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International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

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IPY Planning Timeline<br />

Grey arrows indicate opportunities for ideas to come into the process. Small numbers<br />

indicate the approximate month that the PG meeting’s activity should occur.<br />

developed by PG-1 (3 September 2003). In addition,<br />

Rosswall sent a one-page memo on IPY to all ICSU<br />

National Members, Scientific Unions, Interdisciplinary<br />

Bodies, the European <strong>Polar</strong> Board and IASC (7<br />

September 2003) making the ICSU support for IPY<br />

and the Rapley-Bell team known. A letter co-signed<br />

by Rapley and Bell was attached to Rosswall’s memo<br />

describing the first Planning Group’s meeting and<br />

requesting comments on the prospective IPY science<br />

themes and research activities to be submitted to PG<br />

by 15 December 2003 (ICSU PG, 2003b). This letter<br />

amounted to a second call to the scientific community<br />

inviting grass-roots input for the future IPY program;<br />

several more would follow in 2004–2006.<br />

At the <strong>WMO</strong> Secretariat, Eduard Sarukhanian<br />

led the preparation of an extensive ‘background’<br />

document, Third <strong>International</strong> <strong>Polar</strong> <strong>Year</strong> (<strong>2007–2008</strong>),<br />

summarizing the <strong>WMO</strong> position (<strong>WMO</strong>, 2003). Besides<br />

outlining several prospective fields, in which <strong>WMO</strong><br />

could make significant contribution to IPY (such as<br />

meteorological, hydrological and marine observations;<br />

polar stratosphere ozone; environmental pollution;<br />

weather forecasting and climate projection; polar<br />

oceanography), the document proposed “to hold the<br />

<strong>International</strong> <strong>Polar</strong> <strong>Year</strong> in 2007/08 as a <strong>WMO</strong> and ICSU<br />

joint initiative”. The <strong>WMO</strong> also proposed to bring in the<br />

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)<br />

of UNESCO as the third key partner in IPY (Chapter<br />

1.4). If all three organizations were eager to join<br />

forces, the <strong>WMO</strong> recommended establishing a Joint<br />

Steering Body comprising representatives of <strong>WMO</strong>,<br />

ICSU and IOC to develop an IPY science program<br />

and implementation plan (<strong>WMO</strong>, 2003). Hence, the<br />

blueprint for a joint leadership in IPY and for building a<br />

unified team for its planning and implementation was<br />

put on the table in September 2003 by <strong>WMO</strong>.<br />

At the first ‘sharing’ ICSU–<strong>WMO</strong> session, Rosswall<br />

briefed his <strong>WMO</strong> counterparts about the recent<br />

Planning Group meeting and its approach. He invited<br />

Sarukhanian to become a <strong>WMO</strong> ‘liaison’ to the ICSU<br />

Planning Group and to join it at its next gathering in<br />

Paris (PG-2). 4 To avoid any further misunderstanding<br />

with the numbering (‘third’ or ‘fourth’ IPY), the<br />

Executive Heads of ICSU and <strong>WMO</strong> agreed to call<br />

it officially ‘IPY <strong>2007–2008</strong>.’ Rosswall also took the<br />

<strong>WMO</strong> proposal about joining forces in IPY to the ICSU<br />

planners, but practical steps in rapprochement from<br />

both sides did not take place until a few months later,<br />

in December 2003 or even in February 2004.<br />

Fig. 1.3-1. Draft<br />

timeline established<br />

at PG-1, August 2003.<br />

P l a n n I n g a n d I m P l e m e n t I n g I P Y 2 0 0 7–2 0 0 8 51

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