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The Asian Forum for Polar Sciences (AFoPS), an international forum of Asian polar research institutes, was established for the advancement of polar sciences among its members in 2004. The Forum has served as an important medium of Asian collective endeavors for polar affairs in human and information exchange, research collaboration, and logistics cooperation for the last decade. The historical development of the AFoPS in retrospect can be divided into four phases: inception and establishment (2003–2004), growth and expansion (2005–2007), review and restructuring (2008–2011), and achievements and further measures (2012–2014). The progress of the AFoPS has not been linear and this trend will continue into the next decades. The Forum, however, clearly made achievements in this period of time, realizing multilateral research and logistics cooperation that would have been previously unimaginable; by doing so, it has laid the foundation for the future. Responsible for a great portion of the world's polar activities, the AFoPS will rise to meet the expectations of the world by producing notable research output, initiating international cooperative programs, and supporting non-polar Asian countries with education and research collaboration. These are the tasks of the AFoPS for the next decade and they require strategy that promotes and facilitates collaboration in a practical way and draws attention of non-polar Asian countries to the polar sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the challenging tasks in climate science is to understand the equator-to-pole temperature gradient. The poleward heat flux generated by baroclinic waves is known to be central in reducing the equator-to-pole temperature gradient from a state of radiative-convective equilibrium. However, invoking this relationship to explain the wide range of equator-to-pole temperature gradients observed in past climates is challenging because baroclinic waves tend to follow the flux-gradient relationship such that their poleward heat flux is proportional to the equator-to-pole temperature gradient and zonal available potential energy (ZAPE). With reanalysis data, the authors show the existence of poleward heat transport by planetary-scale waves that are independent of the flux-gradient relationship and baroclinic instability. This process arises from a forced tapping of atmospheric ZAPE by planetary-scale waves that are triggered by enhanced tropical convection over the Pacific warm pool region. The Rossby waves excited by this tropical convection propagate northeastward over the Pacific Ocean and constructively interfere with the climatological stationary waves at higher latitudes. During polar night, when the current warming is most rapid, the forced tapping of ZAPE by planetary-scale waves produces a substantially greater warming than that by the synoptic-scale eddy fluxes that presumably arise from baroclinic instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offers a detailed analysis of intraseasonal (within season) and interannual (between years) temperature variability for the whole Arctic for the period 1951?1990. For this purpose four temperature variables were used: average (TMEAN), maximum (TMAX) and minimum (TMIN) temperatures, and the diurnal temperature range (DTR). The source data for the analysis were the daily TMAX and TMIN for ten stations representing almost all climatic regions in the Arctic. The authors assert that the absence of significant changes in intraseasonal and interannual variability of TMEAN, TMAX, TMIN and DTR is additional evidence (besides the average temperature) that in the Arctic during this period no tangible manifestations of the greenhouse effect can be identified.

The article provides an overview of the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008. It states the IPY 2007-2008 focuses on ecosystem and human health and the development of indigenous societies and economics. It notes that the IPY 2007-2008 plays a significant role in promoting cooperation and coordination on Arctic research and in increasing awareness and visibility of the Arctic region.

Mentions web sites of interest. The Churchill Northern Studies Centre as a nonprofit organization located in Northern Manitoba that is dedicated to arctic research and education; The Bear Den providing a comprehensive summary of polar bear facts; The Sea World Education Department having an information site on polar bears; Polar Bears Alive, a nonprofit group, focusing on the conservation of the polar bear and its arctic habitat; Wakko's Wonderful World of Polar Bears; Internet addresses.