PBS has a new 7-part documentary, The Ages of Ice, exploring what we are learning about polar ice temperature, structure and melting. Prime Video is carrying the series.
The first episode is The Frozen Heart which you can rent for $2.99. This episode gives us an overview of what we are learning about rivers cutting through glaciers; changes in the shape and structure of snow flakes and how it affects albedo (a measure of the reflective capacity of snow and ice at the poles). If you watch only this one episode, you will come away with a basic knowledge of measures scientists are making and what their measures mean.
Anyone living near a coastal region, especially in the northern hemisphere, will want to know the predictions in sea level rise by the end of the century. It is motivating to do all we can now to limit warming.
A surprise for me is the increased heating by absorption of sunlight by small fossil fuel particles from combustion. Yes, they circulate around the planet and fall out over the poles, too. Where these small dark particles fall on snow and ice, melting rates increase disproportionately.
It is better to be informed than to ignore what we are learning in multiple ways by scientists and research groups across the planet.
Other sources of data about polar ice measures and predictions:
Current extent of sea ice cover – Earth-NASA
What If We Get It Right? “Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, policy expert, writer, and teacher working to help create the best possible climate future. She is co-founder of Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank for the future of coastal cities, and is the Roux Distinguished Scholar at Bowdoin College. Ayana authored The New York Times bestseller What If We Get it Right?: Visions of Climate Futures, work that is carried on with her newsletter and podcast of the same name.”
Susan Feathers 