Polar Science Education

An incredible collection of maps. Most can be downloaded frm the site(s).

If you are looking for some great photos of the polar regions -- scientists working, great scenery, teachers in the field, maps, logos, etc...check out ARCUS' media site. Most of the photos are free to use as long as they are credited and used for non-commercial purposes

"The Arctic experienced an extended period of warm temperatures about 3.6 million years ago - before the onset of the ice ages - at a time when the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere was not much higher than the levels being recorded today, a new study finds."

via Dave Carlson: "Keep this startling sequence of satellite images (LandSat, from USGS) in mind when you teach or speak about glaciers"

"Time history of atmospheric carbon dioxide from 800,000 years ago until January, 2012." excellent animation

"The mission of the Arctic Circle is to facilitate dialogue and build relationships to confront the Arctic's greatest challenges. We aim to strengthen the decision-making process by bringing together as many Arctic and international partners as possible under one large "open tent."

"Reading and thinking about International Polar Years: five recent books by Dave Carlson Abstract: Within the polar science community the Polar (and Geophysical) Years represent signal events. We often read, largely within geoscience literature, that those events represented positive and dramatic steps forward in international science. From five recent books - two historical compilations and three personal narratives - augmented by interviews with a few key participants, a more cautious picture emerges, of remarkable successes but also of occasional or even persistent missteps and deficiencies. An improved understanding of the IPY concept and experience can provide useful guidance for future polar and global science."

from the Post Carbon Institute: 'Ever wondered how to efficiently talk to folks who say we have PLENTY of fossil fuels to extract? Here's a highly informative piece. AlterNet's great Tara Lohan talks to Richard Heinberg about this and much more.'

"Carbon Brief reports on the latest developments in climate science, and fact-checks stories about climate and energy online and in the press. We provide briefings on the people and organisations talking about climate change, and we produce background materials on science issues and news stories."

"The goal of Skeptical Science is to explain what peer reviewed science has to say about global warming. "

This is an animation of sea ice volume change over the past 3 decades. It uses PIOMAS modeling data (Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System) from the University of Washington. Data is very hard to understand and visualize - these folks did a nice job making it more accessible through this animation.

from Dave Carlson via Polar Educators International: "I wrote this summary of recent polar research (http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi%3A10.1007%2Fs12665-012-2185-y) with Polar Educators in mind: urgent topics, clear language (I hope) and, negotiated with Springer, open access. And they let me include some pictures! Check the summary paragraph first if you have limited time."

"Marine snow is a shower of organic material falling from upper waters to the deep ocean"

"The Global Atlas is the comprehensive information platform on the potential of renewable energy. It provides resource maps from leading technical institutes worldwide and tools for evaluating the technical potential of renewable energies. It can function as a catalyst for policy development and energy planning, and can support investors in entering renewable energy markets."

"These charts put that warmth into historical perspective for the country [USA] as a whole, and for a few select cities."

"A new assessment that gauges the views of leading ice sheet experts finds that scientists think global sea level rise during this century may be far more significant than previously thought, possibly eclipsing 1 meter, or 3.3 feet, by 2100. Such a sharp rise in sea level would inundate heavily populated coastal areas around the world, potentially forcing the relocation of 187 million people, the study said."

The [US} Interior Department on Tuesday opened an urgent review of Arctic offshore drilling operations after a series of blunders and accidents involving Shell Oil's drill ships and support equipment, culminating in the grounding of one of its drilling vessels last week off the coast of Alaska.

Few people think of osmosis as a way to help feed the world's hunger for energy. But an experiment under way on a coastal inlet in Norway may help draw attention to the power packed in the salty seas.

Scientist Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, joins Bill to describe his efforts to do what even Hurricane Sandy couldn't - galvanize communities over what's arguably the greatest single threat facing humanity. Leiserowitz, who specializes in the psychology of risk perception, knows better than anyone if people are willing to change their behavior to make a difference.

Arctic sea ice extent for December 2012 remained far below average, driven by anomalously low ice conditions in the Kara, Barents, and Labrador seas. Thus far, the winter has been dominated by the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation, bringing colder than average conditions to Scandinavia, Siberia, Alaska, and Canada.