Humans and the Poles

The human element in IPY studies and implications of those studies cannot be overstated.  Another example of how IPY research has direct implications for human well being is the Arctic Human Health Initiative⁵, advancing the joint research agenda of the Arctic Council.  This project aims to increase awareness of health concerns of Arctic peoples by fostering human health research and promoting health-protection strategies for Arctic residents.

Another human-focused initiative is the IPY Arctic Reindeer Herders’ Vulnerability Network Study, known as the EALAT Network study. This interdisciplinary and intercultural study will assess the vulnerability of reindeer herding to change in key aspects of the natural and human environments⁶.

Permafrost is a highly complex and vulnerable type of ecosystem in the polar regions.  In an attempt to get better engagement of young researchers in the study of permafrost, the Permafrost Young Researchers Network  (PYRN) was created under the IPY umbrella. PYRN is an international effort under the patronage of the International Permafrost Association to bring young permafrost researchers together during the International Polar Year and beyond. The first phase of the PYRN project saw more than 300 young researchers from 31 countries join the network, which is now the largest young researcher-driven network in the field of cryospheric science⁷.

Unlike IPYs in year past, this 2007-2009 IPY also embraces the arts. The Polar Artists Group, in partnership with IPY, is developing an international network of artists who focus on polar regions. Their images will go into a searchable database for easy access by galleries, museums, media, and scientists who want visuals to support their research or exhibitions⁸.  Artists and scientists are working together in artist-in-residence opportunities, international exhibitions, conservation efforts, and an annual Passion for the Poles conference⁹.

Polar Relevance

All these initiatives are interesting and relevant. But the focus of polar research that will continue to capture the most public attention is undoubtedly the melting of ice and subsequent effects on oceans and coasts.  Findings coming out of IPY gained an ever greater sense of urgency with the recently released report of scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado in Boulder showing that Arctic sea ice is melting three times faster than many scientists have projected. Scientists at the, using actual measurements, concluded Arctic sea ice has declined at an average rate of about 7.8 per cent a decade between 1953 and 2006¹⁰. As we know from scientific studies and the popular media (epitomized by Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth”), the resulting sea level rise has the potential to cause major damage in coastal areas and islands around in the world, and in surprisingly short time frames.

We have been slow to wake up to the importance and wonder of polar ecosystems.  But, according to Dr. David Carlson, Director of the IPY International Programme Office  “we have an enormous strength - international enthusiasm and cooperation, at a higher level and across a wider range of science than most of us will see at any other time in our careers. IPY will succeed because of this scientific urgency and energy."¹¹

One might be tempted to ask whether IPY is behind the polar regions figuring so prominently in the news, or conversely whether the seeming newsworthiness of polar issues such as ice cap melting is driving the high profile nature of IPY.  But whatever the reason, IPY has already been successful at forming connections – between scientists in different disciplines, and in people’s minds as well. People are more aware today than ever that the link between polar ecosystems and humans goes well beyond the fate of Arctic peoples or the careers of polar researchers. The links between humans and the poles exemplifies the immutable connections between all the earth’s systems and the delicate state of balance in which those connections are maintained. And if we could do for oceans generally what we have done for the poles through IPY and other means, people would finally begin to grasp the relevance that the health and condition of ocean ecosystems has for our condition.

The International Year of the Ocean (IYO) in 1998¹² attempted to drive some of those messages home. But for a variety of reasons, IYO never had the traction that IPY has had. This is not to say the IYO did not generate public concern about the oceans and some good products besides. After all, the World Ocean Observatory itself grew out of the IPO as one of the major recommendations of the Independent Commission.  But the IPY has been able to go further.

Perhaps the success of IPY has to do with its relatively narrow focus on polar ecology as contrasted to the 'everything and the kitchen sink approach' of IYO.  Or maybe marine issues inherently bring us to too many conflicts: between the developed and developing world, between small scale fishers and industrial fleets, between those who would restrict access and those who would leave open access, and between neighbors sharing contiguous coastlines, mobile marine resources, and even being the recipients of negative anthropogenic impacts like pollution.  At the poles, we are blessed by relatively little human habitation and few stakes to territory (with territorial claims having been neatly negotiated in international treaties). Up until now, most of the world probably felt there was little to fight over in the highest latitudes.

Yet with the success of IPY even in its early phases, and the recognition of the importance of better understanding of polar and other ecosystems, the logical question that follows is "Why can't every year be an International Year of the Ocean and an International Polar Year?"  Clearly we need to carry the momentum of interdisciplinary research and cooperation and forward.  The urgency will only grow as our impacts on remote corners of the sea and globe increasingly threaten earth's systems; and us…

For more information, visit the International Polar Year 2007-2008: http://www.ipy.org/  and ICSU http://www.icsu.org/1_icsuinscience/ENVI_Ipy_1.html

Endnotes

¹For those of you clever enough to note that this is actually a two year span, the International Polar "Year" was designed to last two years in order to adequately cover seasonal cycles at both poles.

²www.nsf.gov/news/speeches/bement/07/alb070226_ipy.jsp    

³http://www.ipy.org   

⁴http://classic.ipy.org/development/history.htm

⁵The Arctic Council is an eight-nation intergovernmental forum for sustainable development and   environmental protection, in the areas of infectious disease, the effects of anthropogenic pollution,   ultraviolet radiation, and climate variability on human health, and telehealth innovations.

⁶http://www.ipy.org   

⁷http://www.ipy.org   

⁸Recent increased interest in polar issues has encouraged artists in a wide range of pursuits, follow these    links for other notable projects:  http://www.capefarewell.com/, http://www.stellaraxis.com/   

⁹http://www.ipy.org   

¹⁰www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2007/2007GL029703.shtml

¹¹http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-02/awif-iaw022207.php   

¹²See http://ioc.unesco.org/iyo  and www.yoto98.noaa.gov