All language subtitles for Frozen.Planet.II.S01E06.1080p.BluRay.x265-RARBG[eztv.re]

David Attenborough:
In this series,

we have explored

the earth's frozen frontiers.

We have celebrated
the astonishing variety

of animals
that are found there...

And revealed

the extraordinary ways

by which they manage to survive.

At a time when our icecaps
are melting

faster than ever before...

We will meet

the scientists and people
who are dedicating their lives

to protecting
our frozen planet...

And striving
to turn things around

while there is still time
to do so.

It won't be easy,
but it's doable.

It's crucial that we try
to understand

what the impact will be,

not just for the wildlife
and the people that live there,

but for you and for me.

We start our journey
in the high arctic,

and the vast frozen expanse
of Greenland.

This huge island is blanketed
by the largest store of ice

in the northern hemisphere.

But now it's shrinking.

Professor alun Hubbard
is a glaciologist

and he's spent over 30 years

studying the movement of ice
along Greenland's coastline.

Alun: It is quite a beast
of a glacier.

It's just growling constantly.

Thundenng". In the background.

Ooh. There we go -
bit of activity.

Alun: Calving icebergs
is a natural process,

but what we've seen
in the last 20 years is

there's been much more melt,

and much more ice calving off,

producing huge icebergs...

So it's quite
an intimidating place

to be hanging out.

David: One thing in particular

has caused this increase
in melting and calving.

We put this weather station
here in 2010.

And the hottest temperature
was...

Two days ago...

At 22.37 degrees centigrade.

That is very, very hot
for Greenland.

David: As the ice falls
into the ocean,

it raises sea levels globally.

These are now rising

by an average
of four millimetres a year.

A quarter of that comes
from the Greenland ice sheet,

and scientists fear that this
figure could increase rapidly.

To investigate, alun has
travelled 70 miles inland

to the top of the ice sheet,

where the glaciers start
their lives as compacted snow

more than a mile thick.

Here, the effects
of a warming climate

are only too clear.

Alun: There are thousands

of these beautiful
azure-blue lakes

littered across the surface
of the ice sheet.

David: The surface has always
melted in the summer,

but not on this scale...

And alun wants to know

what effect the increase
in meltwater

is having on the ice sheet
as a whole.

Alun: The sheer quantity
of water...

Shifting through
this system is crazy!

David: Powerful torrents of
meltwater are boring shafts -

known as moulins -
into the ice sheet.

Alun: This is nuts.

This is a moulin
actively being formed,

a moulin in Genesis.

As we speak,
that water is finding

the path of least resistance,

sculpting this shaft
that's going deep into the ice.

And here it is,

just toppling
over a waterfall edge

and dropping into the ice sheet.

David: But where is
all this meltwater is going?

And what impact is it having

on the structure
of the ice sheet?

To find out,

alun decides to climb
inside a dried-up moulin.

Alun: I think I must be
15, 20 metres down here,

but I'm going to go down
a bit further.

It's a very narrow shaft here.

David: It's always been assumed
that the meltwater

drains straight down and out
of the bottom of the ice sheet,

but what alun discovers
is very different.

I can hear

a big amount of water
moving in this system,

and the water's starting
to spread sideways, laterally,

so the drainage system
is obviously complex.

It's interlinked.

David: These observations
suggest that the meltwater

is branching out
in every direction,

causing this once-rigid
structure to destabilise.

Whoa.

It's a bit rotten.

Everything's rotting here.

David: The implications
of this are frightening.

Alun believes that as
the ice sheet begins to thaw,

it's sliding towards the ocean
at a much faster rate.

And he's now confirmed that
using time-lapse photography.

Alun: The ice at the front
can be moving

in excess of 20 metres a day,
which is fast.

That is a huge quantity of ice
straight into the ocean.

David: Some of Greenland's
glaciers are moving

three times faster today
than they were 30 years ago.

Alun: As the climate's warming,

the rate at which
this ice sheet flows

is absolutely critical.

80 whereas, at the moment,

we're thinking
this thing is going to take

thousands of years to melt
and disintegrate,

if it does move faster
and accelerate,

it means centuries.

