30 March 2011
WMO Presents Summary of Polar Research to Understand Global Climate
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The findings, which represent research efforts by approximately 50,000 participants between 2007 and 2009, reveal how the research established baseline date sets for predicting future climate change.

28 March 2011: The World Meteorological Association (WMO) and the International Council for Science presented the findings from the International Polar Year titled “Understanding Earth’s Polar Challenges,” at the Arctic Science Summit Week in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

The findings represent research efforts by approximately 50,000 participants between 2007 and 2009. The summary was compiled by 300 authors and reviewers to reveal how the research established baseline date sets for predicting future climate change. The work was also important for advancing coordinated satellite observations of polar ice sheets and developing new measurement systems for permafrost and polar atmosphere.

The research from the International Polar Year provided new information related to: documenting connections between the poles and global ocean and atmospheric processes; plate tectonics in the polar regions; telescope data from the Antarctic; microbiological processes and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from permafrost; biological interactions; and the evolution of polar microorganisms and their evolutionary response to changing climate. The work also included research on integrating indigenous knowledge into monitoring Arctic resources. The International Polar Year created momentum for funding polar research and monitoring programmes. [WMO Press Release] [Publication: Understanding Earth’s Polar Challenges]

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