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Antarctica:
the most undiscovered continent on Earth,
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and for very good reasons.
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Freezing temperatures
and deadly storms have defeated
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many explorers and scientists
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seeking to understand this mysterious land
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on which man has never lived.
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Today, they know enough to survive
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this beautiful, though hostile place,
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but events are now unfolding here
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that may spell disaster
for the rest of the world.
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What we find here today is unnerving.
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Glaciers are melting rapidly into the ocean,
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threatening to flood the world's coastlines.
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Penguins are walking off
to their death in inexplicable
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"Suicide Marches".
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Seals are struck blind by ultraviolet rays.
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Starfish are unable to reproduce
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and the continent's largest land animal,
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a creature smaller than a common housefly,
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is facing possible extinction.
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And now, on newly-exposed rocky landscapes,
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seeing sunlight for the very first time,
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green vegetation is thriving in the world's
largest desert.
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Has an irreversible environmental
change begun here?
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Or can we - as a global community - work together,
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to save our planet as well as ourselves?
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This is - The Antarctica Challenge.
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According to the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration,
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global temperatures have been increasing steadily
for the past 1 00 years,
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with seven of the eight warmest years on record
occurring since 2001 .
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The most dramatic rise has been here,
in Antarctica,
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as scientists from every discipline
search for clues,
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and hopefully answers.
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Warming temperatures here mean melting ice
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and that means flooding for the rest of the world.
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Dr. Julian Scott, a geophysicist
with the British Antarctic Survey,
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believes we have to prepare
for this catastrophe today.
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Adding the water to the ocean
will cause more flooding
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and we'll need to put up more flood defenses
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and build our cities in a different way
because of it.
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Pine Island is one of Antarctica's
largest glaciers.
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Over 250 kilometers long
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approximately the distance
between New York City and Boston
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and two kilometers thick,
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it is the greatest contributor of ice
flow into the ocean
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of any ice drainage basin in the world.
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In this time-lapse photography
of a melting glacier,
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we can see just how quickly large areas of ice
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can move from their rocky shores to the sea.
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Through his extensive study,
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Dr. Scott has found that Pine Island Glacier alone
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is currently adding 46 gigatons of fresh water
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to the world's sea level every year.
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The main reason the glacier is increasing
its speed at the moment
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is thought by most scientists working on the area
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to be due to warm ocean water.
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Now this isn't necessarily water
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that's been affected by atmospheric
changes in recent history.
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This is deep ocean water off the edge
of the continental shelf
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that is somehow being pushed up
onto the continental shelf
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by the wind patterns,
and the pressure systems in Antarctica.
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And shifting warm water right to the area
of this glacier where it starts to float.
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Now this is thinning this area of the glacier,
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and by thinning this floating portion
of the glacier,
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this causes a reduction in the pressure
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which means there's less holding the glacier back
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which means it can speed up.
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Another cause of the faster-moving ice
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is the warming of the newly exposed rock
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that extends beneath the ice.
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As the sun warms this bare rock,
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it creates an endothermic reaction
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that heats the rock bed
and melts the ice from underneath.
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Antarctica holds 70 per cent
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of the world's fresh water in its ice.
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According to NASA,
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if the land ice of the west coast of
the continent alone were to melt,
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the world's sea level would rise 18 to 20 feet.
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This would result in massive
flooding around the world
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as well as increased weight
and pressure on the world's seabed.
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This, in turn, could provide severe stress
on oceanic fault lines
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resulting in earthquakes and tsunamis.
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Even the ozone hole
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may be contributing to this problem by the way
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it has changed weather patterns here.
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Now one theory that's been suggested
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is it actually could be anthropogenic,
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but due to the ozone hole over Antarctica
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which has been shown to change
the weather systems around Antarctica,
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or we could be seeing El Nino-type effects
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in the southern weather systems
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that the wind is driving this ocean water
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up to the front of the glacier.
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It's a huge ice sheet
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grounded largely below sea level
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which is why we are concerned about it.
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But the ice is very thick
and extends way above sea level,
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so obviously if we were to lose it,
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it would contribute to the global sea levels.
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And in fact,
the whole of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
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could contribute up to five meters.
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And the Amundsen Sea area,
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where Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers are,
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that have both been
noted to be speeding up recently
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that could contribute around one and a half meters
to global sea level.
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Dr. Scott is one of many scientists
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dedicated to studying Antarctica.
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He spends long periods of study in the field,
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but returns home to analyze his findings.
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His headquarters are located here,
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half a world away,
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in the historic university town of Cambridge,
England.
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His research, along with others
at the British Antarctic Survey,
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pays tribute to the first scientific expeditions
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in Antarctica 1 00 years ago.
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While many ships and lives
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were lost in those early days
by explorers the world over,
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it was one British explorer
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who is perhaps best known for paving the way
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for scientific study here today:
Sir Ernest Shackleton.
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In 1 909, he led one
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of the very first scientific expeditions
to Antarctica.
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Ernest Shackleton really filled
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the old dictionary definition of an explorer:
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one who explores to discover new lands.
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There are very few new lands left to discover
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under the sea,
possibly and of course in space in the future.
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But for scientists there are always new lands
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and they never stop discovering.
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Well during the early expeditions,
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polar science was really a matter of observation
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more than very precise science.
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I mean they didn't have the gear.
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A lot of scientific research was accomplished
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during the Nimrod Expedition.
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And they did accomplish some notable firsts.
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They did discover that the south,
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the south magnetic pole which is not a fixed point
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but moves about, about six miles a year.
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That was enough for Shackleton
to secure a second expedition.
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However, this time,
it didn't turn out as expected.
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When the ship became trapped in the ice,
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it was hoped that she would rise above it
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and be able to be floated once more,
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but instead she was slowly crushed.
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They watched with horror
as, as, as this took place.
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Eventually the mast came down.
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And though, you can see the little group,
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rather desolate on the ice, their home
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because the ship is always a sailor's home - gone.
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They were in a very dangerous situation.
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No one knew where they were.
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Shackleton and his crew were left stranded,
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and fighting for their lives,
for over a year and a half.
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Amazingly, Shackleton led his Endurance crew
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back to safety without losing one life.
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Their incredible story of survival is commemorated
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by one of Antarctica's very few museums.
