1
00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074
Advertise your product or brand here
contact www.OpenSubtitles.org today

2
00:00:30,980 --> 00:00:35,460
This white wilderness,
this emptiness, is the North Pole.

3
00:00:36,940 --> 00:00:40,740
I'm standing in the middle
of a frozen ocean.

4
00:00:41,860 --> 00:00:46,739
Beneath my feet and for
over 500 miles in every direction,

5
00:00:46,740 --> 00:00:49,580
there are several metres of ice.

6
00:00:50,820 --> 00:00:53,859
But something significant is
likely to happen here,

7
00:00:53,860 --> 00:00:55,820
at the North Pole, soon.

8
00:00:57,300 --> 00:01:00,939
Chances are that some time,
within the next few decades,

9
00:01:00,940 --> 00:01:07,259
perhaps even as soon as 2020,
there will be open water here

10
00:01:07,260 --> 00:01:10,940
for the first time
in human recorded history.

11
00:01:13,220 --> 00:01:17,299
The Arctic
and Antarctic are changing.

12
00:01:17,300 --> 00:01:21,419
Enormous masses of ice that have been
frozen for thousands of years

13
00:01:21,420 --> 00:01:23,540
are breaking apart and melting away.

14
00:01:37,100 --> 00:01:41,579
Ice scientists are going to
extremes to find out exactly

15
00:01:41,580 --> 00:01:42,979
what's going on.

16
00:01:42,980 --> 00:01:45,460
For them, these are exciting times.

17
00:01:47,060 --> 00:01:49,500
But the transformation that's being
seen here will be felt

18
00:01:49,501 --> 00:01:52,180
far beyond the polar wilderness.

19
00:01:58,580 --> 00:01:59,740
In this programme,

20
00:01:59,741 --> 00:02:04,379
I'll be trying to understand what
these changes mean, not just to the

21
00:02:04,380 --> 00:02:09,380
wildlife and people that live around
the Poles, but for the whole planet.

22
00:02:21,260 --> 00:02:25,380
I'm starting my journey in the
Arctic, the far north of our planet.

23
00:02:29,540 --> 00:02:32,859
It's still very cold
outside by most people's standards,

24
00:02:32,860 --> 00:02:36,059
but the Arctic has been warming fast,

25
00:02:36,060 --> 00:02:38,859
twice as fast as the rest
of our planet.

26
00:02:38,860 --> 00:02:42,379
My first mission is to find out
what effect

27
00:02:42,380 --> 00:02:45,019
that's having on the animals.

28
00:02:45,020 --> 00:02:47,939
Although first, we have to find them.

29
00:02:47,940 --> 00:02:50,739
It's April in Svalbard.

30
00:02:50,740 --> 00:02:54,099
We are 1,000 miles
north of the Arctic Circle,

31
00:02:54,100 --> 00:02:56,700
in search of the region's
top predator.

32
00:03:07,380 --> 00:03:11,340
We need to travel away from the land
and out over the frozen sea.

33
00:03:18,340 --> 00:03:20,620
There's some tracks
right beneath us.

34
00:03:26,660 --> 00:03:27,820
Over there.

35
00:03:31,060 --> 00:03:33,939
I'm with a Norwegian team,

36
00:03:33,940 --> 00:03:37,740
which is giving the polar bears of
Svalbard their yearly health check.

37
00:03:41,100 --> 00:03:42,420
She's under us now.

38
00:03:43,460 --> 00:03:45,260
I'll come round for a clean shot.

39
00:03:51,300 --> 00:03:54,939
The team works together to
give an anaesthetic injection

40
00:03:54,940 --> 00:03:57,580
from a dart gun without hurting
the bear.

41
00:03:59,220 --> 00:04:01,060
It takes tremendous skill.

42
00:04:05,420 --> 00:04:07,020
Ah, you've got it.

43
00:04:11,940 --> 00:04:14,660
I'll just back off
until she's asleep.

