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The polar regions play a crucial role in the Earth’s system. They are essential for our climate and are sentinels of climate change and human expansion. The polar research community needs access to world-class research infrastructure operating on-site to understand and predict essential processes in the polar regions and provide evidence-based information. To address that, a consortium of the European Union and international polar research operators is joining their efforts in the Polar Research Infrastructure Network (POLARIN) project. POLARIN is an international network of polar research infrastructure and services, aiming to address the polar regions' scientific challenges. The network includes various complementary and interdisciplinary top-level research infrastructure: Arctic and Antarctic research stations, ice-capable research vessels, observatories, data bases, and ice core and sediment repositories. This article aims to highlight Ukraine's role in the global effort to study and understand the polar regions, focusing on its participation in POLARIN project and the significance of its potential contributions. It is argued that Ukraine has played a role in shaping policies for creating an international network of polar infrastructure issues by sharing research facilities, contributing data and insights to global discussions on environmental conservation, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development in the polar regions.

The results of creating a map of the circumpolar regions of the Moon are described. The maps are limited to latitudes +/–55° to show the location of the Luna-25 landing. The article also provides a brief overview of space missions to the Moon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northern pulmonary hypertension (NPH) is a medical condition that is still enigmatic in non-Russian-speaking countries. The extant previous literature is mostly available in the Russian language and, therefore, not accessible to the rest of the world. The recent increased interest in climate changes and environmental effects on pulmonary circulation prompted us to summarize the knowledge from the past about the effects of cold on pulmonary vasculature. In this review, we, for the first time, describe, in detail, the pathological attributes of human NPH, a medical disorder that occurs in people living in extremely cold regions, in the English language. Briefly, NPH is characterized by the hyper-muscularization of the pulmonary arteries and de novo muscularization of the arterioles with the ultimate development of right ventricular hypertrophy. However, the profound molecular mechanisms of the NPH pathology are to be revealed in future comprehensive studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTWe present the first highly detailed morphological analysis of three craters located in Mercury's north pole, characterized by permanently shadowed regions (PSRs). This study, which began with an initial sample of 14 craters, highlighted three morphological classes, based on the craters’ features: Complete complex morphology, Flat-floor morphology, and Immature complex morphology, presented here as maps of three representative craters, one for each class. As demonstrated by decades of studies, areas of PSRs within these craters could host water ice deposits, making them among the most interesting targets for future studies by the ESA/JAXA’s BepiColombo mission. Our mapping work aims to give a cartographic context to subsequent chronological, thermal, and compositional analyses, as well as to provide a support to the acquisition strategy of the BepiColombo mission upon its arrival on Mercury in late 2025. The mapping highlights landforms which might be related to volcanic, gravitational, and maybe periglacial events.

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have been used in the polar regions for decades. The technical challenges are well understood, and since the mid 1990s, missions of several hundred kilometers under sea ice have been possible. However, there remains a large gap between the endurance achieved in practice and the 1000+ km needed for large-scale sea ice studies; multiple, parallel sections under West Antarctic ice shelves; or sections under the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. This retrospective examines how the U.K. Autosub program's requirements for under ice observations were determined and how those requirements helped build a strategy for a decade of technical progression and scientific achievement. At times progress was faltering, vehicle reliability was inadequate and the approach to risk management was reactive rather than proactive. New analytical tools, some controversial, were developed to assess and manage risk and to drive improvements. While new satellite techniques arguably reduced the need for deployments under sea ice, they remain the only effective solution to fill data-gaps in bathymetry and ocean/ice interactions under ice shelves. The challenge for international collaboration is to accelerate the development of robust and reliable vehicles. The first task remains to survey the basic geometry of the key Antarctic ice shelf cavities. Taking a decadal view, AUV capability should expand to be capable of yearlong deployments under critical ice shelves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The natural light environment in polar regions is different in that there are midnight sun and polar night rather than a regular year-round alternation of day and night. Existing research has reported that the scientific modulation of interior light parameters can reduce the negative effects on the circadian rhythm and improve brain functions of the staff members at polar stations, from basic physiological mechanisms to higher cognitive functions, such as perception, learning, memory, and thinking. Currently, the appropriate balance of visual and nonvisual aspects that allow lighting conditions to be applied in a manner conducive to human well-being, health and functioning is still to be investigated, and accurate analysis of the influence rules of functional lighting's vertical illuminance at eye level on cognitive performance remains an unresolved and important issue. This study analyses the effects of the vertical illuminance at eye level of functional lighting on the cognitive performance indicators toward the target population through simple reaction time task, cancellation test, and stroop test, and concludes that vertical illuminance levels of 260 ~ 300 lx at eye level contributed to improved cognitive performance. The study also verifies that comfort and satisfaction indices of subjective perceptions are significantly and strongly correlated with cognitive function indicators, and slightly better than the relaxation index. However, the attention index is not significantly correlated with cognitive function indicators. This study can provide data reference for the light design and operational decisions of buildings in Antarctica and the Arctic to promote wider application and impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay presents a visual journal that I created for a field season on Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, as a way both to record states of dissociation/depersonalization and track my gender identity. Drawing on autoethnography as a method of inquiry, I