Antarctic To Cover Global Water Shortage

Many Antarctic mysteries have been unraveled. Just as many continue to puzzle us to this day. For instance, science has not yet calculated the Antarctic ice cap balance - that is, the ratio between the annual snow fallout and the amount of ice lost as icebergs thaw off.

An ambitious program, International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008, was launched last March to delve into Arctic and Antarctic secrets. It involves experts from more than 60 countries as breakthroughs in Earth sciences can be made only by pooled efforts on comprehensive projects.

Russian scientists were involved in developing the concept for the program. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Council of Scientific Unions approved their idea in 2004. Dr. Vladimir Kotlyakov, a prominent geographer and glaciologist, and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, represents Russia on the IPY Joint Committee, which has drawn a unified IPY research program that includes 200 Russian projects.

The program attempts to collect comprehensive information about many aspects of the Arctic and Antarctic environment, and its wide and quick dissemination. It envisages an accurate all-round evaluation of current processes and forecasts of climatic and environmental changes. Scientists will offer recommendations on possible practical measures.

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