Do you think the North and South poles are boring, lifeless places that have no impact on your life? Think again.

The planet's northern (Arctic) and southern (Antarctic) polar areas are teeming with plants, animals and even people. Polar bears and penguins aside, these icy regions at opposite ends of the globe are important pieces in Earth's climate system.

An art contest for grades 2-4 challenges U.S. students to pick a polar region, explore it and then draw a picture showing what they learned. This is the 11th annual art contest held by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) in Arlington, VA. The contest supports national science education standards for grades K-4.

Continue reading Polar Exploration: Going to Extremes!  An Art Contest for Children.

The organizers of the 2006 Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) meeting in Beijing on 9-12 November have made another polar session available! Session 38 is entitled 'Polar Processes in Global Environmental Systems'. We invite papers and posters. Please submit a title and abstract AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to and .

The IPY Youth Steering Committee (YSC) has set up a number of working groups in the runup to International Polar Year next year, and is looking for volunteers to join. Groups include the IPY Early Career Working Group, Polar Contests Working Group, Website Working Group, International Youth Conference on the Poles Working Group, Students on Ice Working Group and the International Geophysical Year Working Group (bringing together youth with those who worked on IGY 50 years ago.)

More details on the IPY YSC web site. The mission of the YSC is to make sure youth is involved in all aspects of the International Polar Year.

[From the log of the Vagabond, an expedition yacht acting as a floating base camp for scientists around Spitsbergen.]

Vagabond is at Ny Ålesund since 1st September. France and I are preparing the third winter and are using the facilities of the AWIPEV Research Base. Varnishing, painting, servicing and various maintenance, cleaning, packing, sorting out, supplying of food... activities are many and varied on board! Between 2 jobs, we are exploring the surroundings with mountain bikes pulled by our dogs, paddling at sunset between drifting ice in the great King's Bay, watching the reindeers or polar foxes coming right into the village, talking - and sharing a drink - with scientists or technicians... a talk about our 2 first winters in Spitsbergen is planned here on 12 September, and we will also jump into the jacuzzi!

On May 19, 1845, Sir John Franklin, commanding HMS Erebus and Terror, left England to search for an elusive North-West Passage (see image). This was only the latest in a long series of expeditions stretching back 350 years, seeking a maritime route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Arctic. But this expedition was different from all the rest — both ships and 129 men vanished in the Arctic wastes. By 1847, there was growing concern for the missing expedition, and both overland and seaborne search parties were dispatched to try and find Franklin and his men.

Continue reading Polar History: 1845 – The Franklin Expedition.