created a pocket-sized journal of body outlines and used oil pastels to document my embodied and emotional responses to conducting fieldwork. I reflect on how my visual journal helped me understand how my body responded to living and working in extreme conditions, how my work and body relate to one another, and how the creation and completion of this journal gave me agency over my experiences of dissociation and queerness. Through this account, I aim to contribute to the growing literature on the personal and political dimensions of polar research—critical glaciology—as well as to demonstrate the potential of autoethnographic methods to facilitate embodied ways of knowing in deep field contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under global change scenarios, the sea surface temperature is increasing steadily along with other changes to oceanic environments. Consequently, marine diatoms are influenced by multiple ocean global change drivers. We hypothesized that temperature rise mediates the responses of polar and temperate diatoms to UV radiation (UVR) to different extents, and exposed the temperate centric diatoms, Thalassiosira weissflogii and Skeletonema costatum, and a polar pennate diatom Entomoneis sp., to warming (+5°C) for 10 days, then performed short‐term incubations under different radiation treatments with or without UVR. The effective quantum yields of the three diatoms were stable during exposure to PAR, but decreased when exposed to PAR + UVR, leading to significant UV‐induced inhibition, which was 3% and 9%, respectively, for T. weissflogii and S. costatum under ambient temperature but increased to 12% and 17%, respectively, in the cells acclimated to the warming treatment. In contrast, UVR induced much higher inhibition, by about 45%, in the polar diatom Entomoneis sp. at ambient temperature, and the warming treatment alleviated the UV‐induced inhibition, which dropped to 36%. The growth rates were significantly inhibited by UVR in S. costatum under the warming treatment and in Entomoneis sp. under ambient temperature, while there was no significant effect for T. weissflogii. Our results indicate that the polar diatom was more sensitive to UVR though warming could alleviate its impact, whereas the temperate diatoms were less sensitive to UVR but warming exacerbated its impacts, implying that diatoms living in different regions may exhibit differential responses to global changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major obstacles to the continuation of life on Earth is the global climate change. The fact that our nation is experiencing a minor impact from the global climate change does not change the reality that there is no problem. It is well recognized that the polar areas are the most impacted by the global climate change, or that the triggering of the Polar Regions would have a significant influence on the whole planet. In this scenario, science teachers have a significant deal of responsibility for raising awareness of polar science subject among future generations. As a result, it is in our hands to mitigate the impacts of global climate change through increased student knowledge. The screening model was used in the study to show the knowledge and awareness levels of science teachers on polar sciences, who will supply this awareness. The "Polar Sciences Awareness Questionnaire-PSAQ" data collecting instrument, whose validity and reliability were calculated, was employed within the parameters of the study. PSAQ was created in Google Form style with web-based access. The data were collected voluntarily from 205 science teachers working in a province in the Southeastern Anatolia Region, which is the population of the study. The statistical package program SPSS 26 was used to analyze the data that had been collected. The research revealed that while science instructors were aware of the North Pole, South Pole and climate change, their awareness was not very high. It is because science instructors lack a specific education in polar sciences that they do receive explicitly. The report makes several recommendations, one of which is to include polar science learning outcomes and lessons in teacher and student education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface turbulent exchanges play a key role on sea ice dynamics, on ocean and sea ice heat budgets and on the polar atmosphere. Uncertainties in parameterizations of surface turbulent fluxes are mostly held by the transfer coefficients and estimates of those transfer coefficients from field data are required for parameterization development. Measurement errors propagate through the computation of transfer coefficients and contribute to its total error together with the uncertainties in the empirical stability functions used to correct for stability effects. Here we propose a methodology to assess their contributions individually to each coefficient estimate as well as the total drag coefficient uncertainty and we apply this methodology on the example of the SHEBA campaign. We conclude that for most common drag coefficient values (between 1.0 × 10 - 3 and 2.5 × 10 - 3 ), the relative total uncertainty ranges from 25 and 50 % . For stable or unstable conditions with a stability parameter | ζ | > 1 on average, the total uncertainty in the neutral drag coefficient exceeds the neutral drag coefficient value itself, while for | ζ | < 1 the total uncertainty is around 25 % of the drag coefficient. For closer-to-neutral conditions, this uncertainty is dominated by measurement uncertainties in surface turbulent momentum fluxes which should therefore be the target of efforts in uncertainty reduction. We also propose an objective data-screening procedure for field data, which consists of retaining data for which the relative error on neutral drag coefficient does not exceed a given threshold. This method, in addition to the commonly used flux quality control procedure, allows for a reduction of the drag coefficient dispersion compared to other data-screening methods, which we take as an indication of better dataset quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using images at multiple mid‐infrared wavelengths, acquired in 2018 May using the Very Large Telescope Imager and Spectrometer (VISIR) instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), we study Jupiter's pole‐to‐pole thermal, chemical and aerosol structure in the troposphere and stratosphere. We confirm that the pattern of cool and cloudy anticyclonic zones and warm cloud‐free cyclonic belts persists throughout the mid‐latitudes, up to the polar boundaries, and evidence a strong correlation with the vertical maximum windshear and the locations of Jupiter's zonal jets. At high latitudes, VISIR images reveal a large region of mid‐infrared cooling poleward ∼64°N and ∼67°S extending from the upper troposphere to the stratosphere, co‐located with the reflective aerosols observed by JunoCam, and suggesting that aerosols play a key role in the radiative cooling at the poles. Comparison of zonal‐mean thermal properties and high‐resolution visible imaging from Juno allows us to study the variability of atmospheric properties as a function of altitude and jet boundaries, particularly in the cold southern polar vortex. However, the southern stratospheric polar vortex is partly masked by a warm mid‐infrared signature of the aurora. Co‐located with the southern main auroral oval, this