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Did you ever wonder how the polar adventurers survived the freezing temperatures and dangerous environment of the North and South Pole more than a hundred years ago?
Or how polar expeditions are carried out today? And what will happen to the environment in the Polar Regions and the rest of the world if the climate continues to change?
To learn more about the environment and history of the Polar Regions, visit the Polar Norway Exhibition at the NSM Science Square, 4th Floor, Chamchuree Square, which opens on 18 January 2012.
Norway has a long history in the Polar Regions, and is the only country in the world that both has territories in the Arctic and maintains territorial claims in the Antarctic. In 2011 it is exactly 100 years since the Norwegian adventurer Roald Amundsen and his team became the first humans to ever reach the South Pole. It is also 150 years since the birth of the Norwegian polar explorer, scientist, diplomat, international humanist and celebrity Fridtjof Nansen, who in March of 1895 came closer to the North Pole than anyone had previously been.
The Arctic is experiencing some of the most rapid and severe effects of climate change in the world, and the rate and severity of these changes is expected to increase. Melting ice in the Arctic will affect the rest of the planet through increased global warming and rising sea levels. Changes in the Arctic will also affect the weather and ecosystems all over the globe. The region is therefore very important for climate change research. There are also important renewable and non-renewable resources in the Arctic, and the melting of the ice may open up new opportunities for international shipping.
