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SCAR newsletter: Issue 4, October 2005


SCAR XXIX Meeting, Hobart,Tasmania, July 2006.

For registration and more information go to: www.scarcomnap2006.org

Closing date for abstract submissions is 31st December 2005

EOS Publishes article on the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting

On August 9th, 2005, the scientific magazine EOS published an article based on the SCAR lecture to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Stockholm

John Turner wins the International Journal of Climatology Prize

The Royal Meteorological Society of the UK has awarded John Turner,Chief Officer of SCAR's Standing Scientific Group for the Physical Sciences, and a senior scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, the International Journal of Climatology Prize for his papers on the climate of the Antarctic, which include "The El Nino-Southern Oscillation and Antarctica". International Journal of Climatology 24:1-31; 2004.

SCAR Bulletins 157 and 158 now available on-line.

To economise on costs, the Secretariat is now making the SCAR Bulletin available on-line. If you would like copies you can download them from the publications page at www.scar.org/publications/bulletins/. The latest additions are the April and July 2005 issues, Bulletins 157 and 158. These documents are in PDF format.

SCAR Executive Committee approves SCAR Communications Plan.

Following e-mailconsultation with National Committees and Delegates, the SCAR ExecutiveCommittee approved the SCARCommunications Plan during its meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, July 11-13, 2005.

SCAR Awards 4 Fellowships for 2005-2006

At its meeting inSofia (July 11-13, 2005), the Executive Committee agreed to provide 4fellowships for the year 2005-06. The fellowships go to scientists fromthe USA, New Zealand, Argentina and Brazil, to carry out research inAustralia, the UK, Canada and Belgium.

Independent Reviewers say that the JointCommittee on Antarctic DataManagement (JCADM) is "cost effective, specialized, user-oriented and up-to date"

The recent evaluationof the JCADM's work by a group of independentreviewers took place inThe Netherlands on 31 March - 1 April 2005.Over last few years JCADMhas created more National Antarctic DataCentres (NADCs), and trainedpeople to operate them and populate themwith data and metadata. JCADM'swork has increased the submission ofmetadata sets to the AntarcticMaster Directory, and more and moreusers are using the Directory.JCADM's Chief Officer, Taco de Bruinhopes to expand JCADM's services tothe scientific community, and toinvolve more scientists in submittingmetadata to the Directory anddownloading metadata from it in the nearfuture.
"The SCAR Open Science Conference in Hobart, Tasmania,scheduled forJuly 2006, will be an excellent opportunity to strengthenthe linksbetween the Data Managers and the scientific communities",Taco deBruin says. Another next step for JCADM is to develop links toseveralallied data and information groups (such as National OceanDataCentres) and to continue capacity building (training moreNADCoperators).

Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) authorised by G8 meeting in Scotland (July 8, 2005)

G8 leaders meeting at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, July 8, 2005, authorized a plan to implement the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (www.epa.gov/geoss/) to thwart pollution and global warming, as part of the G8's "Plan of Action: Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development". In particular, the G8 will work to strengthen existing climate observing systems in Africa, through the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), initially to developing fully operational regional climate centres in Africa. But the GEOSS is not just about Africa, it is a global initiative involving the world´s space agencies, the UN agencies like WMO, UNEP, FAO, and UNESCO and its Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and the main research organisations including ICSU, the IGBP, and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). GEOSS will include space-based and in situ observations on the ocean, ice and atmosphere from the Southern Ocean and from Antarctica.
SCAR has an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the development of the south polar elements of the GEOSS.

Professor Zhanhai Zhang appointed as SCAR Vice President

Following the resignation of Prof Shimamura, the SCAR Executive Committee, at its meeting in Sofia (11-13 July 2005) decided that Professor Zhanhai Zhang should become a SCAR Vice President, starting with immediate effect.

