IPY comes out of ice

Old lady of the sea: The International Polar Year 2007 '“ 2009, was launched aboard the South African polar research ship, the SA Agulhas, in Cape Town

The International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2009, the biggest and most interdisciplinary polar science project yet - 200 projects from 60 countries - was launched aboard the SA Agulhas on 1 March, one of many similar global launches.

The IPY focuses on the Polar Regions and is co-sponsored by the International Council for Science and the World Meteorological Organisation.

UCT is involved under the umbrella of the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP).

Law's Professor Jan Glazewski, deputy director of UCT's MA-RE Institute, is on the Antarctic Gateway Project Committee, which is heavily involved in the IPY.

Oceanography's Dr Isabelle Ansorge and Professor Johann Lutjeharms are involved in Antarctic oceanographic research, linked to national and international research programmes.

Professor Bruce Hewitson of the Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences and his team are modelling atmospheric conditions over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.