SCAR News - Archive from 2008
(Most recent first)
Report on SCAR Science Week 2008
The report on SCAR Science Week, which took place in St Petersburg, Russia in early July this year, has now been published as SCAR Bulletin 169. The Science Week was a great success with over 1100 participants representing 44 countries. The report covers all aspects of the planning and organisation of the SCAR Business Meetings and of the Open Science Conference, which was organised jointly with SCAR's Arctic counterpart, IASC.
Ice Cores Meeting produces new results
A workshop meeting of SCAR's International Trans Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE) project (Castine, Maine, 2-5 September 2008), brought together specialists from around the world to exchange the latest shallow ice core data and make progress towards using them to assess the variability of the Antarctic climate system over the past 1000 years or so. Results will be useful to all those concerned with climate variability in the Antarctic and its interaction with the global climate system. Especially interesting were results suggesting that there has been significant warming in West Antarctica. For details see, SCAR report 33.
Book published on SCAR's Antarctic Climate Evolution (ACE) Programme
Antarctic Climate Evolution is the first book dedicated to the developing knowledge on how the world's largest ice sheet formed and changed over its ~34 million years history. To explain Antarctic glacial history, information on terrestrial and marine geology, sedimentology, glacier geophysics (including airborne reconnaissance), shipborne geophysics, and numerical ice sheet and climate modelling, are interwoven within thirteen chapters. The book content largely mirrors the structure of the Antarctic Climate Evolution (ACE) project, an initiative of SCAR to investigate the climate and glacial history of Antarctica by linking climate and ice sheet modelling studies with geophysical surveys and geological studies on and around the Antarctic continent. The first chapters are dedicated to the history of geological investigation in Antarctica, and geological data acquisition. As the book's publication coincides with the Fourth International Polar Year, an overview on the history and influence of the three previous IPYs on past changes in Antarctica is provided. Further chapters deal with the development of numerical modelling to quantify past ice sheet and climate changes, and on how past changes may be relevant to the modern world. Two further chapters make exhaustive reviews of the geological evolution of the Antarctic continent and the palaeoceanography of the Southern Ocean. All these chapters provide information necessary to comprehend the latter section of the book, which relates the glacial and climate evolution of Antarctica during the most important periods when changes have occurred. Changes to the form and flow of the Antarctic ice sheet are documented and related to climate conditions known from the geological record. The effect of atmospheric CO2, orbital changes and ocean configurations on ice sheet size and shape are examined. In doing so, the book evaluates how the world's greatest ice sheet responds to and influences climate processes acting on a global scale. For more information and to order a copy, visit the publisher's website.
Antarctic Sea Ice Workshop, 23-24 March 2009 at Il Ciocco, Lucca, Italy
Under the auspices of (i) the SCAR programme on Antarctica in the Global Climate System (AGCS) and its sub-project - Antarctic Sea Ice Processes and Climate (ASPeCt) - and (ii) the International Polar Year project Antarctic Sea Ice in IPY, a workshop will be held on 23-24 March 2009 in Lucca, Italy, to review and establish joint data analyses from two late-winter cruises to the Antarctic Sea Ice Zone both made during Sept-Oct 2007. You can view a summary of SIMBA (Sea Ice Mass Balance in the Antarctic) activities along 90W longitude in the Bellingshausen Sea and SIPEX (Sea Ice Physics and Ecosystem eXperiment) activities in the 90-135E longitudes off East Antarctica. An extensive satellite remote sensing campaign with designated IceSAT altimetry, RadarSAT images, and EnviSAT ASAR images coincided with the surface measurements. The workshop is open to all and may present opportunities for interaction between expedition participants and members of the remote sensing and modeling communities, and from other cruises to the Antarctic sea ice during the IPY period. Many of the workshop participants will be attending the Gordon Research Conference on Polar Marine Science, held the preceding week (15-20 March 09) at the same location, Il Ciocco. Those interested in attending the workshop should contact Steve Ackley (email: sackley@pol.net) and Klaus Meiners (email: Klaus.meiners@acecrc.org.au).
The Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) enters the analysis and synthesis phase
The CAML has recently completed the fieldwork for the biggest-ever biodiversity survey in Antarctica, coordinating projects on 18 major research voyages during the IPY. Given the escalating cost of fuel, it will be difficult to ever repeat this sampling effort.