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With many of their supplies still on its shelves,
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this unique museum
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provides an eerie reminder of
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how difficult survival is in this harsh land.
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A struggle which helped give inspiration
to an international treaty fifty years later.
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For the first time in human history,
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twelve nations were able to agree
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to administer an entire continent.
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Signed on December 1 , 1 959,
the "Antarctica Treaty"
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bans any military activity
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and restricts any human occupation
solely to scientific study.
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Never before has the world come together
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to jointly govern a continent,
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rather than fight over its ownership.
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Today, there are 47 nations ensuring the
"peaceful use"
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of Antarctica strictly for scientific research.
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One of the more recent countries to sign
the Treaty is Ukraine.
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Dr. Yeugeny Karyagin
is a Seismologist from Ukraine.
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His country joined the treaty in 1 992
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and took over
Great Britain's Faraday Research Station,
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renaming it Vernadsky Station.
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He believes that the melting fresh water
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is contributing to the further melting of the ice
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in a very unusual way.
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Dr. Karyagin warns that
the increased precipitation
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will accelerate the melting of the glacier ice,
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compounding and accelerating the process,
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as more fresh water from the melting land ice
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dilutes the salt-water of the Antarctic Ocean.
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Since fresh water
evaporates faster than salt water,
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there will be a lot more rain and snow here.
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Over the past 20 years,
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the continent of Antarctica
has diminished in size dramatically,
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shrinking the ice fields at an alarming rate.
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How much further can Antarctica shrink
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before its melting ice floods the world?
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Dr. Karyagin is measuring this melting every day
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through a series of seismology tests
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designed to record shifts in glacial movement.
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Dr. Karyagin has been recording vibrations
from nearby glaciers.
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00:16:42,034 --> 00:16:45,236
He claims that the increased frequency
of seismic signals
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tells him that the climate is warming.
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If he's right,
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more glaciers will soon resemble this one,
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diluting the sea with fresh ice water
at unprecedented speeds.
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At this continued rate it could mean
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catastrophic flooding
for most of the coastal towns
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and cities of the planet.
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Are we too late?
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Is there anything we can do now to slow,
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and perhaps even reverse,
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this continent's warming to prevent
world flooding?
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Most scientists predict that
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the world's coastal towns and cities
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will be hit the hardest by the rising sea levels
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and the ensuing hurricanes,
earthquakes and tsunamis.
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Coastal cities that are the centre
of life to millions are at peril.
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Cities like San Francisco.
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This picturesque coastal city in California
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is the occasional home
of renowned environmentalist
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and penguin specialist, Dr. David Ainley,
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who, after spending more than 30 years
in the field in Antarctica,
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has likely spent more time there than here.
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His contribution to scientific study
in Antarctica is so significant
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a mountain there has been named after him -
Ainley's Peak.
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He believes that cities
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like his will soon have some serious environmental
issues to deal with.
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I think we're going to see some major problems.
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We are too late by 20 years
and it's really serious.
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Anybody that lives on the coast
is going to be having problems.
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It doesn't take much of a rise in sea level,
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just an inch and that's huge
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when you get a storm surge you know,
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from a nor'easter or a hurricane
or that sort of thing.
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You know foreclosures are happening on beachfront.
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That's probably a good thing
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because those properties are history anyway.
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And while today's Antarctic scientists
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are suggesting we need to relocate
to higher ground,
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the penguins here are already being forced
to do the same thing.
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00:19:57,896 --> 00:20:01,165
There are up to seven species of penguins
that might occur in the Antarctic.
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Four of those are relatively common
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and if we start from the largest -
the Emperor Penguin
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it's the one that is least tolerant
to temperature changes.
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It's the one that nests the furthest south,
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the one that nests in the coldest climates.
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Next would be the Adelie penguin.
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They're very much dependant
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on ice floes and the near-ice conditions
for hunting,
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so they again would be very much affected
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by rising temperature changes.
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The Chinstrap penguin is somewhere in between.
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It is more adaptive.
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It will move further north and further south
than some of the other ones.
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But the one behind me, the Gentoo,
254
00:20:33,699 --> 00:20:34,799
is probably the most adaptive.
255
00:20:34,967 --> 00:20:38,636
It's the one that might be the super penguin
of the Antarctic eventually.
256
00:20:50,816 --> 00:20:54,252
As well, warming waters
are responsible for a drastic decline
257
00:20:54,419 --> 00:20:57,088
in the penguins' sole food source, the krill.
258
00:21:10,702 --> 00:21:13,437
Krill are small shrimp-like marine crustaceans.
259
00:21:13,805 --> 00:21:18,542
They're the primary food supply of penguins
and all other Antarctic animal life.
260
00:21:19,444 --> 00:21:21,679
They travel in schools of millions and
261
00:21:21,847 --> 00:21:23,848
are very sensitive to water temperature.
262
00:21:25,017 --> 00:21:27,585
A rise in temperature of even half a degree
263
00:21:27,753 --> 00:21:29,920
hinders their ability to reproduce,
264
00:21:30,122 --> 00:21:32,390
seriously impacting the penguins here.
265
00:21:33,425 --> 00:21:35,893
Compounding this problem is that more whales
266
00:21:36,061 --> 00:21:38,829
are entering these waters now
that they have become warmer.
267
00:21:39,931 --> 00:21:43,367
In one gulp,
these whales can consume a quantity of krill
268
00:21:43,535 --> 00:21:46,504
that would otherwise feed 2,000 penguins.
269
00:21:46,972 --> 00:21:48,806
If the krill move out of the area entirely,
270
00:21:48,974 --> 00:21:50,875
these penguins will have to find
another food source
271
00:21:51,043 --> 00:21:52,410
and most of them won't be able to.
272
00:21:52,944 --> 00:21:56,080
When krill's available all of the species
of smaller penguins here
273
00:21:56,248 --> 00:21:58,683
the Adelie, the Chinstrap and the Gentoo
274
00:21:58,850 --> 00:22:00,518
will eat them almost exclusively.
275
00:22:00,686 --> 00:22:02,920
It's only when the krill is in diminishing numbers
276
00:22:03,088 --> 00:22:05,022
that they would turn to other species.