warming results from the auroral precipitation and/or joule heating which heat the atmosphere and thus cause a significant stratospheric emission. This high emission results from a large enhancement of both ethane and acetylene in the polar region, reinforcing the evidence of enhanced ion‐related chemistry in Jupiter's auroral regions. Plain Language Summary: A fundamental inquiry driving NASA's Juno mission was the investigation of the potential changes of Jupiter's famous banded structure below the top most clouds. As NASA's Juno spacecraft lacks instrumentation sensitive to the mid‐infrared, we have used the ground‐based Very Large Telescope Imager and Spectrometer (VISIR) on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) to support the mission since 2016. The 2018 May data set provides a comprehensive view of Jupiter's pole‐to‐pole thermal, chemical, and aerosol structure; including the Great Red Spot; and the auroral‐related heating in the southern polar stratosphere. We show that the alternating pattern of cool cloudy zones and warm cloud‐free belts correlate to the zonal winds locations, extends from the equator to the boundary of the polar vortices (∼64°N and ∼67°S). Comparing this ground‐based data set with Juno observations, we show that the polar regions experience radiative cooling from the upper troposphere to the stratosphere, probably induced by the reflective polar aerosols, and confined at the poles by the polar vortices. However, the southern stratospheric polar vortex is partly masked by a large auroral emission, a signature of an interaction between the magnetosphere and stratosphere of Jupiter, which causes a ∼20 K warming as deep as the middle stratosphere. Excess hydrocarbons within the polar domain reinforces the evidence of enhanced ion‐related chemistry in Jupiter's auroral regions, resulting from charged particles precipitating from the top of the atmosphere to lower altitudes. Key Points: Jupiter's belt/zone thermal structure extends from the equator to the edge of the polar vortices and correlates with the zonal jetsThe cold polar vortices coincides with reflective aerosols, suggesting dynamical entrainment by the northernmost and southernmost jetsTemporal evolution of the southern auroral hotspot shows a stratospheric cooling after a solar wind compression event [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first highly detailed morphological analysis of three craters located in Mercury's north pole, characterized by permanently shadowed regions (PSRs). This study, which began with an initial sample of 14 craters, highlighted three morphological classes, based on the craters' features: Complete complex morphology, Flat-floor morphology, and Immature complex morphology, presented here as maps of three representative craters, one for each class. As demonstrated by decades of studies, areas of PSRs within these craters could host water ice deposits, making them among the most interesting targets for future studies by the ESA/JAXA's BepiColombo mission. Our mapping work aims to give a cartographic context to subsequent chronological, thermal, and compositional analyses, as well as to provide a support to the acquisition strategy of the BepiColombo mission upon its arrival on Mercury in late 2025. The mapping highlights landforms which might be related to volcanic, gravitational, and maybe periglacial events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northern pulmonary hypertension (NPH) is a medical condition that is still enigmatic in non-Russian-speaking countries. The extant previous literature is mostly available in the Russian language and, therefore, not accessible to the rest of the world. The recent increased interest in climate changes and environmental effects on pulmonary circulation prompted us to summarize the knowledge from the past about the effects of cold on pulmonary vasculature. In this review, we, for the first time, describe, in detail, the pathological attributes of human NPH, a medical disorder that occurs in people living in extremely cold regions, in the English language. Briefly, NPH is characterized by the hyper-muscularization of the pulmonary arteries and de novo muscularization of the arterioles with the ultimate development of right ventricular hypertrophy. However, the profound molecular mechanisms of the NPH pathology are to be revealed in future comprehensive studies.

Models assume that mixed‐phase clouds consist of uniformly mixed ice crystals and liquid cloud droplets when observations have shown that they consist of clusters, or "pockets," of ice crystals and liquid cloud droplets. We characterize the spatial distribution of cloud phase over the Arctic and the Southern Ocean using active satellite observations and determine the relative importance of collocated meteorological parameters and aerosols from reanalysis to predict how uniformly mixed mixed‐phase clouds are for the first time. We performed a multi‐linear regression fit to the data set to predict the spatial distribution of the ice and liquid pockets. Contrary to what models suggest, mixed‐phase clouds are rarely perfectly homogeneous. Our results suggest that high temperatures are associated with homogeneously mixed ice and liquid pockets. We also find that a high mixing ratio of black carbon is associated with heterogeneously mixed ice and liquid pockets. Plain Language Summary: The representation of clouds in numerical models remains one of the largest uncertainties in predicting our future climate. Clouds can consist solely of liquid droplets, ice crystals, or the coexistence of both hydrometeor types. The latter cloud type is referred to as mixed phase. Climate models assume that liquid droplets and ice crystals are uniformly mixed in space in mixed‐phase clouds, but observations show that mixed‐phase clouds are organized in separate pockets of clustered liquid droplets and ice crystals. This difference in representation has a large impact on the lifetime of clouds and on their role in climate change. Using satellite observations over the Arctic and the Southern Ocean, we quantify the spatial distribution of ice and liquid in clouds. We used a statistical method to determine the relationship between meteorology and aerosols and the spatial distribution of ice and liquid. Our results suggest that high temperatures are associated with homogeneously mixed mixed‐phase clouds and high concentrations of soot are associated with heterogeneously mixed mixed‐phase clouds. Furthermore, pockets of liquid within ice clouds are larger than pockets of ice within liquid clouds. These results will improve the representation of mixed‐phase clouds in large‐scale models. Key Points: Space‐based observations and reanalysis are considered to determine the factors that control how mixed mixed‐phase clouds areLiquid dominated clouds contain small and isolated ice pockets whereas ice dominated clouds contain large and isolated liquid pocketsTemperature and black carbon play an important role in controlling the cloud phase spatial distribution and increasing phase heterogeneity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold tolerance of a thermoplastic polymer largely depends on the type and content of about 20 or more additives used to make the polymer. Observing the change of dynamic viscoelasticity as a function of the temperature change through glass transition temperature measurement is a representative