June 11 2008 New Science and Education Forum established on Svalbard
One of the world's northernmost towns, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, has been home to several research and education institutions for years. Yet it is only recently that all interested parties join forces to establish a joint forum for science and education. The child is named The Longyearbyen Science and Education Forum (LySEF).
The main goal of Longyearbyen Science and Education Forum (LySEF) is to promote Longyearbyen as a base for research and education through coordination and collaborative efforts.
- Longyearbyen is not the same town as it was just a few decades ago. It has been growing not only in size but also in its competence in various disciplines and industries. The research community is one of the most meaningful and visible resident groups in town, as several research and education institutions are at home here, the press release from LySEF stated.
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June 7 2008 The Arctic: A very cold war indeed
To reach the village of Tuktoyaktuk, in the extreme north of Canada's Northwest Territories, you first fly to Inuvik, a town of 4,000 people inside the Arctic Circle that is, from the point of view of most Canadians, ridiculously far north in the first place.
Then you drive north. You can do this only in winter, because about a mile outside Inuvik the road comes to an end; the rest of the journey is on a frozen river, and then, after a while, on the frozen Arctic Ocean itself. (In summer, when the sea melts, Tuktoyaktuk is accessible only by boat or turbo-prop plane.)
Before long, whiteness, tinged with blue, stretches to the horizon in every direction. You pass huge industrial ships, locked in place by the ice, abandoned for the season. Around this point, the -28 degrees Celsius cold may begin to bite through your thermal underwear, and the guide who is driving you in his Jeep may start to say troubling things, such as, "The cracks in the ice are supposed to make it stronger, actually."
Finally, after travelling for three hours, you reach the Inuit village of Tuktoyaktuk and drive back up on to shore -- where, in one of the small wooden buildings, the mayor, a 45-year-old Inuk named Merven Gruben, will tell you he thinks the moral fibre of the place is in decline, because these days, whenever the temperature falls below -40 degrees Celsius, the children get to stay home from school.
"Wasn't like that when we were kids," he sighs. "If you ask me, we've gone soft."
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June 5 2008 The North is not the wild West
There are clear rules governing the Arctic, and there should be no risk for the Arctic descending into armed conflict
The United Nations Convention on the Law the Sea is the comprehensive multilateral regime that applies in the Arctic, says Hans Corell, former undersecretary-general for legal affairs of the United Nations in The Globe and Mail, Canadas largest newspaper.
Hans Corell comments an article by Scott Borgerson, titled Arctic Meltdown and mentioned earlier on this homepage.
Mr. Corell continues: "The article correctly points to the effects of global warming in the Arctic, to melting ice, to new shipping lanes, to new possibilities for extracting minerals and to increased access to fish and timber. Mr. Borgerson raises many questions that need to be addressed.
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June 4 2008 Update on recent Indian IPY activities
As the IPY completes one year successfully, India has contributed strongly to its scientific & outreach program that will continue into 2008-09 & beyond. National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India) is acting as the national coordinating agency and has well defined outreach activities that seek to educate school children, general public & scientific community about the challenges & need of the polar research. Towards this, NCAOR has contributed & participated in exhibitions to celebrate IPY. It has also put effort in getting published many articles outlining the activities under IPY themes in Indian scientific journals & has brought out special issues & sections in them.
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