277
00:22:07,092 --> 00:22:07,558
Well, if there's no food,
278
00:22:07,726 --> 00:22:09,560
there's no birds, pretty simple.
279
00:22:09,728 --> 00:22:11,696
As the food resources change,
280
00:22:12,264 --> 00:22:15,299
it's only the species that are able to adapt
that are going to survive.
281
00:22:15,467 --> 00:22:16,801
The other species, such as the Adelie,
282
00:22:16,968 --> 00:22:18,803
the Emperor, will have to either stay south
283
00:22:18,970 --> 00:22:20,805
or move south into the colder waters
284
00:22:20,972 --> 00:22:22,773
and try to catch the krill that are still there.
285
00:22:48,333 --> 00:22:49,800
Over the past 25 years,
286
00:22:49,968 --> 00:22:53,437
the population of the Adelie penguins here
in the Antarctic Peninsula
287
00:22:53,605 --> 00:22:55,172
has dropped by 50 per cent,
288
00:22:55,374 --> 00:22:56,674
while the Chinstrap numbers
289
00:22:56,842 --> 00:22:59,443
have fallen by as much as 65 per cent,
290
00:22:59,945 --> 00:23:02,446
but the most noticeable relocation recently
291
00:23:02,614 --> 00:23:04,215
has been among the Gentoos.
292
00:23:08,687 --> 00:23:09,887
The biggest change that's occurred here
293
00:23:10,055 --> 00:23:11,255
is the movement of the Gentoo.
294
00:23:11,423 --> 00:23:12,056
They're moving further south.
295
00:23:12,224 --> 00:23:13,991
They're moving south in greater numbers.
296
00:23:14,159 --> 00:23:15,760
They're moving higher up onto the slopes.
297
00:23:15,927 --> 00:23:17,328
When you have small numbers of them,
298
00:23:17,529 --> 00:23:19,363
they will nest in near-shore areas.
299
00:23:19,531 --> 00:23:22,433
As the population increases
in a preferred nesting locale,
300
00:23:22,601 --> 00:23:23,467
they'll move upslope.
301
00:23:23,635 --> 00:23:25,169
So we have the penguins behind me.
302
00:23:25,337 --> 00:23:27,271
We have penguins on a higher slope to the right,
303
00:23:27,439 --> 00:23:30,674
and then sometimes we'll get penguins
even higher up on the slope behind.
304
00:23:39,885 --> 00:23:42,153
So while it looks as though the Gentoo is poised
305
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,722
to take over the warming west coast of Antarctica,
306
00:23:45,424 --> 00:23:46,590
the retreating penguin species
307
00:23:46,758 --> 00:23:49,460
are moving to the colder climates down the coast,
308
00:23:50,162 --> 00:23:51,796
and individual penguins have begun
309
00:23:51,963 --> 00:23:54,265
wandering off to certain death
310
00:23:55,267 --> 00:23:58,736
a phenomenon only recently observed
in the past five years.
311
00:23:59,738 --> 00:24:01,806
Viewed by many as "suicide marches",
312
00:24:02,140 --> 00:24:04,675
lone penguins have been observed
to leave their colony,
313
00:24:05,143 --> 00:24:06,477
walk away from the sea,
314
00:24:06,678 --> 00:24:09,914
and venture deep into the continent,
never to return.
315
00:24:11,483 --> 00:24:13,484
Penguin scientist Dr. David Ainley
316
00:24:13,685 --> 00:24:16,487
has been studying penguin behavior for 40 years,
317
00:24:16,721 --> 00:24:18,889
most of those years in the field in Antarctica.
318
00:24:19,658 --> 00:24:22,626
His theory is that
these so-called suicidal penguins
319
00:24:22,894 --> 00:24:26,931
are actually pioneers, a kind of "noble explorer"
320
00:24:27,165 --> 00:24:28,232
who ventures out on his own
321
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,100
to find a new home for his colony.
322
00:24:31,036 --> 00:24:35,940
We have these individual penguins that purportedly
323
00:24:36,107 --> 00:24:42,847
are committing suicide by walking away
from the sea,
324
00:24:43,148 --> 00:24:46,484
into the interior of the Antarctic,
kind of like Scott did.
325
00:24:47,986 --> 00:24:50,988
When these populations expand,
326
00:24:51,356 --> 00:24:55,593
it's because of pioneers that find new places.
327
00:24:55,861 --> 00:24:57,661
They go off and disappear and nobody hears
328
00:24:57,829 --> 00:25:00,631
about 'em anymore unless
they have good publicists.
329
00:25:09,574 --> 00:25:11,742
This unusual behavior was first noted
330
00:25:11,910 --> 00:25:14,979
when an iceberg measuring 97 nautical miles
331
00:25:15,180 --> 00:25:17,915
came to rest at the shore of
a large penguin colony,
332
00:25:18,316 --> 00:25:20,885
effectively blocking access to their food supply.
333
00:25:23,154 --> 00:25:26,690
So this big iceberg, B1 5A,
334
00:25:27,259 --> 00:25:29,994
parked itself in the southern Ross Sea.
335
00:25:30,762 --> 00:25:35,466
So there was a lot of disoriented penguins
during those five years that essentially
336
00:25:35,634 --> 00:25:39,403
had this 97-mile-long fence
that went across the Ross Sea.
337
00:25:39,804 --> 00:25:41,438
So during those five years,
338
00:25:41,606 --> 00:25:45,242
there was an increase in the numbers
of these penguins
339
00:25:45,410 --> 00:25:48,812
that were really beside themselves
about which way to go
340
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,215
and which would get them
to where they wanted to go.
341
00:25:51,783 --> 00:25:55,653
Several more of these penguins
that were going the wrong way,
342
00:25:55,954 --> 00:25:59,857
so to speak these would be the heroes
that penguins would write about.
343
00:26:09,034 --> 00:26:11,368
However, without the warming temperatures
344
00:26:11,536 --> 00:26:13,938
that placed giant icebergs in their path,
345
00:26:14,105 --> 00:26:17,608
there would be no heroic penguins
looking for a new home for their tribe.
346
00:26:18,710 --> 00:26:20,277
Suicide missions aside,
347
00:26:20,545 --> 00:26:25,182
the relocation of penguin populations is
taking a significant toll on their numbers.
