By Linda Mackey — Announcing the upcoming launch of a new book by an amazing artist/scientist whose life embraced most of the 20th century.

Maurice Haycock was born in Canada in the Victorian era, before cars, phones, radios and air travel. He went on to learn to use a computer at 80 and predicted the coming of the internet. He lived in the Arctic in 1926-27, painted at the North Pole, discovered a mineral which was named "haycockite" after him, was a worldwide recognized geologist and Canada's most travelled Arctic artist. For almost 40 years he travelled andMackey — painted across Canada's northern wilderness.

In 2007 his manuscript will be released as a lavish book of Arctic paintings and drawings interspersed with historical notes and fascinating personal adventures.

Continue reading Book Launch: On Site with Maurice Haycock, Artist of the Arctic.

By Linda Mackey — Twenty-five Arctic Quest artists followed in the footsteps of great artists and explorers of the past, as they marked the 100th anniversary of Amundsen's 1906 navigation through the Northwest Passage with a journey of their own this summer.

During a twelve day voyage aboard the Akademik Ioffe, the group Arctic Quest recorded their impressions on canvas, paper and film as they traveled up the east coast of Baffin Island, Greenland, and parts of the Northwest Passage, ending in Resolute. Every day brought new surprises including icebergs emerging from the fog, waking up to Orca whales, circling incredible icebergs, taking a zodiac ride to the base of the icefields in Illilisat, Greenland, or donating art supplies to Inuit children in the Arctic communities. We were able to sketch on Beechey Island and other historic sites, such as Dundas Harbour, where we were treated by a several hour visit with over 100 walrus.



Continue reading Arctic Quest Artists Explore the Northwest Passage.

IPY starts in March 2007, but not everybody is waiting until then to start celebrating the poles. L.A.-based artist Lita Albuquerque has just announced that she will be creating an installation piece on Antarctica in next month, Dec 22, 2006. The piece will be named "Stellar Axis: Antarctica" and is produced at the invitation of the US National Science Foundation's Artists and Writers Program.

Lita's project already has an accompanying website, which in time will contain video and diary entries documenting the art installation process. You can also read the press release, and you can find out more about Lita Albuquerque on her personal site.

The news that global concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) increased last year has heightened concern about the vulnerability of polar regions amongst scientists managing International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008. IPY is co-sponsored by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

"The rise in global concentrations of CO2 and nitrous oxide (N2O) over the past few decades will continue to stoke global warming, which has a pronounced effect in polar regions," says Dr David Carlson, Director of the International Polar Programme Office that oversees IPY.

"IPY next year, and the associated launch of hundreds of scientific research projects focussed on polar conditions and polar ecosystems comes none too soon.

"The scientific community stands ready to respond to the imperative to gather as much data about the effects of global warming on polar areas as quickly as possible – changes in these regions will have a massive influence on the well-being of the rest of the planet."

Continue reading IPY press release: CO2 rise heightens concern over vulnerability of polar regions.

[From the logs of Tara, a research vessel sailing into Arctic pack ice during 2006-2008.]

If there is one thing that we can be sure about during this expedition, it is that we can never really relax as we drift across an ocean of ice. Sunday night at 3am the sea ice came alive. Beginning with an innocuous grinding and tapping on the hull, the pressure and sound rapidly increased to a deafening noise inside the boat. At times a constant tapping as the ice squeezed and the pressure increased, then rising to a high pitched screeching like fingernails running over a blackboard as the blocks of ice slide by. Tara handled the onslaught well, being pushed in all directions we have now come to rest on a pressure ridge with a nine degree list to port, not huge but big enough to give us the impression of being at sea.

After a very busy week spent reinstalling scientific equipment on the ice, we have now recovered all of this material, including the radiometer, tilt-meter and CTD. We are once again in standby mode, waiting for the full moon to pass on the 5th October. As Nansen observed, we are also seeing a strong link between the phase of the moon and ice movement.

With all of the commotion outside we were still able to celebrate the passing of Denys birthday on Monday night. With Russian cavier, a leg of New Zealand lamb, and fine French wine we celebrated in style!