guide Features NSIDC's "All About Snow"
NSIDC's All About Snow section of its newly redesigned
web site was featured as a "Hot Site" in USA Today's Web Guide.
The site features quick facts about snow, answers to frequently asked
questions, a gallery of historic photographs, and various related links.
24 January 2004
On 23 January 2004, Dr. Mark Serreze, Research Scientist at NSIDC/CIRES,
presented a Cryospheric and Polar Processes Division Seminar/coffee.The
seminar examined the role of human impacts and natural variability affecting
climate, ice cover, vegetation, and oceanic and atmospheric circulation
patterns in the Arctic region.
2003 [top]
9 December 2003
Scientists at NSIDC have found that glaciers around the area of the
Larsen B Ice Shelf accelerated immediately after it collapsed early in
2002, and are still speeding up.The findings, presented at the AGU Fall
2003 Meeting in San Francisco, support earlier hypotheses that the ice
shelf acted as a barrier, slowing the glaciers as they pushed up against
the ice shelf, and that removing the barrier would cause the glaciers
to speed up. This finding is significant, because it provides a smaller
scale preview of what could occur if larger ice shelves, such as the
Ross Ice Shelf, were to collapse.
8 December 2003
Last year's sea ice extent and concentration set a new record low in
the Arctic. 2003 was a close second, according to remote sensing data
from September, when sea ice in the northern latitudes is typically at
its lowest, after the summer melt season.The near-record low in 2003,
accompanied by sea ice trends showing a steady decline over the last
decade, is significant to scientists researching global warming. Not
only is sea ice an indicator of possible climate change, but the loss
of sea ice itself may further compound the problem. Because ice reflects
the sun's energy, less ice means that more of the sun's energy is absorbed,
rather than reflected, causing temperatures to rise even further. While
sea ice floats, and therefore does not directly contribute to sea-level
rise, increasing temperatures around the Arctic may cause areas of the
Greenland ice sheet to melt, which could contribute to a rise in sea
level.
21 October 2003
Warming Arctic Temperatures, Retreating Sea Ice Topic of NASA Panel
Discussion
Image Source: NOAA at NSIDC Sea Ice Index NSIDC's Mark Serreze will
participate in a discussion of satellite observations that show Arctic
warming and retreating sea ice. The "Earth
Science Update: Changes in Arctic Ice Affect Life Around the Globe" will
be carried live on NASA Television with two-way question-and-answer capability
for reporters covering the event, Thursday, Oct. 23, 1 p.m. EDT in NASA
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Graphics from NOAA at NSIDC's Sea Ice
Index were provided for print distribution. For more information, visit Dwindling
Arctic Ice, a feature of NASA's Earth Observatory.
23 September 2003
Largest Ice Shelf in the Arctic Breaks Apart Ellesmere Island
Image courtesy of Mark Serreze/NSIDC. The largest ice shelf in the Arctic,
located on the north coast of Ellesmere Island in Canada's Nunavut territory,
has broken apart. Researchers at Laval University and the University
of Alaska Fairbanks studying the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf say the breakup
is likely evidence of ongoing and accelerated climate change in the Arctic.The
ice shelf, which acted as a dam to a large freshwater lake, ruptured
in August of last year, resulting in the loss of the lake and affecting
unique ecosystems. The report is entitled "Break-up of the largest
Arctic ice shelf and associated loss of an epishelf lake," and will
be published in Geophysical Research Letters.See the NASA
Earth Observatory for new images of the ice shelf breakup
11 August 2003
A team of researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center will
receive $1.8 million in funding from NASA for a benchmark project to
monitor glaciers on a global scale. The project will combine satellite
imagery, historical records and field measurements from research facilities
around the world into an online database, giving scientists a never-before
seen global picture of glacier conditions that could be key in monitoring
climate change.
