You are in: Home » News » Newsletters » 2008 Issues
SCAR Newsletter: Issue 14, March 2008
SCAR, Antarctic and Polar News
SCAR/IASC Open Science Conference Second Circular
The Second Circular for the Open Science Conference, to be held in St Petersburg in July, is posted on the SCAR website and contains a Draft Plenary Program and information on the Science Sessions and Chairs.
The programme for the Open Science Conference is now being constructed and we hope to let speakers know about the programme decisions by 10 April. This will enable those who have not yet registered to be able to do so before the Early Bird deadline of 20 April.
Announcement of Opportunity: Antarctic Science Fellowships 2008-9
SCAR announces the launch of its 2008-9 Fellowship Programme, which this year is in two parts:
(i) the Standard SCAR Fellowship - for postgraduate and/or post-doctoral researchers from within the 34 SCAR Member countries to undertake research at an institute in another SCAR country.
(ii) SCAR/IPF/IAI/UNEP Sixth Continent Initiative Fellowships - for postgraduate and/or post-doctoral researchers from within the 34 SCAR Member countries, or from non-traditional polar countries, to undertake research and development activities in the Antarctic.
The SCAR Fellowship Programme is designed to encourage the active involvement of early career scientists and engineers in Antarctic scientific research, and to strengthen international capacity and cooperation in Antarctic research. Deadline for applications is 15th May. See further details.
Wilkins Ice Shelf on the verge of breaking up
A thin strip of ice is all that now prevents the Wilkins Shelf from disintegrating and breaking away from the landmass of the Antarctic peninsula. The Antarctic Peninsula has experienced unprecedented warming over the last 50 years and several ice shelves on the peninsula have retreated in recent years and six of them – the Prince Gustav Channel, Larsen Inlet, Larsen A and Larsen B, the Wordie, Muller and the Jones ice shelves – have collapsed completely.
"Wilkins is the largest ice shelf yet on the Antarctic peninsula to be threatened, said David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey. "I didn't expect to see things happen this quickly. The ice shelf is hanging by a thread – we'll know in the next few days or weeks what its fate will be.
Ice shelves form along the coasts and, because the ice is already floating on water, their disintegration does not affect sea levels. However their rapid disappearance could lead to the faster movement into the ocean of the massive, land-based ice sheets and glaciers – which do raise sea levels.
View video from the BBC.
See the British Antarctic Survey Press Release.
Krill spotted diving at depth
Antarctic krill have been caught on camera at the bottom of the Southern Ocean, far deeper than they are usually found. Krill were thought to live in the top 150 metres of Antarctica's waters, feeding on the phytoplankton that live in illuminated waters. However, the remotely operated vehicle, Isis, captured video of krill swimming just above the sea bed at some 3,500 metres depth.
View the full article at http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080225/full/news.2008.620.html
Warming climate could do to Antarctic life what 20 glaciations could not
ScienceNOW (19th Feb 2008) reports how researchers studying the effects of ancient climate patterns on Antarctic waters have reached an alarming conclusion: The inhabitants of those seas were able to cling to life by the thinnest of margins during past ice ages, but they might not be able to weather the temperature increases predicted for the next century. In particular danger are the birds and mammals occupying the top of the food chain, such as emperor penguins and sea lions.
View the full article at http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/219/2?etoc
Does active volcano contribute to rapid glacial melt?
Nature News reports that scientists have found an active volcano beneath Antarctic ice that last erupted just 2,000 years ago. The hotspot lies beneath the Pine Island region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, where glaciers are retreating more quickly than elsewhere on the continent. The dramatic find might help to explain this particularly rapid loss of ice.
For details see http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080118/full/news.2008.304.html
Antarctica Losing More Ice Faster
Nature News (13 January) reports that Antarctica is losing ice faster now than it was a decade ago. The rate of loss was 75% higher in 2006 that in 1996, according to records from satellite observations. Much of the loss occurs around the edge because glaciers are speeding up. It was once thought that such losses would be balanced by gains from precipitation in the interior. Not so, say the latest studies. 152 billion cubic kilometres were lost per year from 2002 to 2005. These new data reinforce concerns about the IPCC's initial (February 2007) suggestion that sea level would rise no more than 58 cm by the year 2100, a prediction they backed away from last fall.