That is a really contentious
and very important question -

because this ice sheet
has enough water in it

to raise global sea level
by over seven metres,

and that's a total disaster
for humanity.

David: Calculations predict

that nearly half a billion
people

living in coastal communities
around the world

will be displaced by flooding
by the end of the century.

But if the Greenland ice sheet

slips into the ocean
more rapidly,

this could all happen
far sooner.

Greenland isn't the only large
body of ice in the arctic.

In winter,
the ocean here freezes over,

creating a cover of ice

larger than
the entire United States.

This sea ice has always
got smaller in summer,

but today it's rapidly
disappearing.

Hotter temperatures are melting
it at an unprecedented rate...

With worrying consequences

for the wildlife
that depends on it.

For harp seals, the sea ice
is an excellent place

for giving birth
out of the water.

It provides the defenceless
newborn pups

with a safe space
for their first six weeks,

until they're big enough
to swim proficiently.

But with the sea ice

disappearing
increasingly fast...

Will they be able to adapt?

Radio: Coastguard 432.

Coastguard radio.
Coastguard 432. Check out.

David: In Canada's
Gulf of Saint Lawrence,

a group of seal biologists
are trying to find out.

It's a pretty dangerous,
pretty inhospitable place,

but it's the perfect
environment for these seals

to spend the first few weeks
of their lives.

There's a group just down here
to the right now.

David: But the fragile sea ice
is a challenging place

in which to work.

Here... let's go
a little further out.

David: To support a two-tonne
helicopter, the ice must be

at least 30 centimetres thick,

and the only way to find out
if that's so is with a drill.

It's just not safe here.

There's a couple
just down here below us now.

We've got a pretty
short window here.

David: The team are trying
to discover

where the seals go
when they become independent.

So, this is
a juvenile harp seal.

This is exactly what we've been
out on the ice trying to find.

Hey, little guy.

They're absolutely beautiful.

We'll be putting
a satellite transmitter

on the top
of this animal's head,

so that every time the animal
comes to the surface,

we can get a location estimate
for where he is at sea.

It won't harm them in any way,
and, in return,

the amount of information
we get from them is invaluable.

It'll be really interesting
to see where these animals go

as the ice starts to break up
over the coming months.

David: The results
from the study so far

do not look encouraging.

Despite migrating
huge distances,

when the time comes
to have pups of their own,

harp seals almost always
return to the area

where they themselves were born.

But as the sea ice shrinks,

so does its suitability
as a nursery.

The problem really comes
about if the only ice available

in the traditional areas
is very thin.

They'll still use that ice
and then you get

an increased mortality.

David: In short,
the pups risk drowning

if the ice isn't thick enough.

And the bigger question is,

will the ice continue
to exist at all?

In my lifetime, we've lost
about two-thirds

of the summer sea ice
in the arctic.

And it's likely that
in the next 30 years

we're going to end up with an
ice-free arctic in the summer.

I think one of the issues
with climate change

is that it's really difficult
to see.

But in the case of harp seals,
it's really quite simple.

If we lose the sea ice
in the arctic,

we lose the harp seals.

For harp seals, their future,
it has to be said,

appears uncertain.

But what about the most famous
face of climate change -

the polar bear?

Can this keenly intelligent
animal

adapt to
a rapidly changing world?

As the summer sea ice
melts away,

many polar bears are forced
to head for dry land.

Some swim up to 400 miles
to get there.

This is wrangel,

a remote island
in arctic Russia.

David: Without the sea ice, the
hungry bears cannot hunt seals

and feed on
their calorie-rich flesh,

but find other sources of food,
including human food supplies.

Each summer, gennadiy
is joined by polar bear expert

dr Eric regehr.

- We need to cross that Ridge.
- Ok.

David: Eric wants to find out

just how many bears
are ending up here.

Eric: In 20 years of studying
polar bears,

I've never been anywhere
like wrangel island.

The density of bears is unlike
anything I've ever seen before.

This past two years,
we've seen about 500 bears.

My sense is that's just a
fraction of how many are here.

David: But with so many hungry
animals in one place...

Is there enough food
to go round?

Gennadiy, if you can keep
an eye out for us, please,

like up on the hill

or just wherever you've got
a good view.

All right, thank you.

This is a hair trap.