Prof Dr Zhanhai Zhang, Director General
Polar Research Institute of China, 451 Jinqiao Road, Shanghai Pudong 200136, China
Tel: +86 21 6850 7533, Fax: +86 21 5871 1663, Email: zhangzhanhai@pric.gov.cn

UN News reports that over-fishing, tourism and ozone depletion continue to plague Antarctica - statements by Kofi Annan

12 September 2005 - Substantial increases in illegal fishing, tourism, bioprospecting, climate change and depletion of the ozone continue to
pose major challenges to the Antarctic, and governments should continue to make major efforts to secure the area as a natural reserve, says
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"Efforts should be continued to ensure that commercial activities will not impact on the successes of the Antarctic Treaty system, in
particular in securing Antarctica as a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science," says Mr. Annan in a report detailing the progress of the
Treaty.
In particular he notes that "illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing for toothfish in the Southern Ocean still exceeds reported
catches despite major efforts to address such activities." Other major areas of concern are the increase in tourism over the last 10 years, and
the emerging threat of bioprospecting which is on the rise.
During 2003-4, illegal, unregulated and unreported toothfish fishing was estimated at 15,992 tons, up from 13,804 in 2000-1. The number of captured seals was also up from 2001 to 3,709, even though not all countries cooperating with the 1998 Madrid Protocol which governs protection and management had reported their activities.
There was also a huge increase of 308 per cent in ship-borne tourists to the Antarctic Peninsula since 1993, up to 27,324 in 2004-5, from 6,704 in 1992-3. An increase in high-risk, adventure tourism has also wrought havoc on the region, creating the need for new search and rescue missions and country liability assessments.
"Global changes, in particular climate change and the depletion of the ozone layer, remain major threats," the report says. Several glaciers including Brown Glacier on Heard Island, and Collins Glacier on King George Island have retreated by several metres over three years, providing evidence of continued glacial melting. A ripple effect has impacted animals in the area, with reductions in the breeding of three seabird species correlated with increases in sea temperature and the loss of penguin nests correlating to a decline in krill due to retreating pack ice.
These developments came despite "unique" international cooperation, "in particular in connection with the study of global changes," the positive introduction of a Secretariat in 2004 to head the effort, and the opening or upgrading of nine stations to monitor the state of the region, according to the report.

Siberia warms: risk of massive methane contribution to the greenhouse

One million square miles of Siberia's frozen peat bogs are melting.This area is warming faster than anywhere else on the planet (3 degrees centigrade in 40 years). Decomposition within the bogs created methane that was trapped when the bogs were frozen. Now they are no longer frozen, the methane (a greenhouse gas 20 times more effective thancarbon dioxide) can escape - perhaps up to 70 billion tons of it. Such an event could accelerate global warming and climate change.

Atlas of the Oceanography of the Southern Ocean

The first WOCE (World Ocean Circulation Experiment) Hydrographic Atlas has just been published by Drs. Alex Orsi and Tom Whitworth. It covers the Southern Ocean. This impressive atlas builds on the tradition of classic atlases of world oceans by other well-known oceanographers like Val Worthington and Fritz Fuglister. It sets the standard for the remaining WOCE atlases to follow.

New data show sea-level rising faster than expected due to ice melt

Recent research by NASA and others shows that sea-level is rising faster than expected. Analyses suggest that this is because of thermal expansion of the ocean combined with faster than expected melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets

Meeting the Climate Challenge

In preparation for the G8 summit in Gleneagles in spring 2005, an international task force of global policy makers published a report entitled Meeting the Climate Challenge, which can be downloaded from:
www.whrc.org/resources/published_literature/pdf/ByersetalInstPubPolRes.1.05.pdf
News reports summarising the document say that Earth is a decade from a global warming point of no return. The report states that the global warming danger threshold is a 2 degree C rise in temperature since 1750.The report says we are already about half way there, and that we will reach that threshold in the next decade or so. A full 2 degree rise will usher in massive climate change.