348
00:26:29,287 --> 00:26:31,989
As well, global warming and the ozone hole
349
00:26:32,257 --> 00:26:35,826
have combined to threaten penguin populations
across the continent
350
00:26:36,027 --> 00:26:38,329
and may very well cause their extinction.
351
00:26:54,713 --> 00:26:56,380
For many penguin species,
352
00:26:56,548 --> 00:26:59,850
warming temperatures have reduced
the size of ice floes upon
353
00:27:00,018 --> 00:27:03,053
which species such as the Emperor penguin
hatch their young.
354
00:27:04,923 --> 00:27:06,357
Combined with the increased winds
355
00:27:06,524 --> 00:27:08,459
resulting from the ozone hole,
356
00:27:08,994 --> 00:27:10,527
entire colonies of baby chicks
357
00:27:10,695 --> 00:27:13,297
are being blown off the ice to certain death.
358
00:27:16,167 --> 00:27:20,037
But as is being shown at Point Geologie,
359
00:27:21,106 --> 00:27:26,010
that colony has decreased by 50 per cent
since the mid-70s
360
00:27:26,745 --> 00:27:34,084
and partially it is related to the fact
that the fast ice is too thin
361
00:27:34,252 --> 00:27:36,487
and so it gets blown out repeatedly.
362
00:27:37,122 --> 00:27:42,860
And many eggs and chicks are blown away
on the ice with parents sitting on them.
363
00:27:43,028 --> 00:27:43,727
It's okay with the parents,
364
00:27:43,895 --> 00:27:45,462
you know they're used to water
365
00:27:45,630 --> 00:27:49,199
but this is happening with greater frequency.
366
00:28:11,823 --> 00:28:13,824
Also occurring with greater frequency
367
00:28:13,992 --> 00:28:18,062
is an extended period of dependency
by young penguins on their parents for food.
368
00:28:18,997 --> 00:28:21,732
Young Gentoos such as this one have usually begun
369
00:28:21,900 --> 00:28:23,901
to collect food for themselves by now.
370
00:28:24,402 --> 00:28:25,803
Yet more and more of these penguins
371
00:28:25,970 --> 00:28:28,305
have been observed to be relying on their parents.
372
00:28:28,940 --> 00:28:30,674
Penguins far beyond the age of nestling
373
00:28:30,842 --> 00:28:33,143
are having trouble "leaving the nest" as it were,
374
00:28:33,545 --> 00:28:36,146
perhaps afraid to face
the relatively bleak prospects
375
00:28:36,314 --> 00:28:38,148
of their diminishing food supplies.
376
00:28:49,694 --> 00:28:51,729
Failed mating attempts, such as this one,
377
00:28:51,896 --> 00:28:54,498
have been observed more and more
in the past five years,
378
00:28:54,699 --> 00:28:57,468
suggesting the birds
are becoming more disoriented,
379
00:28:58,169 --> 00:29:02,973
perhaps another result of their difficulty in
adapting to the rapidly changing environment.
380
00:29:20,458 --> 00:29:21,892
Another cause for concern,
381
00:29:22,060 --> 00:29:23,894
especially among the younger penguins,
382
00:29:24,262 --> 00:29:26,930
is the increase in attacks from a predatory bird
383
00:29:27,098 --> 00:29:28,632
known as the skua.
384
00:29:34,773 --> 00:29:37,808
Usually, these birds attack
only the eggs of penguins,
385
00:29:38,209 --> 00:29:40,410
but as the number of eggs has been reduced,
386
00:29:40,678 --> 00:29:43,347
the skua has now become a predator of baby chicks.
387
00:29:53,358 --> 00:29:57,227
And since these birds prefer a warmer climate
and a rocky shore to live on,
388
00:29:57,462 --> 00:29:59,630
more of them are entering the peninsula area,
389
00:29:59,964 --> 00:30:01,899
providing the remaining penguin populations
390
00:30:02,066 --> 00:30:04,868
something they are not used to - a predator.
391
00:30:14,712 --> 00:30:16,680
While the warmer climate in Antarctica
392
00:30:16,848 --> 00:30:20,617
is impacting on the survival of
the once plentiful penguin populations...
393
00:30:23,421 --> 00:30:25,255
. . .the increased temperatures
are also resulting
394
00:30:25,423 --> 00:30:30,394
in the decline of Antarctica's
only indigenous land animal the common fly.
395
00:30:33,064 --> 00:30:37,234
Okay, what we've been looking at here are little,
tiny terrestrial invertebrates
396
00:30:37,402 --> 00:30:41,705
that are the main animal fauna
on the Antarctic Peninsula.
397
00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,709
They're virtually the only fauna
you see in the Antarctic
398
00:30:46,044 --> 00:30:48,478
and what I've been looking at specifically here
is this little fly.
399
00:30:48,646 --> 00:30:51,748
There are only two real flies in Antarctica,
400
00:30:51,916 --> 00:30:52,816
and this is one of them.
401
00:30:53,184 --> 00:30:57,487
It's the largest land animal in Antarctica,
402
00:30:57,655 --> 00:31:00,324
and if you're lucky, it's about 4 or 5 mm long
403
00:31:00,491 --> 00:31:02,292
and about half a milligram in weight
404
00:31:02,460 --> 00:31:08,599
so it's a, a really rather, a small,
cute little insect basically.
405
00:31:08,766 --> 00:31:10,033
It's a fly without any wings.
406
00:31:10,201 --> 00:31:11,468
The Antarctic Peninsula,
407
00:31:11,636 --> 00:31:16,039
it's one of the three fastest warming parts
of the planet at the moment.
408
00:31:16,207 --> 00:31:19,042
And these little invertebrates
and in their distributions
409
00:31:19,210 --> 00:31:21,778
are potentially sensitive to these changes.
410
00:31:21,946 --> 00:31:25,249
So if it gets warmer, as it is doing,
411
00:31:25,416 --> 00:31:27,584
they can carry out their lifecycle quicker.
412
00:31:29,053 --> 00:31:31,121
What this means is they die faster.
413
00:31:35,593 --> 00:31:37,661
The warmer habitat here can be deadly.