So, bears like anything
that smells strong,

and so this has a little bit
of spoiled cheese,

milk and fish in it.

The goal here is to get
a polar bear to come in

and put its hand or its head
inside this box,

and when that happens,

these little wire brushes will
pull out a few pieces of hair

that we can use
for scientific analysis.

You can learn a lot
about polar bears

just from a piece of their hair.

We can figure out
which individual it is,

or you can get information
on what they're eating.

There we go - hair collected.

David: Eric's molecular studies
of the polar bear's hair

show that the bears on wrangel

appear to be finding
enough food.

But with more and more bears
coming here,

will there still be enough food
to go round?

One of the main things
we expect to happen

with sea ice loss
is changes in the movements

and the distribution
of polar bears, so polar bears

are going to appear in places
they never were before

and they're going to disappear
from places that they were.

David: Some coastal towns
in Siberia

have been overrun
with up to 50 bears at a time.

They are desperate
to eat whatever they can.

And in the city of norilsk,

one female was found

an incredible 250 miles away
from the coast.

Lost and starving,
she was eventually rescued.

But many are not so lucky.

They are intelligent animals,
but there's simply

no food on land
that can compare to the seals

that the bears eat
on the sea ice.

A future without polar bears
would be very sad,

but the sea ice is not just
essential for animals.

It's a lifeline for many
of the four million people

who call the arctic their home.

David: Aleqatsiaq peary
lives in qaanaaq

on Greenland's west coast,

the most northerly inuit town
in the world.

For centuries, life here
has depended on the sea ice.

Not only are dog sleds

a way to reach
neighbouring communities,

which can be over
100 miles away,

but, in a land where
no crops can grow,

travelling over the sea ice
is a vital route to food,

fur and livelihood.

But the dwindling of the sea
ice is making this way of life

not only difficult,
but increasingly dangerous.

Today, they must turn back.

For qaanaaq's 650 residents,

the loss of sea ice is the loss
of an entire way of life,

and it is creating
an uncertain future.

And there's a reason

for this accelerating
rate of change.

In the last 30 years,

over 14 trillion tonnes of ice

have been lost from the arctic,

creating a vicious cycle

of ever-increasing temperatures.

Normally,

large areas of snow and ice
would act as a mirror,

reflecting up to 85% of
the sun's rays back into space.

But as the ice melts,

the great white mirror
is being replaced

by the darkness
of the ice-free ocean.

The dark ocean absorbs
the sun's rays,

so causing even more ice
to melt,

creating a feedback loop that
contributes to further warming.

Because of this,

the arctic is now warming
more than twice as fast

as the earth as a whole.

That has far-reaching
consequences,

not just for the arctic ocean,

but for the vast frozen lands
that surround it -

the tundra.

In summer, the open tundra
provides refuge

for great concentrations
of life.

But today,
its thick surface soil

that has been deeply frozen
for thousands of years

is thawing...

And the pooling water is
creating millions of new lakes.

Katy: Here in Alaska,

we've seen a 40% increase in
the lake area since the '80s.

David: Professor
Katy Walter Anthony

has worked across Alaska
and Siberia

studying their lakes.

She is interested not so much
in the lakes themselves

but in what is seeping out
of them.

We are seeing a bright spot
in the satellite image

that we suspect is gas bubbling.

To identify the gas
in these bubbles,

Katy must collect some of it.

I'm surrounded by tiny bubbles
that are rising.

Methane appears
to be the dominant gas.

David: Methane is produced
by the decaying remains

of prehistoric plants
and animals.

As the frozen soil beneath
the lake starts to thaw,

it releases stores
of this potent greenhouse gas,

which is up to 30 times more
effective than carbon dioxide

when it comes to trapping heat
in the atmosphere

and accelerating global warming.

Katy: 45 parts per million
are these tiny bubbles.

It's rising higher and higher.

Now it's going above 70.

This is a huge amount
of methane.

It could be a mega seep.

Katy: We are discovering
more and more

of these methane mega seeps,
so streaming out

and entering into
the atmosphere.

David: Methane can be seen
escaping from lakes...

But it also rises from the land

wherever the frozen soil,
known as the permafrost,

begins to thaw.