method for evaluating cold resistance. In this study, mechanical properties of composite materials prepared by mixing various types of thermoplastic polymers and various additive components were evaluated to improve their cold tolerance performances. The cold tolerance was improved by blending resin having an embrittlement temperature lower than the operating temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate thermal infrared (TIR) fast-forward models are critical for weather forecasting via numerical weather prediction (NWP) satellite radiance assimilation and operational environmental data record (EDR) retrieval algorithms. The thermodynamic and compositional data about the surface and lower troposphere are derived from semi-transparent TIR window bands (i.e., surface-sensitive channels) that can span into the far-infrared (FIR) region under dry polar conditions. To model the satellite observed radiance within these bands, an accurate a priori emissivity is necessary for the surface in question, usually provided in the form of a physical or empirical model. To address the needs of hyperspectral TIR satellite radiance assimilation, this paper discusses the research, development, and preliminary validation of a physically based snow/ice emissivity model designed for practical implementation within operational fast-forward models such as the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM). To accommodate the range of snow grain sizes, a hybrid modeling approach is adopted, combining a layer scattering model based on the Mie theory (viz., the Wiscombe–Warren 1980 snow albedo model, its complete derivation provided in the Appendices) with a specular facet model. The Mie-scattering model is valid for the smallest snow grain sizes typical of fresh snow and frost, whereas the specular facet model is better suited for the larger sizes and welded snow surfaces typical of aged snow. Comparisons of the model against the previously published spectral emissivity measurements show reasonable agreement across zenith observing angles and snow grain sizes, and preliminary observing system experiments (OSEs) have revealed notable improvements in snow/ice surface window channel calculations versus hyperspectral TIR satellite observations within the NOAA NWP radiance assimilation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a comparative assessment of the current roles of the European Union (EU) in the governance of the Global Spaces − the atmosphere, the high seas, the poles, outer space, and cyberspace. It does so from a twofold perspective: first, it compares the EU's capacity to act and roles across the Global Spaces, drawing on actorness and role theory. Second, to contextualize the EU's roles, it contrasts them with those of the United States, China and Russia. The findings show that the EU is still in the process of calibrating its roles in the governance of most of these Global Spaces. It is primarily a norm defender, which distinguishes its external action from the more competitive approaches of other major powers. The EU's recent attempt to become more strategic has, for now, led to a gap between its role conception and performance, largely due to its limited actorness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the Antarctic region featuring more and more in discourse around anthropogenic climate change, understanding public support for research in the region is increasingly important. We examine public support for Antarctic science in Australia, drawing on findings from a nationally representative survey of just over 1000 adults conducted in 2021-2022. Key results reinforce earlier findings in other national contexts - for example, that older people and men are more likely to support Antarctic scientific research than younger people and women. They also reveal new information, including a correlation between particular sources of media coverage and support for Antarctic research. Our data have implications for where and how the public engagement efforts of government agencies and non-governmental organizations could most usefully be applied. While the survey is focused on Australia, it points to complexities around public support for Antarctic research that could be productively investigated in other national and in international contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extensive existence of high-brightness ice and snow underlying surfaces in polar regions presents notable complexities for cloud detection in remote sensing imagery. To elevate the accuracy of cloud detection in polar regions, a novel polar cloud detection algorithm is proposed in this paper. Employing the MOD09 surface reflectance product, we compiled a database of monthly composite surface reflectance in the shortwave infrared bands specific to polar regions. Through the forward simulation of the correlation between the apparent reflectance and surface reflectance across diverse conditions using the 6S (Second Simulation of the Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum) radiative transfer model, we established a dynamic cloud detection model for the shortwave infrared channels. In contrast to a machine learning algorithm and the widely used MOD35 cloud product, the algorithm introduced in this study demonstrates enhanced congruence with the authentic cloud distribution within cloud products. It precisely distinguishes between the cloudy and clear-sky pixels, achieving rates surpassing 90% for both, while maintaining an error rate and a missing rate each under 10%. The algorithm yields positive results for cloud detection in polar regions, effectively distinguishing between ice, snow, and clouds. It provides robust support for comprehensive and long-term cloud detection efforts in polar regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scavenging of atmospheric trace gases has been recognized as one of the lifestyle-defining capabilities of microorganisms in terrestrial polar ecosystems. Several metagenome-assembled genomes of as-yet-uncultivated methanotrophic bacteria, which consume atmospheric CH4 in these ecosystems, have been retrieved in cultivation-independent studies. In this study, we isolated and characterized a representative of these methanotrophs, strain D3K7, from a subarctic soil of northern Russia. Strain D3K7 grows on methane and methanol in a wide range of temperatures, between 5 and 30 °C. Weak growth was also observed on acetate. The presence of acetate in the culture medium stimulated growth at low CH4 concentrations (~100 p.p.m.v.). The finished genome sequence of strain D3K7 is 4.15 Mb in size and contains about 3700 protein-encoding genes. According to the result of phylogenomic analysis, this bacterium forms a common clade with metagenome-assembled genomes obtained from the active layer of a permafrost thaw gradient in Stordalen Mire, Abisco, Sweden, and the mineral cryosol at Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian High Arctic. This clade occupies a phylogenetic position in between characterized Methylocapsa methanotrophs and representatives of the as-yet-uncultivated upland soil cluster alpha (USCα). As shown by the global distribution analysis, D3K7-like methanotrophs are not restricted to polar habitats but inhabit peatlands and soils of various climatic zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea ice monitoring by polar orbiting satellites has been developed over