ag es - i g b p . o rg Past Climate Dynamics : A Southern Perspective Vol 15 • No

Polus Antarctica: Terra Australis Incognita This map, produced in 1642 by Hendrik Hondius, shows the extent of geographical knowledge of the southern hemisphere 365 years ago. Although our geographic knowledge of the region has obviously come a long way since then, the sparsity in the 17th century, shown here, is representative of the current state of our understanding of the paleoclimate of the southern hemisphere. There is much to be done! (Map supplied by the National Library of Australia.) The newsletter cover nicely symbolizes the general perception of poor knowledge about the southern hemisphere, which extends into the paleoclimatic realm. Certainly, the tradition of Quaternary research stems from the northern hemisphere and a sustained focus is justified by the dominant role of the North Atlantic region in modulating climate change. The establishment of the PAGES Pole-Equator Pole (PEP) transects led to a major impetus in the integration of information from southern and northern continents, and further highlighted the geographical separation of southern landmasses. One attempt to provide a southern focus was the INQUA and PAGES inspired 'Paleoclimates of the Southern Hemisphere' (PASH) program, but it succumbed to the tyranny of distance. The increasing recognition over the last few years of the necessity for a global synthesis in order to refine climate change models— together with an acknowledgement that southern and low-latitude climate mechanisms had a much greater impact on paleoclimate than previously realized (e.g., with the specific presence of a huge ice sheet, surrounded by an ocean playing a key role in redistributing energy and carbon)—has provided a boost to Antipodean project formulation and execution*. But the picture still remains far from the spatial and temporal coverage of its northern counterpart. This newsletter issue focuses on some science highlights and news articles, which are predominantly linked with these Antipodean projects, and covers all major southern landmasses and the Southern Ocean. Antarctica and its archives have proved a trigger for southern hemisphere research by providing insights into, for example, the polar 'see-saw' , the mid-Bruhnes transition—through evidence of a switch to more pronounced interglacials—and the full temporal extent of the current ice-age (the last ca. 35 Myr). Contributions relating to Antarctica in this issue derive from such projects as those within IPICS (International Partnerships in Ice Core Sciences), SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) and ACE (Antarctic Climate Evolution), and extend the main timescale of PAGES interest, in recognition of the …