And the arctic tundra is thawing

and collapsing

at an unprecedented rate.

Katy: It's concerning
because permafrost,

or frozen ground,
occupies about a quarter

of the northern hemisphere
land surface.

As permafrost thaws,
if even a small fraction

of that trapped methane
escapes”.

It will accelerate
climate warming...

And you cannot reverse it.

David: It's clear
that in the arctic,

changes to permafrost
on the land

and floating ice on the sea

will have
far-reaching consequences

to the planet as a whole.

And there is nowhere better
to see the extent

of these global changes...

Than from space.

Woman: All of my life,
I've thought about

how this would feel -

to gaze back on the planet
with my own eyes.

David:
NASA scientist Jessica meir

has spent six months in orbit.

Jessica: From the space
station, you have the planet

spinning beneath you,

and you're passing over it
at 17, 500mph.

And we are going around the
entire planet every 90 minutes.

So you can begin to see
larger-scale phenomenon

in ways that you just can't
experience on the ground.

And we can see the change
in these systems over time.

We cannot deny
that we are having

an incredible effect
on the fate of our planet,

and the effect that we have
as humans on our planet.

Right there, actually, I'm
looking down at several fires.

I'm not sure where those are.

Let's take a quick peek.

So, right now
we're flying over Europe

and I can see some fires
over in that direction.

And that is, of course,

something that we have to
contend more and more with,

as our climate changes.

David: As the arctic warms,

wildfires are not only
getting more intense,

but they're breaking out

in parts of
the northern hemisphere

where they have never
occurred before.

Some scientists believe
that unusually warm air

rising in the arctic

is disturbing
high-altitude wind currents,

like the polar jet stream.

Once disturbed,

the jet stream produces
hotter and drier conditions

much further south.

All of these factors
that contribute to wildfires -

the temperature,
the soil moisture,

the presence of trees
and shrubs and other fuel -

have either strong
direct or indirect ties

to climate change.

David: A warming arctic

may not only be responsible for
the outbreak of wildfires...

But it may also be leading
to extreme weather conditions

across the whole of
the northern hemisphere.

I've always cared so much
about the environment

and known that we all need to
do our part in protecting it,

but after seeing this view
with my own eyes,

after seeing all of those
ecosystems from up here,

it really makes it resonate
even more loudly.

David: Outside the arctic,

there's another frozen realm

that stretches across
the world's continents -

our high mountains...

Home to an extraordinary
array of species.

But here, too,
there's a problem.

Across the world, mountain
glaciers which have existed

for tens of thousands of years

are shrinking and vanishing.

By the end of this century,

some ranges may have no ice
remaining at all,

and this will affect not just
animals, but people too.

Hamish: Ice loss
from the mountain glaciers

from the great ranges
of the world

have a huge consequence
for the populations downstream,

and that consequence
is their water supply.

Davi d:
Glaciers in the himalayas

are the source of ten
of the largest rivers in Asia,

which together provide
reliable fresh water

for around a billion people
downstream.

If the glaciers disappear,

so too will the water
they supply.

Hamish: We know that
these glaciers are losing

about half a metre of ice
a year.

What we don't know
is how much ice is left.

So if we know how many metres
of ice are left,

we can work out
how long they'll last,

how long this water supply
will keep going.

David: Dr Hamish pritchard
is part of a team of scientists

who have devised
a new instrument

to measure one of the largest
himalayan glaciers.

What we're putting together
here is a long frame structure,

and it's designed to hang
underneath a helicopter.

We're going to put a radar
on it,

and the radar will send out
the radio waves

and then they'll bounce back

off the bottom of the glacier

and we'll be able to measure
how thick the ice is.

David: Once his team know
how thick the ice is,

they can start to work out
how long it will last.

Yeah, it's a nervous moment.
We're just waiting

for it to get lifted up
for the first time.

We're hoping it's going to be
nice, steady, stable,

a nice easy liftoff.

But we're about to find out.

Radio: Line is clear.

Line is lifting.

Hi, it's Hamish here.
How is it flying?

Radio: Yeah, when the wind
picks up, it's a little...

A little more squirrel/y,
but no problems otherwise.

Yeah, you might want to gain
a little bit of height there.