After analysis of the samples in museums and universities around the world, the data are being shared in SCAR's Marine Biodiversity Information Network (SCAR-MarBIN). This will provide a significant legacy for the IPY, giving access to the data needed to improve our overall understanding of marine biodiversity and its role in the Southern Ocean ecosystem.
The CAML is now in the data integration and synthesis phase. In October, a Census of Marine Life workshop at Duke University, North Carolina will use case studies to explore the mapping and visualisation potential of the data. Comparisons between Antarctic and Arctic ecosystems will be the subject of an associated workshop entitled "Polar Synthesis Macroscope". This refers to using a "zoom" function to examine biodiversity data on different spatial scales.
Despite early indications of success in the data integration phase, there remains major work to be completed by CAML in the final stage of the project. Much of the analysis will extend well beyond the end of CAML in 2010.
News from SCAR's EBA (Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic) programme
The second issue of the EBA Newsletter (October 2008) is now available on the Life Sciences page.
View the EBA Newsletter.
Ice Cores improve view of recent climate change over Antarctica
Shallow, high resolution ice cores are providing deep insights into the recent history of climate and atmospheric chemistry over Antarctica. They are being studied by the International Trans Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE) (co-sponsored by SCAR and the PAGES project of IGBP). ITASE is a core part of SCAR's Scientific Research programme on Antarctica in the Global Climate System (AGCS). At an ITASE workshop held in Castine, Maine (2-5 September 2008), 32 delegates met to discuss and synthesize results obtained so far from the ITASE program. Good progress was made in extending the present climate record back to about 200 years, facilitating assessments of the multi-decadal variability of Antarctic climate. One of the main findings was that West Antarctica appears to have warmed during the last several decades. A detailed reconstruction of the temperature across Antarctica over the past 200 years using proxy data from ice cores is now in prospect. See the full report on the SSG-Physical Sciences web page.
The SCAR Map Catalogue
The 465 geological maps that were in the BAS geology maps web site have been added to the SCAR Map Catalogue.
The SCAR Map Catalogue lists Antarctic maps produced by SCAR member countries. Each member country is responsible to update the list of maps published in the respective country. Adding the maps to the SCAR Map Catalogue gives greater searching power - you can search by coordinates, by map name, name of a feature that falls within the map or see the total list by clicking on Popular maps. The Map Catalogue is also cross-related to the SCAR Composite Gazetteer and SCAR flora and fauna databases.
SCAR Organisation Chart Updated
The new SCAR Organisation Chart is now available, incorporating the changes to the structure and SCAR subsidiary groups agreed at the XXX SCAR Delegates Meeting in July 2008. You can view and download the new chart from the Organisation page of the SCAR web site.
SCAR Science Poster Updated
A new SCAR Science Poster is now available, thanks to the efforts of SCAR Vice-President Antonio Meloni and the graphics studio at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia in Rome. The graphics team has designed and produced a striking and informative poster based on the recent SCAR brochure, which they also designed. The new poster will be displayed publicly for the first time at the ICSU General Assembly in October but is available to view and download now from the Communications page of the SCAR web site.
New SCAR and 6th Continent Initiative Fellows
SCAR is sponsoring three new SCAR fellows and one SCAR/IPF/IAI/UNEP 6th Continent Initiative fellow. The SCAR fellows are: Wilhelmina Clavano, currently based in Canada, who will be going to New Zealand to work on a project entitled "Retrieving snow thickness over land and sea ice by improving ground penetrating radar data processing"; Nicholas Demetras from New Zealand who will be working in the US to study "The role of biotic and abiotic factors in determining the distribution of soil nematode communities in an Antarctic Dry Valley system", and Marina Verducci from Italy who will be working in Germany on "Middle Miocene Southern Ocean climatic and paleoceanographic evolution and Antarctic cryosphere expansion". In addition a SCAR/IPF/IAI/UNEP 6th Continent Initiative fellowship was awarded to Ramon Hegedus from Hungary who will be working on "The role of polarized skylight in animal navigation and foraging in Antarctica" in Sweden. Ramon's fellowship is sponsored by the International Polar Foundation.
