Robert Corell Delivers Keynote Address to International Polar Year Opening Celebration

Today Heinz Center Global Change Program Director Robert Corell gave the keynote address to a crowd gathered to initiate the Indigenous People's International Polar Year Opening Celebration. Over 600 people packed into the Báktehárji sports hall in Kautokeino, Norway, including the Norwegian Minister of Environment Helen Bjørnoy, the Sami Parliament in Norway President Aili Keskitalo, and the Norwegian Ambassador to Russia Øyvind Nordsletten. The event drew a wide range of Sami, local peoples, school children, educators, policy makers and researchers from across the Arctic region.

The International Polar Year is a scientific program focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic, and is organized through the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). In order to highlight both the Arctic and the Antarctic, the polar year will be celebrated from March 2007 to March 2009. It features over 200 projects, with thousands of scientists from over 60 nations examining a wide range of physical, biological and social research topics.

This is the fourth polar year and it coincides with the 125th anniversary of the first polar year. Previous polar years were celebrated in 1882-83, 1932-33, and 1957-58. In each “year,” scientific knowledge and geographical exploration were advanced, thereby extending understanding of many geophysical phenomena that influence nature’s global systems. Each polar year was a hallmark of international cooperation in science. International scientific cooperation also paved the way for several political accords that gained their momentum from the polar years.

For more information please visit www.ipy.org.