Yeah, no problem.

Yeah, we'll fly out
and then head towards Everest.

David: After hours of scanning,

the projection
for this particular glacier

is finally revealed.

Yep, that's pretty nice
and clear.

I can see exactly how thick
that ice is.

That's about 150 metres.

So, at the current rate
of melting,

this section would last maybe
200 to 300 years.

But we know that
the melt rates are increasing.

And this is one of
the biggest glaciers,

so there are many, many
glaciers which are much smaller

than this, much thinner ice...

And they're going to be

disappearing much, much earlier
than that.

David: Water is already scarce
in parts of Asia

and as glacial water supplies
dry up,

there will be even less
to go round.

Hamish: So what happens
if these glaciers disappear...

Is that in dry summers
the rivers dry up...

Tensions rise...

Especially between nations

that share water
across borders...

So one of the big risks
of losing this ice

is that it raises
the risk of conflict.

And that's
a frightening prospect.

I have a one-year—old son.

Children born at the same time
as him will see this happen.

We need to act now to turn
those trajectories round.

There's no doubt that
large tracts

of our frozen wilderness are
undergoing dramatic changes.

But what about the largest body
of ice of all - Antarctica?

We have already seen how,
even here,

animals living
around the fringes

are starting to be affected by
climate change -

including chinstrap penguins.

But for another penguin,
the adelie,

the consequences
are even more extreme.

Man: I arrived here
for the first time in 1974.

This part of the world was
just incomprehensibly wild.

It was filled with life.

Antarctica absolutely
captured me.

David: Professor bill Fraser

has dedicated
his entire 45-year career

to studying the adélie penguin.

Bill: What really fascinated me
was the incredible hardiness

of these penguins -

feisty, determined,

beautiful little animal.

But this environment
is changing.

In the last 45 years,

the tremendous warming
that has occurred

has had an incredible impact.

The changes
have been very rapid,

more rapid
than anyone anticipated.

David: Bill has witnessed
first-hand how these changes

have affected one of the
largest colonies of adelies

on the western side
of the antarctic peninsula.

Bill: Four decades ago, this
area contained 20,000 adults.

Currently, we only have

somewhere in the order
of 400 breeding pairs.

One of the issues

that adélies are clearly
experiencing right now

is just the increase
in rainfall.

Adélies are a creature
of the high antarctic.

They evolved
in a dry, cold polar system.

They simply cannot tolerate
being continuously wet.

The chicks are soaking.

The rain is penetrating
their down,

breaking down their ability
to insulate themselves.

That's why you see
they're shivering -

because they're just trying
to maintain

their body temperature,
and they can't.

It's sad.

This tiny chick at this point

has zero chances of surviving.

They can't even react
to the presence of a predator.

We are standing,

looking at climate change

actually killing off
these adélie penguins

one at a time.

David: Before he leaves
Antarctica for the last time,

bill is visiting an island that
was once an adélie paradise.

When we used
to walk onto this island,

you could immediately hear
the adélies.

They were everywhere.

In 1974, the populations here

were somewhere in the order
of 1,000 breeding pairs.

All that remains
are these little pebbles

scattered throughout the area,

stones that were used
in former nest sites.

The pebbles are still visible,
they're very abundant,

but, uh, the birds are gone.

This is where we recorded

the first island-wide
extinction of adélie penguins.

And now the silence that exists
here is pretty overbearing.

Hold it.

There's no...

There's no words that can...

Really describe what
I'm feeling at the moment.

Bill: We're working with
canaries in the coalmine.

Adélie penguins are,
without a doubt,

indicator species
that are telling us

that the globe is changing,

the globe is getting warmer.

It's happening.

And we need to do
something about it.

David: The disappearance
of adélie penguins

along the antarctic peninsula

is just one example of how
record warming temperatures

are affecting life here.

But warming temperatures
are also affecting

the very coastline itself...

With serious implications
for global sea levels.

Man: Across
the glaciological community,

we've identified that sea-level
rise from Antarctica

is the most pressing question

for the next 50 to 100 years.

And we as a collaborative group

have come together
to try and understand it,

and governments

have come together
to try and understand it,

because it's important.