For details see http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080113/full/news.2008.438.html
2007 second warmest in past 120 years
According to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Science (GISS), the year 2007 tied for second warmest in the period of instrumental data (see graph below), behind the record warmth of 2005. The 2007 warming tied with that for 1998, a 'freak' year where the extraordinary warming was driven by an unprecedented giant El Niño event. The unusual warmth in 2007 is noteworthy because it occurs at a time when solar irradiance is at a minimum and the equatorial Pacific Ocean is in the cool phase of its natural El Niño – La Niña cycle. The eight warmest years in the GISS record have all occurred since 1998, and the 14 warmest years in the record have all occurred since 1990. The GISS figure shows:
(a) annual surface temperature anomaly relative to 1951-1980 mean, based on surface air measurements at meteorological stations and ship and satellite measurements of sea surface temperature; the 2007 point is the 11-month anomaly.
(b) Global map of surface temperature anomalies for the first 11 months of 2007. The La Niña cooling is evident in the tropical Pacific.
For details see: http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/20080114_GISTEMP.pdf
Isotopic Evidence for Glaciation During the Cretaceous Supergreenhouse
Cretaceous climates were significantly warmer than those of today, most likely due to a higher content of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Nevertheless, it has been suggested from the record of sea level change that there must have been some ice on Antarctica even then. New oxygen isotopic evidence reported in the 11 January issue of the journal Science (V. 319, No. 5860, pp 189-192) shows that both the the surface and deep tropical Atlantic experienced synchronous shifts 91.2 million years ago (in the Turonian) consistent with an approximately 200,000-year period of glaciation, with ice sheets reaching about half the size of the modern Antarctic ice cap. So even though this was one of the warmest periods of the Phanerozoic eon, with tropical sea surface temperatures over 35°C, the prevailing supergreenhouse climate was not a barrier to the formation of large ice sheets.
Workshop on the Antarctic climate record of the past 200-1000 years
SCAR and NSF are co-sponsoring a workshop (2-5 September, in Maine, USA) to integrate research on the ice cores collected by the ITASE programme (International Trans Antarctic Scientific Expedition), so as to establish in detail the climate record of the past 200-1000 years from proxy climate indicators. This will aid in integrating ITASE climate reconstruction products into climate models addressing past and future climate change. For more information, including registration, please download the Workshop Details.
News on SCAR's Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic Programme
See the latest Newsletter from EBA.
Assessing Antarctic climate change to 2100
A new assessment has been published of Antarctic climate change over the 21st century. The work was done by SCAR's Antarctica in the Global Climate System Programme team and was based on data from the models that were developed as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4th Assessment Report (2007). To provide more reliable estimates of future change, a weighting scheme was applied to the model output, to take account of the ability of each model to reproduce the mean climate of the late 20th century. The results show a large increase of 27% in autumn in the strength of the circumpolar westerlies around Antarctica. This seasonal change was found to be consistent with projected changes in the regional semi-annual oscillation (SAO) in surface pressure. In summer and autumn the increases of the westerly wind component migrate sufficiently far south to reduce the strength of the coastal easterlies. The surface warming averaged over the continent is projected to be 0.34 degrees C per decade, with an inter-model standard deviation of 0.10 degree C per decade. More rapid warming occurs during the winter over regions of sea ice retreat, e.g., 0.51 ± 0.26 degrees C per decade around East Antarctica. Projections of total sea-ice area show a decrease of 33%, representing 2.6 ± 0.73 million square km. There is a projected increase of net precipitation averaged over the continent of 2.9 ± 1.2 mm per year per decade. The weighting gives a larger increase of the autumn SAO peak, up to 30% larger than for April. This is consistent with larger weighted autumn increases of circumpolar westerlies, more sea ice reduction and resulting larger skin temperature increases.
Reference: Bracegirdle, T. J., W. M. Connolley, and J. Turner (2008), Antarctic climate change over the twenty first century, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D03103, doi:10.1029/2007JD008933.
Interim report on the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) now available
Based on the last Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) meeting held in Bremen in October 2007, a SOOS interim meeting report is now available to download. A plan for production of a SOOS document, which identifies suggested lead authors and contributors for specific sections, was drawn up. This will be developed over the next few months, with a near final draft document anticipated for open discussion at the SCAR/International Arctic Science Council (IASC) Open Science Conference scheduled for St Petersburg, Russia in July 2008.
Please note that this is very much an interim progress report and does not represent what will be in the final SOOS planning document – there will be many more opportunities for consultation over the coming months.
Download the interim report.
