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A key role for the International Polar Years
The history of polar research has always been intertwined with the great chapters of polar exploration, but looking beyond the national expeditions of the past, polar science is perhaps most indebted to the succession of International Polar Years organised in the last 125 years. Milestones in the history of polar research, it was through these events that today’s international and collaborative spirit was established and later strengthened.
Nations begin cooperating on polar research Against this background, the first International Polar Year (IPY) of 1882-1883 focused mainly on the Arctic and came more from necessity than from a desire to build diplomatic bridges. Since geophysical phenomena could not be surveyed by one nation alone, twelve countries agreed to collaborate in organising fifteen simultaneous surveying expeditions – thirteen to the Arctic and two to the Antarctic. Whilst these expeditions contributed significant advances in science and geographical exploration, perhaps the most important, and unforeseen, legacy of the First IPY was an early model for international co-operation and co-ordination. A hundred-plus research stations set up in the 1930s Half a century later, the International Meteorological Organization initiated the Second IPY of 1932-1933, which aimed to investigate the global implications of the newly discovered jet streams. With forty nations taking part, the Second IPY heralded advances in meteorology, magnetism, atmospheric science and in mapping ionospheric phenomena. The vast co-ordinated effort also resulted in permanent establishment of 114 observation stations in the Arctic and provided the impetus for the United States’ Admiral Byrd to establish the first ever station situated inland from the Antarctic coast.
Going as far back as Captain Cook, however, there is perhaps no greater milestone in polar research than the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-58, which involved as many as 61 nations. Realising the potential of radar and other technology developed during World War II, a handful of American physicists instigated an international program of research using this technology to gather data from all over the world on subjects as varied as the upper atmosphere, ice mass and the long disputed theory of continental drift. What was effectively a third IPY gave particular attention to Antarctica with twelve nations collaborating to deploy forty-five bases around the continent and sub-Antarctic islands. This deployment resulted in significant discoveries on the abundance of fresh water held in the form of Antarctic ice, the theoretical analysis of glaciers, seismology and the weather patterns of the Southern Hemisphere. Indeed, the IGY proved such a success that it paved the way for the Antarctic treaty signed on 1 December 1959 and the designation of Antarctica as an international territory for “peace and science”. 2007-2008, the fourth IPY, to highlight links to the global climate Coming at a particular sensitive moment in the planet’s history due to the emergence of global warming, the upcoming IPY of 2007-08 promises to build on these prior milestones. It will also continue to emphasise the central importance of the polar regions as integral and sensitive components of the Earth system. |