David: Professor
sridhar anandakrishnan

has been working
in the polar regions

for over three decades.

He's part of a team
of scientists undertaking

the largest antarctic expedition

for more than 70 years.

Their destination is a remote
part of western Antarctica

called the thwaites ice shelf.

Sridhar: Without getting out
on the ice, you can't measure

things underneath the ice.

Radio: And take-off.

Sridhar: Those kinds of things
can't be done from space.

They can't be done by drones

or aircraft flying over it.

You actually have to go and put
your instruments on the ice.

David: The interior
of Antarctica is covered

in a giant sheet of ice...

Which for millennia

has been slowly flowing
to the coast.

But because it's so cold here,

rather than calve into the sea,

the ice continues
to flow out into the ocean,

forming a floating platform
known as an ice shelf.

As an ice shelf grows,
it begins to act as a dam,

preventing more
of the ice sheet behind it

from slipping into the sea.

And the thwaites ice shelf

holds back a body of ice

the size of Florida.

But scientists are concerned

that the ice shelf itself
is now at risk of melting.

We're going down
through 600 metres of ice.

Once we drill the hole,

I'm going to put
the explosive charge down.

David: Small seismic surveys...

Ok. Firing the hole.

Help establish
exactly where to sink

their robotic underwater probe,

which the team hope
will record the temperature

of the seawater directly
beneath the ice shelf.

Ok, Andy, ready to descend.

Radio:
Try to go a little slower.

Coming up on 75 metres.

75 metres now.

425 metres.

We've arrived
at the ice-ocean interface.

David: Early results
are not encouraging.

Have we noticed a huge change
in the temperature?

Er, yeah. It is warm water.

Can you see it melt?
Like, what is going on there?

David:
Because of climate change,

warmer seas
directly beneath the ice shelf

are melting it from below...

So it's no longer a question

of if this giant dam
will disappear,

but when.

When the vast ice sheet
behind it

spills into the ocean,

it could have
catastrophic consequences

for global sea levels
over the coming centuries.

Sridhar: The amount of water
that Antarctica contains

that could go into the ocean
is so huge.

This is a global problem.

The oceans are
all connected together,

so as soon as a glacier
puts water into the ocean,

it rises all over the world.

Da vid: If sea levels rise
as predicted,

by the year 2050,

150 million people could be
displaced from coastal areas.

And by 2070,

cities, including Miami,
New York, Shanghai and Mumbai,

will be at risk
of serious flooding.

Sridhar: How much water
will Antarctica contribute

to sea-level rise?

The biggest wildcard
in all of that

is how we as humans
affect climate.

Recently, at cop26,
120 nations came together

in an effort to limit
global warming to 1.5 degrees.

While a 1.5-degree rise

will still bring significant
changes with it,

to stand any chance

of saving what remains
of our frozen planet,

and saving ourselves

from the devastating
consequences of its loss,

we must stick to this
commitment, and honour it,

no matter how challenging
it might be.

James: We know that
climate change is happening.

We know that the main driver
of climate change

is human activities,
it's human emissions.

Jessica:
As a whole human species,

we are not recognising
the impact that we're having

and the fact that
we do need to do something.

Alun: But the important thing
is that

I believe all of these
processes are reversible.

Jessica: If everybody
can make the effort

of doing just one thing -

reducing their carbon footprint.

Alun: Consume less,

think about what we need,
what we really want.

Think more sensibly about
the journeys we take,

about the food we eat,
how that's produced.

Figure out a lifestyle
that is sustainable.

Sridhar:
And we're right at the point

where we can generate
all the power that we need

from renewable sources,
like solar and wind.

To do that,

you need to really transform
society as a whole.

James: We can speak
to our representatives to try

and reconsider energy policies.

If enough of us are educated

about the effects of carbon
in the atmosphere,

even the most poorly educated
politician will respond

to what their citizenry wants.

Hamish: The awareness
and the concern is greater now

than it ever has been,
so that gives us some hope.

It won't be easy,
but it's doable.

Aleqatsiaq: If you can
do something about it,

then do it...

Instead of just
thinking about it.

If you can do something
about it, then do it.

David: We can do it.

It's within our power to do it.

We can do it.

We must do it.

Then there will be
a future for the planet.