Global Prediction of the Cryosphere
This topic is the focus of the latest issue of the Ice and Climate News no 10. This is the newsletter of the Climate and Cryosphere Programme (CliC), which is co-sponsored by SCAR and the World Climate Research Programme. This low-resolution version is suitable for screen viewing. Hardcopies will be mailed out to everyone on the CliC mailing list as soon as they are ready. If anyone wants to be added to this list, they can contact us at clic@npolar.no. Back issues (and other useful information) are filed in the DISC database (data information system for clic) http://clic.npolar.no/disc/index.html.
News from the Census of Antarctic Marine Life
SCAR's Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) programme is an integral part of the global Census of Marine Life, which was cited by the Editors of Discover Magazine in its December 2007 issue as one of the six most important experiments in the world. The Census was chosen based on its potential to better protect the world's ocean resources, and through its discoveries, for the promise of developing new pharmaceuticals and industrial applications. It joined the ranks of other exciting initiatives such as a computer model that mimics the function of the human brain and a new way to manipulate genomes. The magazine is currently available on newsstands, with the online version at:
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/dec/the-6-most-important-experiments-in-the-world
SCAR Becomes Associate Participant in Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
On February 18th, SCAR became an Associate Member of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). The members of GBIF are countries or intergovernmental or international entities that agree to join in a coordinated international effort to enable a global user community to openly share and put to use vast quantities of global biodiversity data. By that means they will help to advance scientific research in many disciplines, promote technological and sustainable development, facilitate the conservation of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of its benefits, and enhance the quality of life of members of society. GBIF exists to promote, co-ordinate, design and implement the compilation, linking, standardisation, digitisation and global dissemination of the world's biodiversity data, within an appropriate framework for property rights and due attribution. GBIF will work in close co-operation with established programmes and organisations that compile, maintain and use biological information resources. The Participants, working through GBIF, will establish and support a distributed information system that will enable users to access and utilise considerable quantities of existing and new biodiversity data. This new link will be of particular use and interest to SCAR's Life Sciences data programmes, such as SCAR MarBIN.
SCAR's Antarctic Geographic Information Group Meeting Report Published
The new Standing Committee on Antarctic Geographic Information (SC-AGI) held its first meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 8-10 October 2007. The report of the meeting has now been published as SCAR Bulletin 165 and is now posted on the SCAR website: www.scar.org/publications/bulletins
SCAR presence on SciSpace and Facebook
As well as this website, SCAR is also a group on the social networking site Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) and the new networking site designed specifically for scientists, SciSpace (http://scispace.net/scar/). SciSpace.net has been created to provide an environment for scientific collaboration. As well as allowing the formation of communities such as SCAR it allows blogs, wiki documents, sharing of files. Both the SCAR Facebook and SciSpace groups allow people to keep abreast of SCAR news and other items of interest. For further details follow the previous links or email Mike Sparrow (mds68@cam.ac.uk).
Opportunity for early career researchers
The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) is hosting a free one-day professional development workshop prior to the joint SCAR/IASC conference on the 7th July in St Petersburg. It's an international and multidisciplinary event aimed at early career researchers addressing key issues such as grant proposal writing, research productivity, communication and international collaboration with sessions run by leading polar researchers.
For more information or to apply, visit us online at www.polarnetwork.org
Belgian Antarctic Station Opens
The new Belgian Antarctic Station, Princess Elisabeth Antarctic (the first zero emission research station) has now opened in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctic. For details see http://www.antarcticstation.org/
First-ever ice runway in Antarctica
January 11 - Australian scientists landed the Airbus A319 on an ice runway in Antarctica, officially opening a new air link between Australia and the white continent.
Two fatalities in helicopter crash in Antarctica
SCAR would like to send its condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the two people who lost their lives when a helicopter based on the research ship Polarstern crashed near the German Antarctic station Neumayer II. Further details of the incident are available from: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/303/1?etoc
Death of Sir Edmund Hillary
SCAR is sad to learn of the death of one of the great mountain and polar explorers of our time, Sir Edmund Hillary, of New Zealand, at the age of 88, on January 11th. Sir Edmund was most widely known as the first man, with his sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, to have reached the summit of Mt Everest, in 1953. After that he climbed ten more peaks in the Himalayas during the late 50s and 60s. In polar terms he is best known for leading his team from Scott Base to the South Pole as part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, during the International Geophysical Year, reaching the pole 50 years ago on 4 January 1958. Poles and mountains were not enough. In 1977, he also led a jet-boat expedition from the mouth of the Ganges to its source. Sir Edmund has always been a friend to New Zealand's Antarctic aspirations and recently visited Scott Base. Aside from his explorations, Sir Edmund was a great humanitarian, raising money for the people of Nepal, and starting the Himalayan Trust, which has helped to build hospitals, schools, pipelines and airfields for the people of the hill country. He served as New Zealand High Commissioner to India, Nepal and Bangladesh, 1985-88.
