International Polar Year launched in Ottawa, Whitehorse

International Polar Year kicked off Thursday, launching50,000 researchers from more than 60 countries on scientific examinations of the Arctic and Antarctica.

A Canadian ceremony was held jointly in Ottawa and Whitehorse, while the international ceremony was held in Paris.

At the Canadian launch, the federal government announced the projects that will be funded by the$150 million Ottawa has committed to spend over six years on the two-year event.

Canadian IPY Secretariatexecutive director David Hiksaid he was thrilled Canada has recognized the human dimension of the polar regions.

"The previous polar years very much focused on physical sciences, and this polar year will have a very significant interest in people, in cultural, social, economic, human health and the types of things that matter most to people who live in polar regions," he said.

Some of the projects are based at universities, while others are with government and northern organizations.

The projects will be spread out over the next 24 months, Hik said, sothere will not be large number of scientistsarriving inthe North at once.

Details such as how to get researchers into the field and how to manage the data collected are still being worked out, Hik said.