SCAR's 10th International Antarctic Biology Symposium Plan
The first circular for this meeting, which takes place in Sapporo, Japan, on July 27-31, 2008, is now available. This is the first time this prestigious symposium has been held in Asia.
USA Launches National SCAR Web Site
As an example of what can be done at the national level to promote SCAR programmes and activities, we profile here the recent launch of the US SCAR web site.
The US Scientific Committee on SCAR Office is a focal point for US participation in SCAR. The National Academies Polar Research Board serves as the US National Committee to SCAR and the US Antarctic scientific community is represented by the US SCAR Team. The National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs Antarctic Division provides most of the financial support that allows US scientists to participate in SCAR. Other US governmental entities with missions in Antarctica are the US Department of State, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US Geological Survey (USGS), the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The new and improved US SCAR Office web site is easy to navigate and allows viewers to quickly find specific items of interest. The site provides links to: US SCAR Team contact information, a guide to SCAR, data and information resources, early career opportunities, SCAR communications plans, SCAR partners network, SCAR Scientific Research Programs, and a photo gallery. The site has many direct links to the main SCAR website and provides the latest information on SCAR News and Forthcoming Events. ANSWER email digest items are posted on the web site's front page directly above a series of "Links of Interest". SCAR Scientific Research Programs are highlighted and the site provides easy access to each program's home web site.
US researchers are encouraged to bookmark the site and regularly view it for the latest information on SCAR and US participation in SCAR. They are also encouraged to subscribe to and use the ANSWER email digest system to communicate important items to the US Antarctic community. At times the web site will be used to directly solicit input on important issues before SCAR from the US Antarctic community.
Environmental Code of Conduct for Terrestrial Scientific Field Research in Antarctica
The Delegates meeting of XXX SCAR (July 2008, Moscow, Russia) approved of the Environmental Code of Conduct for Terrestrial Scientific Field Research in Antarctica.
National Programs (e.g. USA, New Zealand) have codes of conduct for certain activities and for specific areas in the Antarctic (e.g. the McMurdo Dry Valleys). Also the SCAR-RiSCC program developed a code of conduct for fieldwork with the specific aim of preventing the transfer of organisms between the various bioregions of the Antarctic. A unified code of conduct for fieldwork anywhere in the Antarctic, including protected areas, using a common terminology was felt necessary. The Standing Scientific Group on Life Sciences produced a draft text, which was subsequently commented on and amended by various groups within the SCAR community and by COMNAP.
The code is written in a personal fashion, providing a series of suggestions to those who conduct fieldwork rather than the suggestion of being a set of rules.
It will be submitted as an Information Paper to the ATCM and CEP in April 2009.
Read the Code of Conduct for Fieldwork
Past SCAR Vice President Roland Schlich to be honoured in Strasbourg
The Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre of the University of Strasbourg is organizing a special day in honor of Professor Roland Schlich, on Friday October 3, 2008 in Strasbourg. A detailed program will be available beginning of September. For more information, please contact Marc SCHAMING (Marc.Schaming@eost.u-strasbg.fr).
Roland was a scientist at Charcot Station high on the Antarctic polar plateau, during the International Geophysical Year, throughout the winter of 1957-58. He was a Vice President of SCAR from 1998-2004, and continues to be the SCAR Delegate from France. He is seen at left in the photo, along with another IGYer, Vladimir Kotlyakov (Russia), at the SCAR Delegates 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner, in Moscow, on July 15th (photo courtesy of Chris Rapley).
Oslo IPY Science Conference, June 2010: Call For Session Ideas
The next large IPY Conference will take place in Oslo, June 8-12th, 2010. Please consider shaping this conference by proposing a session idea - this could be in the form of traditional presentations, workshops, interactive discussions, visual displays, or other creative ideas to bring out the best of IPY. Deadline for session proposals is 24th October, 2008. For more information, visit the conference website or contact Kristen Ulstein (email: ku@forskningsradet.no).
Obituary for Past SCAR President George Knox
SCAR regrets to announce the recent death of George Knox, a New Zealand marine biologist who was Secretary of SCAR from 1974-78, and President of SCAR from 1978-82.