Awards and Honours
Past President George Knox Receives Award
George Knox, Secretary of SCAR from 1974-78, President from 1978-82, and Honorary Member since then, is well known to the SCAR Life Sciences community and a long-standing representative of the International Union of Biological Sciences at SCAR meetings. Sadly George will not be able to represent IUBS at the next SCAR meeting, owing to a recent stroke that has incapacitated him. His many services to NZ science have recently been recognized by the award of a special "50th Anniversary Antarctic Medal" last year by the Royal Society of New Zealand and Antarctica New Zealand. We congratulate George and wish him well in his recovery.
New Zealand's SCAR Representatives Honoured
Congratulations to recent SCAR Vice-Presidents from New Zealand, Clive Howard-Williams (2002-2006) and Fred Davey (1997-2000), who were both honoured in 2007 with the award of the New Zealand Antarctic Medal for their many services to Antarctic science. Fred, a marine geophysicist, represented NZ on SCAR for 10 years and on SCAR Earth science groups from 1977-2007. He chaired the NZ National Committee for Antarctic Research for 12 years and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of NZ in 1991. Clive, an aquatic ecologist, is well known for his work on microbial systems in the Dry Valleys and on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of NZ in 1999.
ESF's European ice core project EPICA receives prestigious Descartes Prize
The research project EPICA (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica), one of the European Science Foundation's most successful and longest running Research Networking Programmes, is one of this year's winners of the Descartes Prize for Research. The Descartes Prize for Research was awarded to three European teams for outstanding transnational projects in natural sciences and humanities by the European Union on 12 March in Brussels.
Jobs
For more information on the posts listed below, please see the Jobs page.
Program Director, Office of Polar Programs, Division of Arctic Sciences, National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia
Application Closing Date: Friday, 16 May 2008
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is seeking qualified candidates for a Program Director position within the Office of the Director, Office of Polar Programs (OPP), Division of Arctic Sciences, Arctic Natural Sciences Program, in Arlington, Virginia. The position will be filled as either a permanent appointment or as a temporary appointment.
Three Positions Available - Sea Ice Physics, Remote Sensing, and Physical Oceanography, Norwegian Polar Institute
Application Deadline: Friday, 9 May 2008
The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) announces three full time, permanent research positions: a Sea Ice Scientist, Arctic Physical Environment; an Ice and Snow Scientist, Remote Sensing; and a Physical Oceanographer.
Science Officer, European Polar Board Unit, European Science Foundation, Strasbourg, France
Application deadline extended: Monday, 7 April 2008
The ESF invites applications for a Science Officer in the European Polar Board Unit, with special responsibility for developing an Arctic-Antarctic Research Implementation Plan for the ERICON-AB (European Research Icebreaker Consortium). The post is for a minimum period of 24 months (possible extension subject to continued financing by the project), preferably starting mid to end March 2008.
Sea Ice Research and Modeling, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany
Selection Process Begins: Saturday, 15 March 2008, and continues until the positions are filled.
The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, is seeking one postdoctoral fellow for sea ice research and one scientific programmer for sea ice modeling.
Director, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
Position open until filled
The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado at Boulder invites applications for an associate/full professor position as the Director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The position is rostered in CIRES, with tenure track and teaching responsibilities in a relevant discipline department.
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sea Ice Forecasting, U.S. National/Naval Ice Center
Position Open Until Filled
Events
XXX SCAR Science Week and Open Science Conference, July 2008, St Petersburg, Russia
The XXX SCAR Science Week (with business meetings and workshops of SCAR's Standing Scientific Groups and other groups) takes place from 5-7 July, followed by the joint SCAR-IASC Open Science Conference from 8-11 July. The theme of the conference is Polar Research - Arctic and Antarctic Perspectives in the International Polar Year. More information is available in the Second Circular and on the conference website. Early registration is encouraged - fee reduction until 20 April.
Other Events
Other events of interest to the SCAR Community are listed on the Events page.
Newsletter prepared by Colin Summerhayes and Rosemary Nash, SCAR Secretariat. Please send feedback to info@scar.org
About Acrobat/PDF files