Polar regions of Earth
The southern polar region has no permanent human habitation. McMurdo Station is the largest research station in Antarctica, run by the United States. Other notable stations include Palmer Station and Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station (United States), Esperanza Base and Marambio Base (Argentina), Scott Base (New Zealand), and Vostok Station (Russia).
Norwegian-U.S. Scientific Traverse of East Antarctica
The Norwegian-U.S. Scientific Traverse of East Antarctica is a research program consisting of two overland traverses of East Antarctica: the first from the Norwegian Troll Station to the South Pole in the 2007/2008 season; and a return traverse via a different route in 2008/2009. The main research focus of the program is climate change, the stated goals being to:The program is part of Trans-Antarctic Scientific Traverse Expeditions – Ice Divide of East Antarctica (TASTE-IDEA), and the International Partners in Ice Coring Sciences (IPICS), both of which have ISCU-WMO endorsement for the International Polar Year 2007-2009.