George began a long-term marine biology Antarctic research programme in association with the Zoology Department, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, in 1960, and directed this successful team for 12 years from 1971 to 1983. He participated in 13 field parties to the Antarctic. He showed a special interest in Antarctic Conservation and was involved in strategy proposals for the conservation of Antarctic seals, and proposals for the designation of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas and sites of special scientific interest. He was much involved in SCAR's 10-year BIOMASS programme and in issues relating to the potential mineral exploitation of Antarctica.
George published over 100 scientific papers, 25 on the Antarctic and Southern Ocean, and wrote or edited eight books, with several still in the pipeline. His most recent book, the 1000-page Biology of the Southern Ocean, published by Cambridge University Press, has just been reproduced in a 2nd revised Edition and is the standard international reference work on the biology of the oceans surrounding Antarctica.
As is evident from his terms as an officer of SCAR, George was also much involved in the administration of Antarctic science. He was appointed to the then NZ National Committee for Antarctic Research in 1959, and sat on the NZ Ross Dependency Research Committee between 1965 and 1992. Among several international committee duties he was also Secretary General and then President of the International Association for Ecology (INTECOL) between 1978 and 1982. During the past decade he was also the representative to SCAR of the International Union of Biological Sciences, so continuing his involvement with SCAR up to the present.
In recognition of his services to science Professor Knox was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and his prodigious public service and academic record in the conservation and environment sectors throughout New Zealand led to his being awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list of 1985. In 2007 the NZ Royal Society Committee of Antarctic Sciences presented him with a 50-year anniversary award on behalf of the New Zealand Antarctic community. George was an inspiration to his fellow scientists and will be much missed.
Webcast of the SCAR/IASC IPY Conference
The organizers of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) announce that the webstreaming of the opening ceremony and keynote lectures of the "Polar Research - Arctic and Antarctic Perspectives in the International Polar Year" Conference is now available via Webstreaming. View the webcast.
Please review SCAR's draft data and information management strategy
We are keen for input from the scientific community on the content of SCAR's draft data and information management strategy, which you can download from the SCAR-JCADM web site. Please submit reviews to Kim Finney at Kim.Finney@aad.gov.au, by November 15 latest.
SCAR's first data and information management newsletter
Aside from developing a draft SCAR strategy for data and information, the Joint (SCAR-COMNAP) Committee on Antarctic Data Management (JCADM) has just come out with its first newsletter, explaining what's available and where, and who's doing what. You can download a copy from the SCAR-JCADM web site. One piece of news not in the newsletter is that in their meeting in Moscow on July 14-16, the SCAR Delegates decided that from 1 January 2009, JCADM will be renamed the SCAR Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management (SCADM). From that point, COMNAP will cease to be a co-sponsor. We thank COMNAP for their ten years of support for the development of JCADM to its present state of maturity.
SCAR Elects New Officers
At the XXX SCAR Delegates meeting, in Moscow on July 16, 2008, Delegates elected Mahlon 'Chuck' Kennicutt (USA) as the new President, and Rasik Ravindra (India) and Ad Huiskes (Netherlands) as new Vice Presidents. They will join continuing Vice Presidents Antonio Meloni (Italy) and Sergio Marenssi (Argentina), and Past President Chris Rapley (UK) to form the SCAR Executive Committee. Delegates bid a fond farewell to former Past President Jörn Thiede (Germany), and to former Vice President Zhanhai Zhang (China). Now that SCAR has independent legal status as a Company Limited by Guarantee, and is a Charity under UK Law, the officers of SCAR are also Directors of SCAR as a Company, and Trustees of SCAR as a Charity.
SCAR Accepts New Members
At the XXX SCAR Delegates meeting, in Moscow on July 14, 2008, Delegates endorsed Malaysia's application to change from Associate to Full Membership of SCAR, Romania's application to become an Associate Member, and the International Astronomical Union's application to become a Union Member. On July 16, former President Chris Rapley was elected an Honorary Member.
Past SCAR President Joern Thiede receives French Award
On February 12 this year, SCAR's immediate past President, Joern Thiede (2002-2006), was awarded the Ordre Pour La Mérite by the French Senate, for contributions to Franco-German relations in scientific cooperation.
Southern Giant Petrels on the Antarctic Continent considered not to be threatened
SCAR held a workshop of experts over 19-20 May in Cambridge, UK, to assess the conservation status of the Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus - an ACAP-listed species - within the Antarctic Treaty Area (south of 60ºS).
