Robotic mini submarines and seals sporting electronic tags may sound like images straight out of a science fiction film, but these are just two of the many projects completed by scientists as part of the 2007 International Polar Year. This collaborative project, which actually spans two years and covers two full annual cycles of both the Arctic and Antarctic regions, incorporates the work of thousands of scientists from over 60 nations and focuses on the study of the biological, physical and social effects of climate change on the polar regions.

Photo courtesy of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

The diverse array of projects focus on atmosphere, ice, land, oceans, people, and space, as well as the way in which these individual areas of study relate to global warming and to each other. In one experiment, a small submarine was sent on an undersea mission to track changes in ocean temperature and their effect on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, a 2.2 million kilometer sheet of glacial ice that covers the western part of Antarctica. In another study, elephant seals were unknowingly given a mission of their own – they were equipped with special tags used to study their habits as well as to aid in climatic field research.

The main goal of IPY is to draw attention to the urgency of climate change by demonstrating its effects on the environment as well as on society. These consequences are both direct (as in the decomposition of permafrost in the northern hemisphere) and indirect (as in changes to the food systems of inhabitants of Arctic communities), but all are drastically important to the functioning of our planet as whole in addition to that of its polar regions.

The 2007 IPY, which was the fourth of its kind, finished up in the spring of 2009. For more information, check out the International Polar Year web site.

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