414
00:31:39,831 --> 00:31:41,298
The barren rock now being exposed
415
00:31:41,466 --> 00:31:43,800
by melting ice is very dry,
416
00:31:44,102 --> 00:31:45,769
depriving the creatures of water.
417
00:31:47,572 --> 00:31:49,773
It doesn't have very good water-holding capacity.
418
00:31:50,275 --> 00:31:53,744
If you warm it up, and particularly
if you have increased amounts of sunshine,
419
00:31:53,912 --> 00:31:55,279
direct sunshine landing on it,
420
00:31:55,446 --> 00:31:57,614
it actually dries out more quickly,
421
00:31:57,882 --> 00:32:00,183
so you actually may end up with a warmer habitat
422
00:32:00,385 --> 00:32:02,352
but one in which there's no water available.
423
00:32:02,687 --> 00:32:04,154
Now that combination of effects
424
00:32:04,322 --> 00:32:06,990
is actually then negative
on these little invertebrates.
425
00:32:12,497 --> 00:32:17,134
And while warming temperatures are creating
deadly environments for Antarctica's land animals,
426
00:32:18,169 --> 00:32:22,139
the warmer waters are having the same effect
for Antarctica's marine life.
427
00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:37,888
Laura Grange is a marine biologist
428
00:32:38,056 --> 00:32:41,925
working with the British Antarctic Survey
at their Rothera Research Station.
429
00:32:42,393 --> 00:32:46,863
She tells us that an anticipated increase of
only two degrees in water temperature
430
00:32:47,031 --> 00:32:50,200
will cause starfish and other marine life
to stop reproducing.
431
00:32:51,336 --> 00:32:52,669
This is a starfish.
432
00:32:55,039 --> 00:32:57,040
All these animals were actually collected from
433
00:32:57,208 --> 00:32:59,776
the shallow water
around the Rothera Research Station.
434
00:32:59,944 --> 00:33:01,945
And they're all collected by scuba-diving.
435
00:33:02,113 --> 00:33:03,680
And it's also incredibly colourful
436
00:33:03,881 --> 00:33:05,882
which is easily shown on this starfish.
437
00:33:07,318 --> 00:33:09,386
We collect them directly from outside
438
00:33:09,554 --> 00:33:12,756
and then we bring them in to carry out
various experiments on them.
439
00:33:12,991 --> 00:33:16,460
I'm actually looking at their
breeding success from year to year.
440
00:33:16,861 --> 00:33:17,995
They're also very important
441
00:33:18,162 --> 00:33:20,530
because they're very sensitive
to temperature change.
442
00:33:20,698 --> 00:33:22,699
Many scientists have actually predicted
443
00:33:22,867 --> 00:33:25,068
that there will possibly
be a global temperature change
444
00:33:25,236 --> 00:33:27,637
of two degrees within the next 1 00 years.
445
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:31,808
Well, these animals, in particular,
are very susceptible
446
00:33:31,976 --> 00:33:34,211
or very sensitive to changes in temperature.
447
00:33:34,445 --> 00:33:36,279
And therefore, because of this predicted change,
448
00:33:36,447 --> 00:33:38,515
both regionally but also globally,
449
00:33:38,683 --> 00:33:41,151
it's very unlikely that they won't be affected.
450
00:33:41,319 --> 00:33:43,120
And in my case, for my work,
451
00:33:43,321 --> 00:33:44,554
if they're not able to breed,
452
00:33:44,722 --> 00:33:46,590
obviously they won't be able to survive.
453
00:34:09,380 --> 00:34:11,114
And while global warming in Antarctica
454
00:34:11,282 --> 00:34:13,784
seems to be a significant threat to its fauna,
455
00:34:14,352 --> 00:34:16,853
the flora seems to be experiencing a genesis...
456
00:34:17,121 --> 00:34:18,889
in what is commonly referred to
457
00:34:19,057 --> 00:34:20,590
as the world's largest desert.
458
00:34:26,931 --> 00:34:30,000
Daniella Rubling,
a sub-Antarctic botany researcher,
459
00:34:30,268 --> 00:34:31,768
describes a new vegetation here
460
00:34:31,936 --> 00:34:33,370
that she has not seen before.
461
00:34:35,573 --> 00:34:39,843
It looks to be a combination of moss-type plant...
462
00:34:40,011 --> 00:34:42,312
as well as potentially some algae as well
463
00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:44,815
but basically chlorophyllic species
464
00:34:44,982 --> 00:34:49,186
that do use photosynthesis in order
to produce their food,
465
00:34:49,353 --> 00:34:51,721
and to produce, to grow and to survive.
466
00:34:52,690 --> 00:34:55,926
And it's very interesting to see it
in this type of area
467
00:34:56,094 --> 00:34:58,295
because most of the time,
468
00:34:58,863 --> 00:35:00,730
these islands are covered by snow.
469
00:35:00,898 --> 00:35:01,865
They're covered by ice.
470
00:35:02,033 --> 00:35:03,500
They don't see light.
471
00:35:03,801 --> 00:35:08,405
And so to see greenery in an area
that has always been considered to be a desert,
472
00:35:08,706 --> 00:35:10,140
it's very interesting and exciting
473
00:35:10,308 --> 00:35:13,210
to see new life growing in places
474
00:35:13,377 --> 00:35:15,245
where it has never been previously.
475
00:35:17,982 --> 00:35:21,852
But perhaps the biggest mystery
of the "greening of Antarctica" is
476
00:35:22,019 --> 00:35:24,020
where this new life came from.
477
00:35:24,355 --> 00:35:27,724
Was it always here,
lying dormant in the rocky soil?
478
00:35:28,126 --> 00:35:30,694
Or was it brought here by birds or winds?
479
00:35:32,296 --> 00:35:35,365
Well I mean the seeds or spores of these plants
480
00:35:35,533 --> 00:35:37,634
may have been carried in by winds.
481
00:35:37,802 --> 00:35:40,303
This may have been occurring for hundreds of years
482
00:35:40,471 --> 00:35:42,439
but because it's been covered in snow,
483
00:35:43,307 --> 00:35:46,276
these plants have not been able
to establish themselves.
