Articles & Interviews
Sciencepoles articles look at key findings from a range of polar science and research fields. Our articles RSS feed will inform you when new articles are published on this website.
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High Latitude Real Estate: European Polar Stations
24.05.2005
Jewels in a polar programme's crown, research stations act as invaluable operational platforms from which to support local and deep field research expeditions, as well as all types of atmospheric, astronomical, meteorological, biological and medical observations. Rightly or wrongly, stations are also often regarded as the best indication of a…
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When Polar Science Goes beyond the Poles
24.05.2005
Aside from pure information such as, for example, the insight into the evolution of climate change provided to us by ice cores, polar research often also produces direct and sometimes unexpected applications for humans. These applications touch on everything from space and material sciences, to medicine and cold enzymes. See…
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The Greenhouse Phenomenon and Climatic Feedback
24.05.2005
The composition of the atmosphere imprisoned in polar ice informs researchers about the glacial and interglacial episodes which our planet has experienced, including how greenhouse gases, such as CO2 and CH4, are involved in these processes as part of a feedback loop.
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The European Polar Consortium
24.05.2005
The European Polar Consortium (EPC) is the brainchild of the European Polar Board and represents the next step towards the development of a 'European polar entity' that would enable Europe to maximize and direct its critical mass at a global level.
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ACEX, the Arctic Coring Expedition
24.05.2005
In August 2004, an international group of scientists retrieved a 370 metre core from the seafloor beneath the Arctic ocean, providing them with 55 million years of Arctic climate data.
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Cold Comfort: Living and Working in Antarctica
24.05.2005
Life on an Antarctic station varies immensely depending on seasons, location, infrastructure, a country's resources and the availability of supplies.
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The Antarctic Treaty
24.05.2005
The environment, fauna, flora and mineral resources of the Antarctic continent, sub-Antarctic islands and, more generally, everything south of latitude 60°, benefits from almost complete international protection. This is thanks to the Antarctic Treaty which was signed in Washington on December 1st 1959, by twelve countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile,…
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Ice Coring: A Special Selection
24.05.2005
The Greenland icecap is the principal site in the Northern Hemisphere for ice-coring campaigns. Since 1989, European researchers have been working at the summit of the ice sheet where it is the thickest and most stable with respect to its flow towards the coast. Several countries have also set up…
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The Poles: Archives of the World’s Climate
24.05.2005
Studying the past climate of our planet is like detective work. The smallest clue is of importance, the slightest irregularity in the composition of ice, submarine sediments or the soil can provide crucial information which highlights ancient jolts to the Earth's climate. But it is still necessary to know where…
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What’s So Crucial about Polar Research?
24.05.2005
Although almost opposites in terms of geography and topography, the common characteristics of the Arctic and the Antarctic are of course their coldness, remoteness and the harshness of their environments. This means that polar researchers must often rely on specially adapted methods and technologies to carry out their work, making…