more than four decades and is today one of the most well-established applications of space observations. This article gives an overview of data product development from the first sensors to the state-of-the-art regarding retrieval methods, new products and operational data sets serving climate monitoring as well as daily operational services including ice charting and forecasting. Passive microwave data has the longest history and represents the backbone of global ice monitoring with already more than four decades of consistent observations of ice concentration and extent. Time series of passive microwave data is the primary climate data set to document the sea ice decline in the Arctic. Scatterometer data is a valuable supplement to the passive microwave data, in particular to retrieve ice displacement and distinguish between firstyear and multiyear ice. Radar and laser altimeter data has become the main method to estimate sea ice thickness and thereby fill a gap in the observation of sea ice as an essential climate variable. Data on ice thickness allows estimation of ice volume and masses as well as improvement of the ice forecasts. The use of different altimetric frequencies also makes it possible to measure the depth of the snow covering the ice. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) has become the work horse in operational ice observation on regional scale because high-resolution radar images are delivered year-round in nearly all regions where national ice services produce ice charts. Synthetic Aperture Radar data are also important for sea ice research because the data can be used to observe a number of sea ice processes and phenomena, like ice type development and sea ice dynamics, and thereby contribute to new knowledge about sea ice. The use of sea ice data products in modelling and forecasting services as well as in ice navigation is discussed. Finally, the article describes future plans for new satellites and sensors to be used in sea ice observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Polar regions have become crucial in global geopolitics. Geopolitical tensions, emerging from events like the Ukraine crisis, have extended into the Arctic, with major powers like the United States, European Union, Russia, and China pursuing interests that could impact the delicate ecosystems. India is also a new stakeholder in Poles. All this has influenced scientific research and exploration. Geopolitical rivalries can stimulate resource allocation for scientific investigations and collaboration among nations. They may also divert resources, restrict access, prioritize resource extraction over conservation, and complicate safety and security. Despite these challenges, it's essential for the global scientific community to continue its commitment to understanding and addressing environmental and climate issues in the Polar regions, separate from geopolitical tensions. This separation is crucial to maintaining these regions as hubs of international scientific study and environmental preservation, allowing continued cooperation regardless of geopolitical challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Julia Depta, Paulina Nied&zacute;wiedzka-Rystwej Institute of Biology, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, 71-412, PolandCorrespondence: Paulina Nied&zacute;wiedzka-Rystwej, Institute of Biology, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, 71-412, Poland, Tel +48 91 444 15 15, Email paulina.niedzwiedzka-rystwej@usz.edu.plAbstract: The increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance is a global problem in human and animal health. This leads to a reduction in the therapeutic effectiveness of the measures used so far and to the limitation of treatment options, which may pose a threat to human health and life. The problem of phenomenon of antibiotic resistance affects more and more the polar regions. This is due to the increase in tourist traffic and the number of people staying at research stations, unmodernised sewage systems in inhabited areas, as well as the migration of animals or the movement of microplastics, which may contain resistant bacteria. Research shows that the presence of antibiotic resistance genes is more dominant in zones of human and wildlife influence than in remote areas. In a polluted environment, there is evidence of a direct correlation between human activity and the spread and survival of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Attention should be paid to the presence of resistance to synthetic and semi-synthetic antibiotics in the polar regions, which is likely to be correlated with human presence and activity, and possible steps to be taken. We need to understand many more aspects of this, such as bacterial epigenetics and environmental stress, in order to develop effective strategies for minimizing the spread of antibiotic resistance genes. Studying the diversity and abundance of antibiotic resistance genes in regions with less anthropogenic activity could provide insight into the diversity of primary genes and explain the historical evolution of antibiotic resistance.Keywords: antibiotic resistance, polar regions, bacteria, bacterial community and diversity, Antarctica, Arctic

Abstract Models assume that mixed‐phase clouds consist of uniformly mixed ice crystals and liquid cloud droplets when observations have shown that they consist of clusters, or “pockets,” of ice crystals and liquid cloud droplets. We characterize the spatial distribution of cloud phase over the Arctic and the Southern Ocean using active satellite observations and determine the relative importance of collocated meteorological parameters and aerosols from reanalysis to predict how uniformly mixed mixed‐phase clouds are for the first time. We performed a multi‐linear regression fit to the data set to predict the spatial distribution of the ice and liquid pockets. Contrary to what models suggest, mixed‐phase clouds are rarely perfectly homogeneous. Our results suggest that high temperatures are associated with homogeneously mixed ice and liquid pockets. We also find that a high mixing ratio of black carbon is associated with heterogeneously mixed ice and liquid pockets.

Abstract This study aims to investigate the glacier shrinkage and recent proglacial environment in King George Bay, Antarctica, since 1988 in response to climate change. Remote sensing data (SPOT, Sentinel, Landsat and Planet Scope images) were applied to glacial landforms and ice-marginal fluctuations mapping. Annual mean near-surface air temperature reanalysis solutions from ERA-Interim were analyzed. Moraines and glaciofluvial landforms were identified. The Ana Northern Glacier has the highest retreat value (3.64 km) (and area loss of 31%) in response to higher depth in frontal ice-margin and reveal ocean-glacier linkages. The Ana South Glacier changed from a tidewater glacier to land-terminating after 1995, and had an outline minimum elevation variation of 89 meters, a shrinkage of 0.63 km, and a new proglacial subaerial sector. The Ana South Glacier foreland had recessional moraines (probably formed between 1995 and 2022), lagoons, and lakes. There are many flutings in low-relief environments. The 1980-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2009, 2010-2019 anomaly plots concerning to the 1980-2019 average for atmospheric temperature, are shown to be a driver of the local glacial trends.

