The 4th Annual February 26 - March 1, 2009 at Pacific Science Center located at the Seattle Center under the white arches. The University of Washington's Polar Science Center has teamed up with Pacific Science Center to present four days of activities to bring the public a look into the world of Polar research. The Polar Science Center is an international leader in contributing to the understanding of arctic systems and the changes that have taken place in the past 40 years. The Polar Science Weekend will be an opportunity for students, teachers and families to meet researchers who work in some of the most remote and challenging places on earth. In addition to learning about fascinating careers in scientific research guests will learn how technology has aided research and what is being learned about the complex environment in the Arctic and Antarctic. There will be demonstrations on Extreme Cold and Glacier Flow. A highlight of the program will be the "Arctic Ocean Research Station" with a real research hut and gear available for visitors to explore along with staff who will explain what is involved in a workstation on the ice. Local artist Maria Coryell-Martin will display her paintings from her expeditions to Antarctica and Greenland and to talk about here experiences in the field. Plus much, much more.   The list of activites and scheduled events is now available. Handouts from the 2008 Polar Science Weekend: Download "Cool Science" to learn more about the Arctic and Antarctic! Download a page from Natural History magazine to read more about the Polar Science Weekend and current research being conducted by scientists at the Polar Science Center.   Special Guest at the 2009 Polar Science Weekend: Globalization and Climate Change: Challenges in the New Maritime Arctic Dr. Lawson W. Brigham Thursday, February 26, 2009 7:00 p.m. Kane Hall, Room 210 University of Washington Abstract Early in the 21st century the Arctic Ocean is undergoing extraordinary changes. The region has been understood for some time to be a large storehouse of untapped natural resources such as oil and gas, and mineral wealth (for example, nickel, copper, zinc, iron ore and palladium). Exploration and development of these natural resources, driven by recent, high commodity prices and worldwide demand, have today accelerated to where the Arctic is poised to be a new player in the global economy. The recent financial crisis notwithstanding, the long-term future of the Arctic and marine transport systems are tied to expanding natural resource development. Simultaneously, marine access in the Arctic Ocean is changing in unprecedented ways. Arctic sea ice is undergoing an historic transformation--thinning, extent reduction in all seasons, and substantial reductions in the area of multiyear ice in the central Arctic Ocean--which has significant implications for longer seasons of navigation and new access to previously difficult-to-reach coastal regions. In addition, the ongoing process for delimitation of the outer continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea presents unique challenges and unusual geopolitics to an already complex future for the maritime Arctic. Taken together, these changes present very real challenges to the existing legal and regulatory structures which cannot meet today's needs for enhanced marine safety and environmental protection. Such challenges will require historic levels of close cooperation among the Arctic states and broad engagement with many non-Arctic stakeholders and actors within the global maritime industry. Only through determined, international cooperation will Arctic peoples and the marine environment be sufficiently protected in an era of expanding marine use. For additional information please visit the lecture's web page.