Science & Nature

IPY.gov is Now an Archival SIte

4/30/2012 In April of 2012, a conference in Montreal drew the International Polar Year 2007-2008 to an official end. For links to archived materials click the headline above. More

U.S. National Academy of Sciences Releases "Lessons and Legacies of the International Polar Year 2007-2008"

4/4/2012 Despite some deficiencies in data accessibility and long-term program coordination, report finds that "[o]n balance, IPY achieved its goals and was an overwhelming success." More

National Academy of Sciences Report: Future Science Opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean (2011)

9/9/2011 The report of an expert panel identifies key questions that will drive scientific research in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the coming years, and presents opportunities to be leveraged to sustain and improve the science. More

NASA Research Leads to First Complete Map of Antarctic Ice Flow; Work is Crucial to Tracking Sea-Level Increases

8/23/2011 NASA-funded researchers have created the first complete map of the speed and direction of ice flow in Antarctica. The map will be critical for tracking future sea-level increases from climate change. More

Arctic Ice Melt Could Temporarily Stabilize over Coming Decades

8/11/2011 Despite the rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice in recent years, the ice may temporarily stabilize or somewhat expand at times over the next few decades, new research indicates. More

Interactive: NASA's "Global Ice Viewer" Documents Cryosphere Changes

8/1/2011 Ice covers 10 percent of Earth’s surface, but is disappearing rapidly in many places. This website uses still photos, video and animations to document change in the high Arctic, Greenland and Antarctica. More

NSF-funded Research: Largest Recorded Tundra Fire Yields Scientific Surprises

7/28/2011 The Anaktuvuk River fire, the largest recorded tundra fire in the Arctic, released approximately as much carbon into the atmosphere as the tundra has stored in the previous 50 years, according to a newly released study. More

NSF-Funded Research: Sea Level Rise Less from Greenland, More from Antarctica, Than Suspected during Last Interglacial

7/28/2011 During the last prolonged warm spell on Earth, the oceans were about 20 feet higher than they are now. New research suggests that, contrary to prior hypotheses, Greenland's ice may have contributed more, and Antarctica's less, to that rise. More

Penn State Researchers Trace Ancestry of Polar Bears to Ireland

7/7/2011 An international team, funded partly by the National Science Foundation, has discovered that the female ancestor of all living polar bears was a brown bear that lived in the vicinity of present-day Britain and Ireland 20,000 to 50,000 years ago. More

NOAA's Fairweather to Map Areas of the Arctic Unmeasured Since U.S. Acquired Alaska

7/7/2011 NOAA Ship Fairweather departed Kodiak, Alaska on a mission to conduct hydrographic surveys in remote areas of the Arctic where depths have not been measured since before the U.S. bought Alaska in 1867. More