A Vision for the International Polar Year 2007-2008 (2004)

From its earliest planning, the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 has evolved out of discussions among scientists from many nations. The first significant momentum took hold once the International Council for Science (ICSU) encouraged scientists to form a planning group in the summer of 2003. This group, listed below, developed the first overall guidance defining the nature and scope of IPY (e.g., Box A1), and its February 2004 report (Rapley and Bell, 2004) to the ICSU Executive Council gained the organization’s official endorsement for the IPY concept. In that report, IPY 2007-2008 is envisioned to be an international program of coordinated interdisciplinary scientific research and observations in the Earth’s polar regions to explore new frontiers; deepen our understanding of polar processes and their global linkages; increase our ability to detect changes; attract and develop the next generation of polar scientists, engineers, and leaders; and capture the interest of the public and decision makers.

Members of the ICSU IPY Planning Group as of spring 2004 include:

Professor Chris Rapley (Chair), United Kingdom

Dr. Robin Bell (Vice Chair), United States of America

Dr. Ian Allison, Australia

Dr. Robert Bindschadler, United States of America

Dr. Gino Casassa, Rogazinski, Chile

Professor Steve Chown, Republic of South Africa

Professor Gerard Duhaime, Canada

Professor Vladimir Kotlyakov, Russia

Professor Olav Orheim, Norway

Dr. Hanne Petersen, Denmark

Professor Dr. Zhanhai Zhang, China

Professor Michael Kuhn, Austria (IUGG liaison)

Dr. Henk Schalke, The Netherlands (IUGS liaison)

Parallel with the ICSU endorsement, the World Meteorological Organization issued an endorsement of IPY, under the leadership of Russian and other scientists. With these two critical endorsements as a foundation, planning efforts have gained energy and numerous other organizations have begun developing plans for participating. Organizations and programs supporting IPY 2007-2008 as of spring 2004 include:

• Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting

• Arctic Climate Impact Assessment

• Arctic Council

• Arctic Ocean Science Board

• Arctic-SubArctic Ocean Flux Study

• Committee of Managers of National Antarctic Programmes

• European Polar Board

• European Space Agency

• Forum of Arctic Research Operators

• International Arctic Science Committee

• International Permafrost Association

• Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

• Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research

• United States Polar Research Board

• World Meteorological Organization

In response to a call from the ICSU IPY Planning Group, individual nations have expressed interest in participating, with many already having formed national committees to serve as the focal point for planning and communications. Some of the nations that have expressed intent to participate include:

• Argentina

• Australia

• Austria

• Belgium

• Canada

• Chile

• China

• Denmark

• Finland

• France

• Germany

• India

• Italy

• Ireland

• Japan

• Russia

• South Africa

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Netherlands

• New Zealand

• Norway

• United Kingdom

• United States of America