The international glaciological society’s international symposium on sea ice was held in dunedin, new zealand on 5–9 december 2005. local arrangements were undertaken by a committee comprising pat langhorne (chair), chris petrich, kerry buchan, sarah mager, vernon squire, russell frew, mike williams, blair fitzharris, harry keys and tim haskell. graduate students nicole albrecht, marc mueller-stoffels, daisuke yamagishi, craig purdie, tim williams and rory gamble assisted during the symposium. the post-symposium field trip to central otago and the glaciers of the west coast of new zealand was led by sarah mager and chris petrich.

Financial support for the symposium was provided by university of otago, national institute of water and atmospheric research, and the royal society of new zealand. additional support was provided by the following co-sponsors: department of conservation, new zealand and iso-trace new zealand ltd.

The symposium was attended by 126 participants from 14 countries and 232 papers were presented: 176 as oral presentations and 56 as poster presentations. of the papers presented at the symposium, 65 were accepted for publication in this volume after being peer-reviewed and edited according to the normal standards of the international glaciological society. the chief editors, pat langhorne and vernon squire, are especially grateful to the team of specialist associate editors who ably covered the broad range of topics included in the symposium. in addition, this team was generously supported by a community of anonymous reviewers who have worked hard to ensure the quality of the papers in this volume.

The publication of this volume occurs at a crucial time. as we write these words, al gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth is provoking considerable debate among the general public – not just informed scientists as in the past. global climate change, with its potentially profound consequences to humankind, is being talked about everywhere. many papers in this volume are focused on the role played by the polar regions in this transformation. scientists should not lose faith in the importance of their work and must continue to publicize the unpalatable truths about the long-term consequences of ignoring the inevitable.

Pat Langhorne

Vernon Squire