OSU center keeps tabs on research at the poles

By Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal staff writer

So what's going on today in the world of polar exploration?

Don't reach for the parka. The answer is a mere two-hour drive from Akron.

Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center is one of the top facilities of its kind in the world. On any given day, up to 70 staff and students are working to absorb all that Earth's geographic extremes have to offer.

``Polar regions help control the climate of the planet,'' explained Berry Lyons, the center's director. ``In this time of global warming, they're referred to sometimes as the canary in the coal mine.''

The poles are so sensitive to change that scientists don't have to wait millennia to understand what's in store for the planet. The change is obvious year to year, he said.

The center was started in 1960 by OSU's Richard Gold-thwait, who was part of a large international effort to study the Antarctic. He launched the Institute of Polar Studies to continue the work of bringing together scientists from a variety of disciplines.

The institute was renamed for arctic explorer Adm. Richard Byrd in 1987.

While the goal of being first to the poles dominated the first quarter of the 20th century, the focus since then has been to understand their importance and place in the Earth's history and climate.

There has been a continuous human presence at the South Pole since the United States established a permanent station there in 1957. It was built to support International Geophysical Year, the worldwide effort that Goldthwait participated in.

There are seven research groups at the OSU facility, with areas of interest ranging from basic geology to meteorology.

But perhaps the most watched research is on global warming, where scientists are monitoring the rate at which ice sheets are melting.

Lyons said after nearly half a century of constant study, the polar regions are still a source of information and surprise.

``I'm sure there are things we haven't discovered yet,'' he said.

Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com