In 2007 the Southern Giant Petrel was downlisted from Vulnerable to Near Threatened by BirdLife International (www.birdlife.org.uk) on behalf of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The SCAR Workshop considered the latest (including unpublished) data on the species' population size and trends, and decided that the regional (and global) populations warranted further down-listing to the category of Least Concern. As a consequence of the workshop's decision, BirdLife International will now institute a formal review of the species' global status in 2009.
Meanwhile, the Committee for Environmental Protection of the Antarctic Treaty System (www.ats.aq), meeting in Kiev, Ukraine in June 2008 after the workshop, accepted SCAR's conclusions, and, as a consequence, recommended to the XXXI Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) that followed that the Southern Giant Petrel should not be listed as a Specially Protected Species under Annex II of the ATS' Protocol on Environmental Protection. This advice was accepted by the XXXI ATCM, bringing to a seeming end a process that goes back several years.
Information from John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, with the help of Steven Chown and Colin Summerhayes.
Draft of SCAR's review of Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE)
SCAR's AGCS team was asked to take the lead in the preparation of a report on Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE), to consider the past and possible future changes in the physical environment of the Antarctic and the impact on the biota. Many individuals have contributed to the report and we now have a draft available that we would like to have discussed as widely as possible. SCAR welcomes comment and feedback on the full draft text of the report, which is about 500 pages in length and is available as a single 15 MB PDF file. It can be downloaded from the NERC-BAS FTP website by selecting ACCE_Draft_9June.pdf, or viewed directly by clicking on the link below. Please pass comments and suggestions back to John Turner (jtu@bas.ac.uk) by September 1st. We plan to revise the report later in the year in light of the comments received, and have it published early in the new year. The report is still in draft form. Many of the references are incomplete and some small items are still outstanding. What we require at this stage is comment on the main scientific conclusions. It is important that we get specific comments and suggestions for change, rather than general comments. We greatly look forward to getting input from interested parties, who we are sure will be able to help us to make this a landmark volume useful for years to come.
View the draft report.
Thickness distribution of Antarctic sea ice
As part of the SCAR Antarctic Sea Ice Processes and Climate (ASPeCt) program, ship-based observations have been used to describe regional and seasonal changes in the thickness distribution and characteristics of sea ice and snow cover thickness around Antarctica. The results show the seasonal progression of the ice thickness distribution for six regions around the continent together with statistics on the mean thickness, surface ridging, snow cover, and local variability for each region and season. For further details see "Thickness distribution of Antarctic sea ice", Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 113, C05S92, doi:10.1029/2007JC004254, 2008.
Schedules Now Available Online
The final programme and schedules for the Open Science Conference and SCAR Business Meetings are now available to view and download:
The Passing of Edith Fanta
It is with deep regret that we learned about the untimely death of Edith Fanta on May 7th.
We knew that Edith's health had been deteriorating for some years, but this did not prevent her from being very active in various functions, amongst others as Chair of the Scientific Committee of CCAMLR, and as a member of the Joint Committee of the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007 – 2009. On the SCAR front, Edith was the principal organiser of the 9th SCAR International Biology Symposium, which took place from 25-29 July 2005 on her home turf at the Universidade Federal do Paraná, in Curitiba, and was the first such meeting in South America. To her credit it was a fine meeting, and very well attended. Edith was also a member of the Brazilian team on the SCAR Standing Scientific Group for the Life Sciences, and in that capacity had for many years acted as the SCAR representative to CCAMLR, until she was elected Chair of CCAMLR's Scientific Committee.
Apart from her activities in various international committees tasked with the organization and management of Antarctic science, she continued to be an active researcher. She led Working Group 5 of SCAR's Scientific Research Programme on Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic (EBA), which deals with the impact of past, current and predicted future environmental change on biodiversity and ecosystem function. And she led a project in the framework of the IPY, providing the Brazilian national input to the international IPY project on Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic (EBA). It was typical for Edith that despite her dwindling health, she carried on working on these projects to the last possible moment.
Edith was a delightful person - always friendly and good-humoured, always trying to solve disputes in a harmonic way, but never allowing herself to be being pushed aside in a discussion. She leaves behind an empty space, not least because of the enthusiasm with which she undertook her scientific and management activities. She will not be easily replaced.
