- Email: [email protected]
Zoology www guide
ARTICLE IN PRESS
ZOOLOGY Zoology 108 (2005) 257–258 www.elsevier.de/zool
Zoology www guide Rainer Kiko, Georg Hemmrich
Readers are welcome to send website suggestions for future editions of Zoology to tbosch@zoologie. uni-kiel.de
This month the www guide is focused on the polar regions. As climate warming due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases has now became an accepted scientific truth it becomes clear that some of the most beautiful places on earth are endangered. The uniqueness of polar regions with their especially adapted animal life may no longer exist in their present form in the near future. If temperature rises as predicted by scientists, the summer ice cover of the arctic sea will vanish in the current century. This would result in an extinction of a unique wildlife whose most prominent member probably is the polar bear. ‘‘Polar Bears International’’ is an organization, which is entitled to fund research on and protect polar bears. On their website www.polarbearsalive.org you can learn nearly everything about polar bears (Fig. 1). Entering the polar bear encyclopaedia the user will find articles covering nearly everything from feeding behaviour, physiology to human impact on polar bears. Articles, books or scientific papers on special topics can be found easily in the ‘‘Guravich Memorial Bibliography’’. Following the link ‘‘Polar Bear Cam Highlights!’’ you can watch some nice clips of polar bears spending the summer time near Churchill, Manitoba. Also, the above-mentioned threat of retreating sea ice for the population of polar bears is covered under the topic ‘‘On thin ice’’. Here you can also find a link to the report ‘‘Impacts of a warming arctic’’ published by the ‘‘Arctic
climate impact assessment’’ which gives more detailed information about the effects of climate warming for the arctic region. To get a complete picture of the existing life in polar regions before their unique character will be destroyed is one of the great tasks for modern science. Institutes performing research in this field exist in nearly every country and are working closely together. For example, the Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research coordinates the German polar research and
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Hemmrich). 0944-2006/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.zool.2005.06.001
Fig. 1. Polar Bears International.
ARTICLE IN PRESS 258
R. Kiko, G. Hemmrich / Zoology 108 (2005) 257–258
maintains a research icebreaker, the RV Polarstern, which is an excellent basis for research in ice-covered seas (Fig. 2). Visiting the homepage of the Alfred Wegener Institute (www.awi-bremerhaven.de) you can get first insights into the poorly understood habitat sea ice. Under the link ‘‘click and learn’’, frequently asked questions concerning polar life and research are answered. Information about the ‘‘Ships and stations’’ operated by the AWI can be found under the homonymous link. Here you can get some facts about the RV Polarstern, for example, where it operates right now, or you can read weekly reports written by the coordinating scientist on board who describes life and work during the ongoing expedition. Furthermore, you can visit the Antarctic station Georg von Neumayer via web cam and an online gallery. Following the link ‘‘research’’ leads you to the current research topics at the AWI.
Fig. 2. Alfred-Wegener Institute in Bremerhafen, Germany.
ZOOLOGY Zoology 108 (2005) 257–258 www.elsevier.de/zool
Zoology www guide Rainer Kiko, Georg Hemmrich
Readers are welcome to send website suggestions for future editions of Zoology to tbosch@zoologie. uni-kiel.de
This month the www guide is focused on the polar regions. As climate warming due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases has now became an accepted scientific truth it becomes clear that some of the most beautiful places on earth are endangered. The uniqueness of polar regions with their especially adapted animal life may no longer exist in their present form in the near future. If temperature rises as predicted by scientists, the summer ice cover of the arctic sea will vanish in the current century. This would result in an extinction of a unique wildlife whose most prominent member probably is the polar bear. ‘‘Polar Bears International’’ is an organization, which is entitled to fund research on and protect polar bears. On their website www.polarbearsalive.org you can learn nearly everything about polar bears (Fig. 1). Entering the polar bear encyclopaedia the user will find articles covering nearly everything from feeding behaviour, physiology to human impact on polar bears. Articles, books or scientific papers on special topics can be found easily in the ‘‘Guravich Memorial Bibliography’’. Following the link ‘‘Polar Bear Cam Highlights!’’ you can watch some nice clips of polar bears spending the summer time near Churchill, Manitoba. Also, the above-mentioned threat of retreating sea ice for the population of polar bears is covered under the topic ‘‘On thin ice’’. Here you can also find a link to the report ‘‘Impacts of a warming arctic’’ published by the ‘‘Arctic
climate impact assessment’’ which gives more detailed information about the effects of climate warming for the arctic region. To get a complete picture of the existing life in polar regions before their unique character will be destroyed is one of the great tasks for modern science. Institutes performing research in this field exist in nearly every country and are working closely together. For example, the Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research coordinates the German polar research and
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Hemmrich). 0944-2006/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.zool.2005.06.001
Fig. 1. Polar Bears International.
ARTICLE IN PRESS 258
R. Kiko, G. Hemmrich / Zoology 108 (2005) 257–258
maintains a research icebreaker, the RV Polarstern, which is an excellent basis for research in ice-covered seas (Fig. 2). Visiting the homepage of the Alfred Wegener Institute (www.awi-bremerhaven.de) you can get first insights into the poorly understood habitat sea ice. Under the link ‘‘click and learn’’, frequently asked questions concerning polar life and research are answered. Information about the ‘‘Ships and stations’’ operated by the AWI can be found under the homonymous link. Here you can get some facts about the RV Polarstern, for example, where it operates right now, or you can read weekly reports written by the coordinating scientist on board who describes life and work during the ongoing expedition. Furthermore, you can visit the Antarctic station Georg von Neumayer via web cam and an online gallery. Following the link ‘‘research’’ leads you to the current research topics at the AWI.
Fig. 2. Alfred-Wegener Institute in Bremerhafen, Germany.