484
00:35:46,444 --> 00:35:49,446
Whereas now, once you get exposure of rock,
485
00:35:49,647 --> 00:35:51,548
you get soil deposition,
486
00:35:51,716 --> 00:35:54,784
allowing these seeds or spores
to establish themselves
487
00:35:54,952 --> 00:35:57,354
and grow in areas where they would
never have been before.
488
00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:03,593
And does it stop there?
489
00:36:05,363 --> 00:36:09,266
Is this possibly the beginning of
an entirely new eco-system?
490
00:36:11,435 --> 00:36:12,636
This type of vegetation,
491
00:36:12,803 --> 00:36:17,140
it can serve as both food supply for animals
492
00:36:17,308 --> 00:36:21,278
that need to convert the plant material
into energy for themselves,
493
00:36:21,445 --> 00:36:23,079
but also in and amongst you can see
494
00:36:23,247 --> 00:36:26,650
that it could also provide shelter
or protection for animals
495
00:36:26,817 --> 00:36:28,618
as well or for smaller invertebrates.
496
00:36:28,786 --> 00:36:31,454
I mean the possibilities are,
497
00:36:31,956 --> 00:36:33,557
are for more life to grow
498
00:36:33,724 --> 00:36:36,526
and for more species to find their way here
499
00:36:36,694 --> 00:36:38,328
and establish themselves as well.
500
00:36:44,869 --> 00:36:48,305
But in order to predict how severe climate change
will affect this continent and,
501
00:36:48,472 --> 00:36:50,507
by extension, the rest of the world,
502
00:36:50,841 --> 00:36:53,109
a series of measurements
and data recordings is done
503
00:36:53,277 --> 00:36:56,646
on a daily basis by devoted
scientists the world over
504
00:36:56,847 --> 00:36:59,416
in what is often a thankless, yet essential, job.
505
00:37:03,421 --> 00:37:05,155
Recording temperatures from the past,
506
00:37:05,323 --> 00:37:07,324
and projecting a tendency to continue,
507
00:37:07,491 --> 00:37:10,093
is not a very reliable method of forecast
508
00:37:10,261 --> 00:37:14,431
given the wildly changing atmospheric
and meteorological conditions here.
509
00:37:28,980 --> 00:37:31,514
What was different last night, I don't know.
510
00:37:35,653 --> 00:37:36,519
Okay, down we go!
511
00:37:36,687 --> 00:37:37,821
Okay!
512
00:37:45,763 --> 00:37:48,832
One of the more accurate methods involves
ice core sampling.
513
00:38:02,780 --> 00:38:05,849
Where I'm sitting, the ice is 950 meters thick.
514
00:38:06,150 --> 00:38:08,184
If I drill through all the way
down to the bedrock,
515
00:38:08,486 --> 00:38:11,354
I would have recovered ice spanning
the last 40,000 years.
516
00:38:11,856 --> 00:38:13,523
This is quite an important period.
517
00:38:13,691 --> 00:38:14,924
Forty thousand years ago,
518
00:38:15,092 --> 00:38:16,459
the earth was in an ice age.
519
00:38:16,627 --> 00:38:18,094
Today we're in a warm period.
520
00:38:18,329 --> 00:38:22,332
By analyzing the record of the climate
from the bottom of the core to the top,
521
00:38:22,500 --> 00:38:26,202
I will be able to see how we moved
from a cold period into a warm period
522
00:38:26,370 --> 00:38:27,237
and this helps us understand
523
00:38:27,405 --> 00:38:30,407
how we expect the climate to change
over the next hundred years.
524
00:38:41,886 --> 00:38:44,587
That's a nice piece of core about 2 meters long,
525
00:38:45,222 --> 00:38:48,391
and round about here is 500 meters
depth from the surface,
526
00:38:48,659 --> 00:38:52,362
and that's ice that fell as snow about
5,800 years ago.
527
00:38:55,466 --> 00:38:58,301
Many things in the atmosphere change
from summer to winter
528
00:38:58,703 --> 00:39:01,204
and we can see this in the ice cores
when we analyze them.
529
00:39:01,439 --> 00:39:03,006
So when we plot out our results,
530
00:39:03,174 --> 00:39:05,709
we see a series of waves going down the ice
531
00:39:05,943 --> 00:39:08,678
and these are summer, winter, summer, winter.
532
00:39:08,913 --> 00:39:10,580
So we can simply count the layers
533
00:39:10,748 --> 00:39:12,248
just like counting tree rings.
534
00:39:23,694 --> 00:39:26,096
Once we get the 2-meter ice core
back to the surface
535
00:39:26,263 --> 00:39:28,264
and we've packed it into insulated boxes,
536
00:39:28,432 --> 00:39:33,403
and then it's shipped by small aircraft
back to one of our coastal stations - Hailey Bay -
537
00:39:33,871 --> 00:39:35,538
where it's loaded onto one of our ships,
538
00:39:35,773 --> 00:39:38,708
and is shipped back to Europe
in a refrigerated container.
539
00:39:49,086 --> 00:39:50,086
Once it gets back to Europe,
540
00:39:50,254 --> 00:39:51,888
we cut it into much smaller pieces
541
00:39:52,123 --> 00:39:55,725
and send each of these pieces out to
different laboratories for different analyses
542
00:39:55,893 --> 00:39:59,662
to try to understand all the things that are
happening in the climate and the atmosphere.
543
00:40:03,801 --> 00:40:04,901
This study has shown
544
00:40:05,069 --> 00:40:08,204
that the increase of greenhouse gases
found in the air bubbles
545
00:40:08,406 --> 00:40:11,841
is directly proportionate to the increase
in size of the ozone hole.
546
00:40:28,025 --> 00:40:29,692
And what if the hole gets bigger?
547
00:40:30,361 --> 00:40:35,098
How many lives might be at risk
as a result of the cancer-inducing UV rays?
548
00:40:42,673 --> 00:40:43,907
One of the most important areas
549
00:40:44,074 --> 00:40:47,277
of study in Antarctica today is the ozone hole.
550
00:40:48,012 --> 00:40:51,114
As its regularly increasing size
approaches human habitats,
551
00:40:51,282 --> 00:40:52,315
such as New Zealand,
552
00:40:52,750 --> 00:40:55,218
the related increase in cases of skin cancer
553
00:40:55,386 --> 00:40:57,854
has made ozone study a high priority.