16 July 2003
Antarctic Features Sport New Names
The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names, a part of the USGS that assigns
names to geographic features on the southern continent, has proposed
a host of new names for features, some of them previously unnamed, and
some of them with informal names such as Ice Stream "A" or
Ridge "B/C." The new names honor glaciologists who participated
in a twenty-year study of the dynamic West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Among
the honorees is Dr. Ted Scambos of NSIDC. Former honorees also affiliated
with the University of Colorado or CIRES are Dr. Mark Meier and Dr. John
Behrendt from the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR),
and Dr. Susan Solomon of NOAA's Aeronomy Laboratory.
25 June 2003
NSIDC's State of the Cryosphere Wins STC Web Award
The Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication
(STC) holds an annual competition for online publications. This year's
winner, selected in January, was the State of the Cryosphere site. This
site gives an overview of the change in mountain glaciers, ice shelves,
sea ice, Northern Hemisphere snow, permafrost, and sea levels, and includes
a glossary and references. The SOTC site was produced by Richard Armstrong
and the NSIDC Communications Group, with contributions by Mark Dyurgerov,
Mark Fahnestock, Christina Hulbe, James Maslanik, Mark Meier, Ted Scambos,
Mark Serreze, Julienne Stroeve, and Tingjun Zhang. Congratulations to
all who contributed and to Michon Scott for presenting the site. See
the State of the Cryosphere.
17 March 2003
The National Snow and Ice Data Center hosted a three-day workshop on
global glacier recession. The workshop concentrated on evaluating current
methods of determining the worldwide recession of mountain glaciers over
the last half-century or longer. Recent evidence suggests an acceleration
of glacier mass loss in several key regions around the globe. Such glacier
changes are significant due to their impact on global sea level rise
and water resources. The workshop included a demonstration of GIS-based
mapping techniques using satellite imagery and digital databases.
14 January 2003
ICESat Mission Launches Successfully
The successful launch of ICESat on January 12, 2003, will provide valuable
information on how global climate change affects the polar ice sheets
and sea level. The satellite, part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise,
is scheduled to remain in its near-polar orbit for a minimum of three
years, measuring changes in ice sheet mass balance as well as sea ice
thickness and atmospheric properties. The GLAS instrument on ICESat will
provide higher resolution and more precise measurements of the ice sheets
than previous missions, greatly improving mass balance models and topographic
detail of the ice sheets. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center designed
and built GLAS, and ICESat was assembled by Ball Aerospace in Boulder,
CO. The spacecraft will be controlled on-orbit by the University of Colorado's
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). Laser altimetry
and atmospheric lidar data from the mission will be among the products
distributed by NSIDC beginning in late summer 2003.For more information
on the mission, as well as detailed fact sheets and brochures, please
see the ICESat pages.
2002 [top]
7 December 2002
The floating cover of sea ice over the Arctic Ocean shrank to unprecedented
low levels in the late summer of 2002, according to a recent study by
scientists at the University of Colorado. This continues a trend of successive
record minima in the 1990s. At the same time, the amount of melt water
flowing from the Greenland Ice Sheet into the surrounding seas in 2002
broke all known melt records for the island. These events further concerns
that climate change is significantly altering the Arctic.
7 December 2002
Scientists and staff members from NSIDC authored or coauthored 31 presentations
and posters for the 2002 fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
Research scientist, Mark Serreze, will give one of three invited talks.
Serreze's talk, titled "Atmospheric Aspects of Recent Arctic Environmental
Change" is part of the "Recent Changes in the Polar Latitudes:
Evidence of Global Warming?" session. NSIDC posters include those
illustrating the potential practical applications of historical data
combined with satellite remote sensing to predict natural hazards, such
as the North Caucasus mudslide caused by the Kolka Glacier's recent collapse.
As always, we will offer an exhibit booth at AGU, where we can meet with
data users, news media representatives, and AGU attendees interested
in our educational and information products.
5 December 2002
NSIDC Releases New Data Tools Site
As a complement to our data catalog of hundreds of data products, NSIDC
formally released a data tools site. The new site provides access to
existing data interfaces, downloadable and executable tools, three new
Java development tools, and the new MODIS Swath-to-Grid Toolbox. To see
the new Tools sub site, visit Tools at NSIDC.
18 March 2002
17 February 2002
10 December 2001
16 January 2001
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