Abstract

The polar regions are among the most interesting
regarding the ongoing debate on global
climate change because, due to several key climatic
feedbacks, they are potentially extremely
climatically sensitive. The best known is the
ice± albedo feedback by which an initial perturbation
(slight warming) melts some ice; this
new, more extensive, darker, melt-water area
absorbs more incoming sunlight, which accelerates
the warming and melting of surrounding
ice. Therefore, it is crucial to improve our
understanding of current conditions and past
history of the major ice sheets and sea-ice, and
to model how they are likely to behave in
future (e.g. in response to man-made global
warming). This requires not only glaciological
observations but also meteorological ones.
Unfortunately, polar areas are noted for their
dearth of observations.