Edith was more than just a colleague: Edith was a friend. Our best wishes go to her family and close friends at this difficult time.
Julian Dowdeswell honoured with Founder's Medal of Royal Geographical Society
It is good news that the former UK Alternate Delegate to SCAR, Professor Julian Dowdeswell, Director of SCAR's home, the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, has recently been awarded the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for 2008, for services to glaciology. This is one of the two most prestigious medals awarded by the RGS; a very great honour. Many congratulations Julian!
Online and Book Proceedings now available for the 10th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences (10th ISAES):
The 341 publications of the 10th ISAES held in Santa Barbara in early September 2007 are now available in the Online Proceedings Volume "Antarctica: A Keystone in a Changing World", edited by Alan Cooper, Carol Raymond, and the 10th ISAES Editorial Team (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1047/), and in the Book Proceedings with DVD from The National Academies Press (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12168). The publications include 11 keynote papers, 109 short research papers, 217 extended abstracts, 3 meeting and workshop reports and the symposium program book. All are available for free download in PDF format.
News from SCAR's EBA (Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic) programme
The first issue of the EBA Newsletter (March 2008) is now available on the Life Sciences page.
View the EBA Newsletter.
SCAR to Award Medals for Achievement
On July 8, 2008, as part of the opening ceremony for the SCAR Open Science Conference, in St Petersburg, Russia, the President, Professor Chris Rapley will award the following three SCAR medals for 2008: (i) to Dr. Vladimir Kotlyakov (Russia), the SCAR President's Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Antarctic Science; (ii) to Dr Angelika Brandt (Germany) the SCAR Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research; and (iii) to Professor Claude Lorius (France) the SCAR Medal for International Scientific Coordination. SCAR congratulates the Awardees and wishes them continued success in their scientific endeavours in the future. The full citations are available on the Awards section of the SCAR web site.
Life under the Antarctic Ice
Chuck Kennicutt, from the SCAR Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments (SALE) programme, talked to Earth and Sky Radio about life under the Antarctic Ice. Further information and a podcast are available from:
http://www.earthsky.org/radioshows/52398/liquid-water-under-antarctic-ice-
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.
Joint 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.
Deadline for Abstracts for SCAR/IASC Conference shifted
The new deadline for submission of abstracts is 1 March 2008. Conference attendees are advised to register before 20 April to benefit from the early bird registration fee.
SCAR/IASC Open Science Conference Second Circular
The Second Circular for the Open Science Conference, to be held in St Petersburg in July, has now been posted on the SCAR website. The circular contains a Draft Plenary Program and information on the Science Sessions and Chairs.
Download the Second Circular.
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).
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.
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.
Global Prediction of the Cryosphere
This topic is the focus of the latest issue of the Ice and Climate News no 10, which is available from http://clic.npolar.no/newsletters/archive/ice_climate_2008_01_no_10.pdf , as well as from the CliC web page News section http://clic.npolar.no (under News). 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.
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
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.
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 Adventurer, Angelika Brandt
Angelika Brandt, a member of the Steering Group of SCAR's Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) programme, was named a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, in recognition of her exceptional accomplishments in her field (deep sea biodiversity around Antarctica). The "adventure heroes" were presented with awards on 15 November at a gala event at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C. An Adventure's role "is to inspire people to experience the natural and cultural wonders of the world in exciting ways". Congratulations Angelika!
Terrestrial Antarctic Biodiversity is long-lived
In a recent article in the journal Science (v.317, Sept 28, 2007, pp 1877-78) Pete Convey of SCAR's EBA programme, and Mark Stevens point out that much of the terrestrial biota of Antarctica are of ancient origin and have persisted in isolation for up to tens of millions of years despite the fact that only about 0.3% of Antarctica is now free of ice. The terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems in this tiny fraction are generally small and isolated, and are populated by small invertebrates, lower plants, and microbes that one might have expected to have become extinct during glacial advances. Survival of the organisms over the millennia tells us that at least some currently ice-free low-altitude surfaces could not have been covered with ice during previous glacial maxima, and that there must have been different ice-free refuges for most terrestrial biota across most sectors of the continent. Terrestrial biological evidence could help researchers to improve models of glaciological reconstruction and to gain further understanding of the evolution of the Antarctic continent.
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