Arctic sea-ice melting steadily since 1989

(From EOS, vol 86, No 31, August 2, 2005) Satellite observations show that Arctic sea-ice cover had been stable through the 1980s, but decreased dramatically after 1989. The decline corresponded with a shift in the Arctic Oscillation, a long-term climatic cycle that alternates between high and low pressure systems, and thus cooler or warmer conditions. Since 1989 the warmer phasehas predominated, causing substantial ice loss. Although the climatic oscillation has been less prevalent inrecent years, residual effects may still linger, and the ice continues to decline. Authors speculate that global warming may be preventing the Arctic Oscillation from returning to its former cooler phase. These observations remind us that not all warming events are due to global warming alone; many such events may reflect local changes due to natural variability.

News from the Science Groups

1. Physical Sciences: Polar Aerosols - The Polar Aerosol Optical Depth Project

Aerosols play an important role in the global climate system, but we have little information on their nature or distribution in the polar regions. A new initiative POLAR-AOD (aerosol optical depth) aims to establish a long term Arctic-Antarctic network to obtain a quantification of the atmospheric aerosol variability in the polar regions, including improved characterisation of polar aerosols and an evaluation of background values, such as threshold values that are suitable for evaluating future changes, due to both natural and anthropogenic factors. There is a strategy to assimilate information from different sources, such as ground-based, aircraft and satellite observations that will permit us to obtain an accurate assessment of direct climate forcing due to polar aerosol on a regional scale, addressing differences and similarities of the two poles.

An initial inter-comparison campaign will be held to define calibration procedures between the various sun-radiometers operating in Antarctica and Arctic in order to achieve comparability between each other to get homogeneous AOD (aerosol optical depth) evaluations in the polar regions. The inter-comparison campaign (planned to be biennial) will be used in order to compare not only calibration constants but also instrumental characteristics, such as sensitivity and influence of diffuse light. During the first campaign, a small workshop will be organized at the same time to discuss common strategies and goals, including aspects of logistics for polar operations and adjust the methodology and calculation procedure for the AOD, such as air-massand trace gas correction, and further relevant aerosol parameter.
The first inter-comparison campaign will take place at the science village Ny-Ålesund (78∘55' N, 11∘54' E) at the archipelago Svalbard, from the 24th March to 5th April 2006, hosted by the German-French station AWIPEV, the Italian Dirigible station and the Norwegian station.

2. Life Sciences: 9th SCAR International Biology Symposium Breaks Records

The 9th SCAR International Biology Symposium, meeting in Curitiba, Brazil, from July 25-29, is breaking several records.
350 people attended, significantly more than any previous such meetings. This was the first time that the Symposium was held in South America. This is also the meeting at which the Implementation Plan is being finalised for the new major SCAR Scientific Research Programme on "Evolution and Biodiversity in Antarctica" (EBA). Representatives from 32 countries were present, achieving the goal of bringing people together and encouraging networking and collaboration. There were 246 presentations (including around 100 posters). This event was important for Antarctic science and in stimulating the development of future generations of Antarctic biologists.

3. Geoscience Standing Scientific Group - GSSG

There have been a number of activities undertaken by members of the GSSG over the past few months. The following may be of interest to SCAR members:

Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML):

This is an IPY project developed within the biological community that has a significant role for marine geosciences and corresponding opportunities for survey logistics. Phil O'Brien attended the first CAML Science Steering Committee meeting in Brussels in May to present the geological work needed to underpin some of the CAML objectives. CAML is primarily focused on understanding biodiversity. However, a major focus will be on the benthic biota of the slope, rise and abyssal plains. The CAML science statement can be viewed at the website: http://www.caml.aq/

Antarctic Digital Database (ADD):

Paul Cooper, at BAS, has released an experimental web map browser for the ADD, which can be accessed at <http://www.add.scar.org/WMSbrowser/>.This is currently an experimental page, based on a Web Feature Service and Web Map Service. Expect it to change in content, appearance and functionality over the next few months. It has been tested with Internet Explorer 6, Mozilla, Firefox and Opera, and should work correctly with most modern Javascript-enabled browsers. The underlying services are not yet ready for public release, but if any one wishes to use them on an experimental basis, please contact Paul Cooper at paul.cooper@bas.ac.uk.

