By the early 1840s photographers were travelling widely to obtain photographic images of remote and interesting areas. Attempts at photography in the Arctic lagged slightly at the start, but these attempts were no less determined than elsewhere, despite the additional problems that the Arctic environment presented. The first Arctic expedition on which photographic equipment is believed to have been taken was Sir John Franklin's ill-fated expedition of 1845–1848. However, the first Arctic expedition from which photographic images have survived was Sir Edward Belcher's expedition (1852–1854) in search of the missing Franklin expedition; these were calotypes taken by Dr William Domville of HMS Resolute in West Greenland in the spring of 1852, and by Captain Francis Leopold McClintock of HMS Intrepid at Beechey Island in August 1854. This article examines all the expeditions that are believed to have attempted photography in the Arctic from the Franklin expedition to the British Arctic Expedition of 1875–1876, in terms of their equipment, problems, and degree of success. During this period, Arctic expeditions were sufficiently innovative to utilize the latest available technology, and, in many cases, successful results were achieved under difficult circumstances. The results of these early efforts at photography in the Arctic provide an extremely valuable record of the exploration vessels, crews, and equipment, and of Greenlanders and Greenland settlements.

Orographic clouds over north Victoria Land, East Antarctica, have been observed in Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite imagery. These occasional clouds are discussed through analysis of their spectral features in AVHRR data. Temporal occurrence, spatial extension, and direction of the clouds are also discussed in relation to meteorological data for two periods characterised by katabatic winds, in December 1992 and January 1993.

The three voyages to Baffin Island under the command of Martin Frobisher (1576, 1577, and 1578) constituted the first recorded European expeditions to the area. Their original aim—the discovery of a northwest route to ‘Cathay,’ the ill-understood far east—was one manifestation of a broader English attempt to challenge the commercial ascendancy of Spain and Portugal whilst avoiding political confrontation with those powers. This latter imperative made it necessary for the search to be conducted in relatively high latitudes, corollaries of which were the growth of English experience of Arctic and sub-Arctic conditions, and the development of a body of literature, both technical and popular, to record the lessons of these endeavours. Utilising the relative abundance of contemporary evidence on the events of Frobisher's 1578 voyage—the largest expedition to Baffin Island prior to the present century—this paper notes and examines the responses of English mariners to these climatic conditions.

During the past decade, most publications on Antarctic politics and law have concentrated upon broader developments at the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) level. Less attention has been devoted to the nature of national interests in Antarctica and ways of balancing different policy objectives through time. Canada, though failing to accede to the Antarctic Treaty until 1988, offers a useful case study illuminating the broad range of interests influencing the policy of individual governments toward Antarctica, and particularly the reasons why states lacking clear national interests therein participate in the ATS. For Canada, Antarctica has always been viewed principally from an Arctic perspective. The resulting low priority of Antarctica explains Canada's initial non-involvement in the ATS. However, by the late 1980s, accession to the Antarctic Treaty was deemed desirable on policy grounds, even if Canada assumed only alow key role in the ATS, at least until 1994–1995, when the appointment of an Ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs was apparently followed by a more active bi-polar strategy.

The open-system pingos of Spitsbergen are formed outside terminal moraines, fault zones, and delta areas. Pingos in this study area were located near the shore in active geologic uplift areas. Three open-system pingos in the Adventdalen delta area of Spitsbergen were examined. Pingos closer to shore are younger in age and those farther away are older. Growth of these pingos occurs rapidly after initial submarine uplift and a minimum thickness of permafrost is established. Hut pingo, which is farthest from the sea, was formed after 6980±70 a BP (NUTA-3856). Driftwood associated with Longyear pingo, in the middle part of the delta, was dated at 2800±90 a BP. The radiocarbon age of peat near the shore pingo, Lagoon pingo, was 140±20 a BP. The growth of the pingos is related to transgression and development of permafrost.