554
00:41:13,037 --> 00:41:14,270
At Vernadsky Station,
555
00:41:14,605 --> 00:41:16,840
ozone scientist Igor Gvodzdovskyy
556
00:41:17,041 --> 00:41:18,775
keeps a daily vigil of recording ozone
557
00:41:18,943 --> 00:41:21,010
readings every three hours.
558
00:41:27,585 --> 00:41:30,954
To do this,
he uses a Dobson Ozone Spectrophotometer,
559
00:41:31,856 --> 00:41:35,592
an instrument used by the British Antarctic Survey
to study the Ozone Hole.
560
00:41:40,030 --> 00:41:43,299
The hole was discovered in 1 985
by Dr. Jonathan Shanklin,
561
00:41:43,534 --> 00:41:44,868
using this very device.
562
00:41:45,870 --> 00:41:47,904
Well this sort of white box
563
00:41:48,072 --> 00:41:51,341
that we've got in front of us
is the Dobson Ozone Spectrophotometer.
564
00:41:52,009 --> 00:41:55,912
And as you might guess from the fact
that it's got ozone in its name,
565
00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:58,248
it's for measuring ozone
in the atmosphere above us.
566
00:41:58,749 --> 00:42:00,416
And we can see on the top of the instrument
567
00:42:00,651 --> 00:42:04,187
this black tube with a prism at the top,
568
00:42:04,388 --> 00:42:08,925
and that allows us to direct a beam of sunlight
into the instrument.
569
00:42:09,159 --> 00:42:11,761
Now this sunlight has come through
the earth's atmosphere,
570
00:42:11,929 --> 00:42:13,363
through the ozone layer,
571
00:42:13,564 --> 00:42:15,064
and it's slightly changed that beam,
572
00:42:15,232 --> 00:42:17,300
particularly in the ultraviolet part
of the spectrum.
573
00:42:17,568 --> 00:42:19,435
And what we do inside the instrument
574
00:42:19,703 --> 00:42:21,538
is select out those wavelengths,
575
00:42:21,705 --> 00:42:25,775
or parts of the ultraviolet spectrum,
that have been affected by the ozone.
576
00:42:25,943 --> 00:42:29,112
And by looking at the ratio of intensity
of two wavelengths,
577
00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:32,115
we can look at how much ozone was in the path
578
00:42:32,616 --> 00:42:34,584
from the instrument to the sun.
579
00:42:35,319 --> 00:42:39,789
And the observer would make some adjustments
on the levers
580
00:42:39,957 --> 00:42:42,959
and the dial to either select the wavelength,
581
00:42:43,127 --> 00:42:45,962
or to find out what the absorption was.
582
00:42:46,263 --> 00:42:49,198
So it's essentially a very simple design,
583
00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:54,270
designed by an Oxford professor
of physics in the 1 920s,
584
00:42:54,438 --> 00:42:58,408
and it's still the world standard
for measuring ozone from the ground.
585
00:43:04,448 --> 00:43:07,083
Measurements recorded here on Galindez Island
586
00:43:07,251 --> 00:43:09,752
detail the amount of ozone in the atmosphere.
587
00:43:11,221 --> 00:43:15,158
Recent measurements have ranged
from 270 to 300 Dobsons
588
00:43:15,426 --> 00:43:16,793
and this is good news!
589
00:43:17,428 --> 00:43:19,362
A measurement of 260 or less
590
00:43:19,530 --> 00:43:21,698
is dangerous for people and animals.
591
00:43:28,138 --> 00:43:31,207
This allows all wavelengths
of ultra-violet rays through,
592
00:43:31,575 --> 00:43:33,843
burning unprotected skin in five minutes
593
00:43:34,011 --> 00:43:36,312
and blinding Antarctica's land animals.
594
00:43:38,582 --> 00:43:40,283
This Weddell Seal, for example,
595
00:43:40,451 --> 00:43:42,285
has been blinded by UV rays
596
00:43:42,453 --> 00:43:44,654
and this is becoming an increasing problem.
597
00:43:44,922 --> 00:43:45,822
There seems to be evidence
598
00:43:45,990 --> 00:43:47,790
that the changes in the ozone hole
599
00:43:47,958 --> 00:43:50,593
are having an effect on climate
change here as well.
600
00:43:51,996 --> 00:43:54,097
The changes in the ozone hole
601
00:43:54,732 --> 00:44:00,770
certainly have been driving some of the changes
that we've seen in surface climate.
602
00:44:00,938 --> 00:44:03,272
I think that's now pretty well established
603
00:44:04,008 --> 00:44:08,678
that one of the big changes in Antarctic climate
over the last 30 years
604
00:44:08,846 --> 00:44:13,483
or so has been that the westerly winds
that blow around the continent
605
00:44:13,651 --> 00:44:16,252
have speeded up by maybe 20%..
606
00:44:16,887 --> 00:44:20,390
We now think that a large part of that
607
00:44:20,591 --> 00:44:23,860
is due to the reduction of ozone
in the stratosphere.
608
00:44:33,704 --> 00:44:37,373
Since its discovery in 1 985
by Dr. Jonathan Shanklin,
609
00:44:37,541 --> 00:44:39,942
the hole has been getting bigger every week.
610
00:44:40,644 --> 00:44:45,314
Now that it has reached an area
in excess of 25 million square kilometers
611
00:44:45,482 --> 00:44:47,316
the size of North America -
612
00:44:47,751 --> 00:44:50,887
it has, for the very first time, stopped growing.
613
00:44:51,989 --> 00:44:54,824
This year's ozone hole has actually
been quite unusual.
614
00:44:56,326 --> 00:44:58,261
Quite often, it's not a circular thing.
615
00:44:58,429 --> 00:44:59,729
It can be quite elliptical
616
00:44:59,897 --> 00:45:02,665
and sometimes when it's elliptical
it sweeps northwards
617
00:45:02,833 --> 00:45:03,833
over the tip of South America
618
00:45:04,001 --> 00:45:06,069
or the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.
619
00:45:06,904 --> 00:45:09,205
And that can usually happen once every few weeks.
620
00:45:09,373 --> 00:45:10,873
This year, it's only happened once.