The continued growth of polar tourism is causing increasing concerns about its potential environmental effects, invigorating the current discourse about tourism's role in the sustainable future of the Polar Regions. These concerns are often met with the industry's narratives on purported positive impacts of polar tourists who would become ambassadors, stewards or advocates. However, the extent to, and the ways in which these three seemingly interchangeable ‘ambassador' terms have been used or examined in the scientific literature are largely unknown. To address this gap, we traced the definitions of these terms and identified 16 peer-reviewed studies that incorporated the terms in two types of study design: (1) discussing the terms in the context of investigating relationship and influential factors of tourists' motivations, experiences, behavior intentions, and behavior; and (2) examining the terms as ethical imperatives or normative concepts. Results of this scoping review provides a clearer picture of how the “ambassador” terms are defined and utilized in polar tourism research, and points to the needs for further understanding, conceptualization, and operationalization of the related concepts beyond focusing on tourists themselves as ambassadors.

The Marine20 radiocarbon (14C) age calibration curve, and all earlier marine 14C calibration curves from the IntCal group, must be used extremely cautiously for the calibration of marine 14C samples from polar regions (outside ∼ 40ºS–40ºN) during glacial periods. Calibrating polar 14C marine samples from glacial periods against any Marine calibration curve (Marine20 or any earlier product) using an estimate of ${\rm{\Delta R}}$ , the regional 14C depletion adjustment, that has been obtained from samples in the recent (non-glacial) past is likely to lead to bias and overconfidence in the calibrated age. We propose an approach to calibration that aims to address this by accounting for the possibility of additional, localized, glacial 14C depletion in polar oceans. We suggest, for a specific polar location, bounds on the value of ${\rm{\Delta }}{{\rm{R}}_{20}}\left({\rm{\theta }} \right)$ during a glacial period. The lower bound ${\rm{\Delta R}}_{20}^{{\rm{Hol}}}$ may be based on 14C samples from the recent non-glacial (Holocene) past and corresponds to a low-depletion glacial scenario. The upper bound, ${\rm{\Delta R}}_{20}^{{\rm{GS}}}$ , representing a high-depletion scenario is found by increasing ${\rm{\Delta R}}_{20}^{{\rm{Hol}}}$ according to the latitude of the 14C sample to be calibrated. The suggested increases to obtain ${\rm{\Delta R}}_{20}^{{\rm{GS}}}$ are based upon simulations of the Hamburg Large Scale Geostrophic Ocean General Circulation Model (LSG OGCM). Calibrating against the Marine20 curve using the upper and lower ${\rm{\Delta }}{{\rm{R}}_{20}}$ bounds provide estimates of calibrated ages for glacial 14C samples in high- and low-depletion scenarios which should bracket the true calendar age of the sample. In some circumstances, users may be able to determine which depletion scenario is more appropriate using independent paleoclimatic or proxy evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Volatiles including water on the Moon has been one of the most interesting scientific objects for decades. In this study, we systematically introduced a concept for China's Chang'E−7 (CE-7) lunar polar exploration mission which consists of five elements, the orbiter, lander, rover, and leaper, and one relay satellite. The orbiter will provide a high-resolution image preparing for landing site selection. We also proposed three phases for in-situ investigation after landing. (1) The rover and leaper will jointly investigate the sunlit area; (2) the leaper will explore cold traps; and (3) the leaper will fly back to the sunlit area and continue an extended exploration mission. An experimental penetrator launched by the lander will penetrate permanently shadowed crater walls for water ice detection. Data will be transmitted to Earth through the relay satellite due to the limited Earth visibility. We also calculated the illumination rate within a 15 × 15 km area that partially covers the Shackleton crater at a high spatial resolution of 20 m/pixel during lunar southern summer. Specifically, we compared two potential landing sites with accumulated illumination at different altitude levels, slopes, and distances to the target. We found that one part of the Shackleton crater rim can be a primary landing site for CE-7's both sunlit areas and cold trap explorations. • We introduce a concept design of China's Chang'E−7 lunar polar exploration mission. • The mission element leaper is newly designed to explore water ice at cold traps. • We calculate illumination rates near the Moon's south pole during southern summer. • Engineering safety and scientific goals constrain polar landing site selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The mite genus Neoprotereunetes, long neglected in the literature, is revised according to modern taxonomic standards. Six species from both Arctic and Antarctic locations, previously placed in the invalid genera Protereunetes or Eupodes, are transferred to Neoprotereunetes. The new genus Antarcteupodes is created to accommodate one Antarctic species A. maudae comb. nov, originally described in Protereunetes. An identification key to Neoprotereunetes is provided. The genus Neoprotereunetes Fain et Camerik, 1994 is revised and its definition is extended in order to incorporate some species of the invalid genus Protereunetes Berlese, 1923. The former type species Neoprotereunetes—Ereunetes lapidarius Oudemans, 1906 is redescribed and transferred to Filieupodes Jesionowska, 2010 (Cocceupodidae); Proterunetes boerneri is redescribed and designated the new type species. Two species groups are proposed to embrace Arctic and Antarctic species, respectively. Protereunetes paulinae Gless, 1972 is redescribed, whereas Protereunetes maudae Strandtmann, 1967 is redescribed and designated the type species of the new genus Antarcteupodes gen. nov. A key to the species of Neopretereunetes is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface melt is an important driver of ice shelf disintegration and its consequent mass loss over the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Monitoring surface melt using satellite remote sensing can enhance our understanding of ice shelf stability. However, the sensors do not measure the actual physical process of surface melt, but rather observe the presence of liquid water. Moreover, the sensor observations are influenced by the sensor characteristics and surface properties. Therefore, large inconsistencies can exist in the derived melt estimates from different sensors. In