ACE:

The ACE Implementation Plan has been accepted by the SCAR Executive Committee, pending a minor additional section on how ACE work can be linked to the Joint Committee on Antarctic Data Management. Details of this Implementation Plan can be found on the ACE website <http://www.ace.scar.org/> .The ACE science programme will be led by a series of subcommittees, the names and chairs of which are as follows:
· LGM-Holocene Chair: Tony Payne (UK)
· Pleistocene Chair: Tim Naish (NZ)
· Middle Miocene-Pliocene Chair: Alan Haywood (UK)
· Oligocene-Miocene Chair: Rob DeConto (USA)
· Eocene/Oligocene Chair: Jane Francis (UK)
· Radio-Echo Sounding: Chair: Detlef Damaske (Germany)

ANTEC:

The principal focus of ANTEC (SCAR Expert Group on Antarctic Neotectonics) activities in 2005 has been on development of the IPY initiative called "POLENET: Polar Earth Observing Network" and linked proposals for geodetic and seismic observatories. The aim of this programme is to investigate systems-scale interactions within the polar earth system and polar geodynamics by deploying autonomous remote observatories, on the continents and possibly offshore. The principal components of these observatories will consist of continuous GPS and seismometers, with the potential addition ofmeteorology packages, geomagnetic observatories, tide gauges (at coastal sites), and bottom pressure gauges (at offshore sites).

Geographic Information Meeting:

A 3-day meeting for the Geographic Information Group and Cybercartographic Atlas project was held between 18-20 September, in Ottawa, Canada. A small and well represented group met to discuss: Progress reports on GIG projects; Feature Catalogue, Symbology and the Composite Gazetteer issues and updates, and plans for Web services. There was also a report from SCAR's International Standards Organisation (ISO) representative, Paul Cooper, about the ISOTC211 meeting, new ISO19xxx initiatives and new Standard proposals. A larger number of GIG members participated in an international conference call to discuss some of the above issues.

News from the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat

The work of the Secretariat is now mainly focused on editing and producing the Final Report of the 28th ATCM. At the time of writing, the English version is definitive and being formatted for printing; final editing of the French, Russian and Spanish versions is still in progress. The texts are available to the Treaty Parties on the ATS website (www.ats.org.ar/28atcm/default.php). The English version will be published in October and the other language versions soon after.

Among other decisions, the 28th ATCM adopted Resolution 5 (2005) concerning "Site Guidelines for Visitors". The aim of these guidelines is to provide specific instructions on the conduct of activities at the most frequently visited Antarctic sites, including practical guidance for tour operators and guides. They are available at the Secretariat website (www.ats.aq/) and are also being produced in printed form and on CD for dissemination among the Treaty Parties, tour operators and other agencies connected with Antarctic tourism.

The 9th meeting of the Joint Committee on Antarctic Data Management of SCAR and COMNAP (JCADM) was held from 12 to 16 September in Buenos Aires, Argentina, hosted by the Argentine Antarctic Institute. As the gathering and management of data (albeit documentary andadministrative, not scientific data) is an important element of the tasks of the Secretariat, we were able to explore a number of areas in which JCADM and the ATS could cooperate.

From the beginning, the Secretariat has been open to trainees from the member countries to learn about the Antarctic Treaty System and receive on the job training in the legal and administrative work of the Secretariat. At present we have at the Secretariat Antonia Hjort from Sweden, who worked as an assistant and rapporteur at the 28th ATCM in Stockholm.

The Secretariat staff, at present consisting of four full time and a few part time staff members, is being expanded. The positions of IT Officer and Editor have been advertised in the Buenos Aires press. This concerns local appointments, but they are open to citizens of any Consultative Party living in the Buenos Aires area.

Forthcoming Events

Events of interest to the SCAR Community are listed at:
www.scar.org/events/

prepared by Colin Summerhayes and Marzena Kaczmarska, SCAR Secretariat. Please send feedback to info@scar.org.