621
00:45:11,175 --> 00:45:15,678
The hole has remained very,
very circular and consequently, very stable.
622
00:45:17,781 --> 00:45:20,083
The reason for this, many scientists believe
623
00:45:20,317 --> 00:45:22,018
has been the Montreal Protocol
624
00:45:22,386 --> 00:45:24,620
an urgently created global initiative
625
00:45:24,788 --> 00:45:26,122
to ban the use of gases
626
00:45:26,290 --> 00:45:30,560
that destroy ozone, such as chlorofluorocarbons,
or CFCs.
627
00:45:31,495 --> 00:45:34,831
The treaty was signed on September 1 6, 1 987
628
00:45:34,998 --> 00:45:36,833
by almost all the nations of the world
629
00:45:37,134 --> 00:45:38,835
and the results have made a difference.
630
00:45:39,269 --> 00:45:43,940
Timor-Leste, San Marino and Andorra
631
00:45:44,108 --> 00:45:45,775
are the three that haven't signed up.
632
00:45:46,076 --> 00:45:49,312
Everybody else has signed up
to the basic protocol and it's working!
633
00:45:49,480 --> 00:45:50,813
It's really quite amazing.
634
00:45:50,981 --> 00:45:54,717
The amount of these ozone-destroying substances
in the atmosphere is clearly dropping.
635
00:45:55,486 --> 00:45:58,955
It will take a few years before
636
00:45:59,123 --> 00:46:01,023
what we see at the surface filters through
637
00:46:01,191 --> 00:46:03,059
to the high atmosphere above Antarctica.
638
00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:05,661
But nevertheless I think even in Antarctica
639
00:46:05,829 --> 00:46:10,066
we're starting to see
the amount of ozone-destroying substances go down.
640
00:46:10,334 --> 00:46:12,668
It's a slow process because they're very stable
641
00:46:13,137 --> 00:46:17,173
and it's probably going to be
another decade before
642
00:46:17,341 --> 00:46:20,042
we can be certain that things
are actually improving,
643
00:46:20,210 --> 00:46:21,043
but we can confidently say
644
00:46:21,211 --> 00:46:22,879
that we're on the right track.
645
00:46:25,949 --> 00:46:30,019
And while Dr. Shanklin believes
in the reduction of our use of CFCs
646
00:46:30,187 --> 00:46:32,922
is the reason why the ozone hole
has stopped growing,
647
00:46:33,390 --> 00:46:35,091
his counterpart in Antarctica,
648
00:46:35,292 --> 00:46:37,927
Igor Gvozdovskyy, has recorded measurements
649
00:46:38,095 --> 00:46:40,963
that suggest the hole is actually shrinking.
650
00:47:05,589 --> 00:47:08,491
The correlation between the world-wide CFC ban
651
00:47:08,659 --> 00:47:10,960
and the reversal of the ozone hole's size
652
00:47:11,128 --> 00:47:13,563
will hopefully encourage
further collective efforts
653
00:47:13,730 --> 00:47:16,799
to help reduce the damage to ourselves
and our planet.
654
00:47:18,535 --> 00:47:22,305
The Montreal Protocol together with
the signing of the Antarctica Treaty,
655
00:47:22,806 --> 00:47:26,509
have proven to be two unprecedented
international co-operatives
656
00:47:26,677 --> 00:47:28,778
that ended up protecting the Earth's environment.
657
00:47:29,880 --> 00:47:33,516
No territorial disputes, no military presence,
658
00:47:33,717 --> 00:47:35,384
no natural resource mining,
659
00:47:35,752 --> 00:47:37,153
no commercial interests,
660
00:47:37,321 --> 00:47:39,255
no residential land claims.
661
00:47:40,290 --> 00:47:43,059
Antarctica is unique in so many ways.
662
00:47:43,627 --> 00:47:45,761
It is the driest, windiest,
663
00:47:45,996 --> 00:47:48,397
highest and coldest continent on Earth.
664
00:47:51,134 --> 00:47:52,602
We can now add to that list
665
00:47:52,803 --> 00:47:54,570
that it is the only place on Earth
666
00:47:54,738 --> 00:47:56,906
where the world has come together in peace
667
00:47:57,074 --> 00:47:58,941
to effect environmental change
668
00:47:59,109 --> 00:48:00,877
for the betterment of all life.
669
00:48:11,421 --> 00:48:15,057
No matter how insurmountable
the environmental crisis may seem to be,
670
00:48:15,492 --> 00:48:18,594
we have proven that with
an internationally united effort,
671
00:48:18,829 --> 00:48:21,030
we can answer the call to any challenge,
672
00:48:24,001 --> 00:48:26,035
even The Antarctica Challenge.
673
00:50:13,276 --> 00:50:16,245
There's no denying the effects
of global warming on our planet.
674
00:50:16,413 --> 00:50:17,279
Countries around the world. . .
675
00:50:17,447 --> 00:50:20,082
have been experiencing record
temperatures for years,
676
00:50:20,350 --> 00:50:23,386
but none more pronounced than
right here in Antarctica.
677
00:50:24,054 --> 00:50:26,155
I'm standing in beautiful Neko Harbour here
678
00:50:26,656 --> 00:50:31,127
where the temperatures have increased hugely
in the past five years.
679
00:50:32,062 --> 00:50:34,497
Five years ago the idea of swimming in Antarctica
680
00:50:34,664 --> 00:50:37,333
was not only ludicrous but actually impossible
681
00:50:37,534 --> 00:50:39,835
because most of the shoreline water was frozen.
682
00:50:40,337 --> 00:50:42,738
However, as you can see over my shoulder,
683
00:50:44,608 --> 00:50:45,775
the water is not frozen.
684
00:50:46,376 --> 00:50:50,179
And the temperature today is
a balmy eight degrees Celsius
685
00:50:50,914 --> 00:50:55,751
and to me, that sounds like
a good temperature for a swim.
686
00:50:57,020 --> 00:50:58,087
So here I go.
687
00:51:07,397 --> 00:51:08,798
Okay, we'll see you in a bit!
688
00:51:43,200 --> 00:51:44,366
So there you have it -
689
00:51:44,534 --> 00:51:47,103
swimming, Antarctica's newest sport!
58456
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