this study, we apply state-of-the-art melt detection algorithms to four frequently used remote sensing sensors, i.e., two active microwave sensors, which are Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) and Sentinel-1, a passive microwave sensor, i.e., Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS), and an optical sensor, i.e., Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We intercompare the melt detection results over the entire Antarctic Ice Sheet and four selected study regions for the melt seasons 2015–2020. Our results show large spatiotemporal differences in detected melt between the sensors, with particular disagreement in blue ice areas, in aquifer regions, and during wintertime surface melt. We discuss that discrepancies between sensors are mainly due to cloud obstruction and polar darkness, frequency-dependent penetration of satellite signals, temporal resolution, and spatial resolution, as well as the applied melt detection methods. Nevertheless, we argue that different sensors can complement each other, enabling improved detection of surface melt over the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Martian ice holds an important key to interpreting Mars' past climate, but much is still unknown regarding the distribution and properties of Mars' ice deposits. Previous surveys identified craters that contain "outlying" deposits of ice separate from, but nearby, the north and south polar layered deposits (NPLD and SPLD). There are many differences between the characteristics of the NPLD and SPLD, which may or may not be shared by these outlying deposits, and may provide clues to the climate conditions under which ice in the polar regions formed. Ground penetrating radar is one of the crucial datasets for understanding Martian ice, as it can probe the subsurface and place constraints on the properties of buried materials. We have analyzed 517 SHARAD radar tracks across 24 ice deposits housed within craters, including quantifying surface reflectivity and identifying the presence of subsurface reflectors. After examining the subsurface radar observations, we determined that the northern outlier deposits share many common characteristics with the NPLD, and thus may have been emplaced concurrently or at least under similar environmental conditions. The southern outlying crater deposits exhibit a variety of subsurface characteristics, and likely represent two or more populations of ice‐rich deposits that may have differing emplacement histories. Plain Language Summary: Mars has two large ice caps at its poles, which combined contain a similar volume of ice as Greenland on Earth. Near these large ice caps are craters that are also filled with ice, referred to as outlying crater ice deposits. These outlying crater ice deposits may or may not have formed at the same time as the polar caps. Like scientists on Earth use ice cores to analyze how our climate has changed over time, radar observations of ice on Mars can penetrate deep into the ice and act as digital ice cores, recording changes to the ice deposited over time. We use these radar observations to analyze the history of the outlying crater deposits and find that the northern deposits may have had a similar history to the north polar cap, while the southern deposits may have a more varied history. Key Points: We analyzed the radar surface and subsurface properties of outlying ice deposits in craters near the Martian polesSouthern outlying deposits likely represent two or more different depositional historiesNorthern outlying deposits likely record the same depositional history as the north polar layered deposit [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polar regions tend to support simple food webs, which are vulnerable to phage-induced gene transfer or microbial death. To further investigate phage-host interactions in polar regions and the potential linkage of phage communities between the two poles, we induced the release of a lysogenic phage, vB_PaeM-G11, from Pseudomonas sp. D3 isolated from the Antarctic, which formed clear phage plaques on the lawn of Pseudomonas sp. G11 isolated from the Arctic. From permafrost metagenomic data of the Arctic tundra, we found the genome with high-similarity to that of vB_PaeM-G11, demonstrating that vB_PaeM-G11 may have a distribution in both the Antarctic and Arctic. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that vB_PaeM-G11 is homologous to five uncultured viruses, and that they may represent a new genus in the Autographiviridae family, named Fildesvirus here. vB_PaeM-G11 was stable in a temperature range (4–40 °C) and pH (4–11), with latent and rise periods of about 40 and 10 min, respectively. This study is the first isolation and characterization study of a Pseudomonas phage distributed in both the Antarctic and Arctic, identifying its lysogenic host and lysis host, and thus provides essential information for further understanding the interaction between polar phages and their hosts and the ecological functions of phages in polar regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity of soil bacteria was analyzed via metabarcoding and metagenomic approaches using DNA samples isolated from the biocrusts of 12 different Arctic and Antarctic sites. For the metabarcoding approach, the V3-4 region of the 16S rRNA was targeted. Our results showed that nearly all operational taxonomic units (OTUs = taxa) found in metabarcoding analyses were recovered in metagenomic analyses. In contrast, metagenomics identified a large number of additional OTUs absent in metabarcoding analyses. In addition, we found huge differences in the abundance of OTUs between the two methods. The reasons for these differences seem to be (1) the higher sequencing depth in metagenomics studies, which allows the detection of low-abundance community members in metagenomics, and (2) bias of primer pairs used to amplify the targeted sequence in metabarcoding, which can change the community composition dramatically even at the lower taxonomic levels. We strongly recommend using only metagenomic approaches when establishing the taxonomic profiles of whole biological communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores two screen-based artworks: Katja Aglert's Winter Event – Antifreeze (2009–18) and Isaac Julien's True North (2004) respectively, that exemplify diverse viewpoints contesting the essentialized identities of the Arctic past. These artworks recover the histories of women, the Inuit and African American men's involvement in polar exploration, reimagining heroic narratives from historically excluded or ignored perspectives. By employing irony and humour, these artworks expand our understanding of how media-based art can respond to the ironies of a warming planet and challenge colonial nostalgia for White male heroism. The artworks traverse not just the human imperialism of the colonial era but also the newer imperialism in the age of the Anthropocene and the Capitalocene, decentring the mythic and exotic qualities of expedition narratives. Ultimately, the irreverent artwork encourages us to rethink an aesthetics of the distanced sublime from Romantic aesthetics and its roots in European Universalism, promoting a more inclusive and intersectional approach to the Arctic and its representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This provocation considers the relationship between the United States and the Arctic. America might be understood as an Arctic nation not just because of its political and resource claims in the polar region but because the nation has become both environmentally and politically inhospitable to human life. The polar regions are no longer climate outliers on the planet, remote regions exceptionally hostile to human life. The United States could do more to recognize forms of geopolitical organization that do not presume continental supremacy; that loose the "territory" from "territorial seas"; that understand the cryosphere as a model for new forms of relation and collaboration; that turn to Indigenous knowledge and traditional ecological knowledge for guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, lichens came once more into the scientific spotlight due to their unique relations with prokaryotes. Several temperate region lichen species have been thoroughly explored in this regard yet, the information on Antarctic lichens and their associated bacteriobiomes is somewhat lacking. In this paper, we assessed the phylogenetic structure of the whole and active fractions of bacterial communities housed by Antarctic lichens growing in different environmental conditions by targeted 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Bacterial communities associated with lichens procured from a nitrogen enriched site were very distinct from the communities isolated from lichens of a nitrogen depleted site. The former were characterized by substantial contributions of Bacteroidetes phylum members and the elusive Armatimonadetes. At the nutrient-poor site the lichen-associated bacteriobiome structure was unique for each lichen species, with chlorolichens being occupied largely by Proteobacteria. Lichen species with a pronounced discrepancy in diversity between the whole and active fractions of their bacterial communities had the widest ecological amplitude, hinting that the nonactive part of the community is a reservoir of latent stress coping mechanisms. This is the first investigation to make use of targeted metatranscriptomics to infer the bacterial biodiversity in Antarctic lichens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Greenland is one of the places on Earth where the effects of climate change are most evident. The retreat of sea ice has made East Greenland more accessible for longer periods during the year. East Greenland fjords have been notoriously difficult to study due to their remoteness, dense sea ice conditions and lack of infrastructure. As a result, biological monitoring across latitudinal gradients is scarce in East Greenland and relies on sporadic research cruises and trawl data from commercial vessels. We here aim to investigate the transition in fish and marine mammal communities from South to Northeast Greenland using environmental DNA (eDNA). Location: South to Northeast Greenland. Methods: We investigated the transition in fish and marine mammal communities from South to Northeast Greenland using eDNA metabarcoding of seawater samples. We included both surface and mesopelagic samples, collected over approximately 2400 km waterway distance, by sampling from Cape Farewell to Ella Island in August 2021. Results: We demonstrate a clear transition in biological communities from south to northeast, with detected fish and mammal species matching known distributions. Samples from the southern areas were dominated by capelin (Mallotus villosus) and redfish (Sebastes), whereas northeastern samples were dominated by polar cod (Boreogadus saida), sculpins (Myoxocephalus) and ringed seal (Pusa hispida). We provide newly generated 12S rRNA barcodes from 87 fish species, bringing the public DNA database closer to full taxonomic coverage for Greenlandic fish species for this locus. Main Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that eDNA sampling can detect latitudinal shifts in marine biological communities of the Arctic region, which can supplement traditional fish surveys in understanding species distributions and community compositions of marine vertebrates. Importantly, sampling of eDNA can be a feasible approach for detecting northward range expansions in remote areas as climate change progresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) have a long-lasting effect within the stratosphere as well as impacts on the underlying troposphere. However, sub-seasonal forecasts of the winter polar stratosphere fail to use their full potential for predictability as they tend to underestimate the magnitude and persistence of these events already within the stratosphere. The origin of this underestimation is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the associated polar stratospheric cold bias following SSW events in sub-seasonal hindcasts can be halved by increasing vertical model resolution, suggesting a potential sensitivity to gravity wave forcing. While the predictability of the planetary Rossby wave flux into the stratosphere at lead times longer than a week is limited, the existence of a critical layer for gravity waves with a low zonal phase speed caused by the disturbed polar vortex provides predictability to the upper stratosphere. Gravity wave breaking near that critical layer can, therefore, decelerate the zonal flow consistently with anomalous subsidence over the polar cap leading to warmer temperatures in the middle polar stratosphere. Since the spectrum of gravity waves involves vertical wavelengths of less than 4000 m , as estimated by wavelet analysis, a high vertical model resolution is needed to resolve the positive feedback between gravity wave forcing and the state of the polar vortex. Specifically, we find that at a spectral resolution of TCo639 (approximate horizontal grid spacing of 18 km) at least 198 levels are needed to correctly resolve the spectrum of gravity waves in the ECMWF Integrated Forecasting System. Increasing vertical resolution in operational forecasts will help to mitigate stratospheric temperature biases and improve sub-seasonal predictions of the stratospheric polar vortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]