44
00:04:24,820 --> 00:04:27,219
Nobody likes to see a magnificent

45
00:04:27,220 --> 00:04:32,019
animal like a polar bear lolling
about unconscious on the ice,

46
00:04:32,020 --> 00:04:34,339
but it's only by darting them

47
00:04:34,340 --> 00:04:36,539
in this way and keeping check on them

48
00:04:36,540 --> 00:04:39,099
year after year,
that we can be sure we know

49
00:04:39,100 --> 00:04:43,380
what is happening to them and the
population of polar bears as a whole.

50
00:04:44,860 --> 00:04:48,219
Over the last 30 years,
many teams have been seeing

51
00:04:48,220 --> 00:04:52,019
the condition of their local bears
deteriorate.

52
00:04:52,020 --> 00:04:53,740
Although not every bear is suffering.

53
00:05:03,940 --> 00:05:06,939
How much? 96, there.

54
00:05:06,940 --> 00:05:11,899
And 102 here, so that's 197, yeah.

55
00:05:11,900 --> 00:05:12,940
Is that good?

56
00:05:15,020 --> 00:05:17,779
It's not too bad,
it's a bit above average.

57
00:05:17,780 --> 00:05:20,579
So she's a bear in a good condition
for Svalbard.

58
00:05:20,580 --> 00:05:27,019
The trouble is that if this was
underweight, she would be in trouble.

59
00:05:27,020 --> 00:05:31,819
Not only from her own point of view,
but from the point of her cubs,

60
00:05:31,820 --> 00:05:35,579
because an underweight female
gives birth to underweight cubs

61
00:05:35,580 --> 00:05:39,299
and underweight cubs have a great
problem of surviving

62
00:05:39,300 --> 00:05:42,900
their difficult first year
in these circumstances.

63
00:05:44,940 --> 00:05:49,259
It can be minus 40 degrees Centigrade
when polar bear cubs emerge

64
00:05:49,260 --> 00:05:51,459
at the start of the Arctic spring,

65
00:05:51,460 --> 00:05:53,940
from their dens where they were born.

66
00:06:06,300 --> 00:06:09,060
This mother hasn't
eaten for half a year.

67
00:06:11,140 --> 00:06:15,419
She and her cubs need to fatten up
fast over the next few months and

68
00:06:15,420 --> 00:06:19,780
their chances of survival depend on
what's happening beneath their feet.

69
00:06:23,820 --> 00:06:26,979
These polar bears aren't walking
on land.

70
00:06:26,980 --> 00:06:30,580
They're roaming across the frozen
surface of the sea.

71
00:06:34,180 --> 00:06:36,540
And the bear's food lives
under the ice.

72
00:06:50,100 --> 00:06:54,260
Ringed seals are hunted
by polar bears.

73
00:06:55,420 --> 00:07:01,459
In fact, in some parts,
polar bears eat almost nothing else.

74
00:07:01,460 --> 00:07:06,580
So, it's very understandable that
this mother ringed seal...

75
00:07:07,980 --> 00:07:11,940
who's looking at me now,
should be a little apprehensive.

76
00:07:15,660 --> 00:07:19,380
That pup of hers is only about
three or four days old...

77
00:07:21,740 --> 00:07:27,060
and the pup won't be able to swim
for another two or three days.

78
00:07:29,100 --> 00:07:33,179
Seals have good reason to be
nervous around their holes.

79
00:07:33,180 --> 00:07:36,259
They need the holes to breathe
when the sea is frozen,

80
00:07:36,260 --> 00:07:38,540
but this makes them easy to find.

81
00:07:40,620 --> 00:07:46,180
Polar bears can sniff out seal holes,
even if they're covered in snow.

82
00:07:52,500 --> 00:07:54,860
Spring is the best hunting season.

83
00:07:57,380 --> 00:08:00,419
This mother's found a food store
under the snow

84
00:08:00,420 --> 00:08:03,260
that was probably made
by an Arctic fox.

85
00:08:05,180 --> 00:08:07,139
It's a time of plenty now,

86
00:08:07,140 --> 00:08:10,099
but the bear family need to make
the best of it

87
00:08:10,100 --> 00:08:13,420
because the good times are about
to come to an end.

88
00:08:18,780 --> 00:08:20,219
As the weather warms,

89
00:08:20,220 --> 00:08:24,779
the ice beneath the bears' feet
starts to break up and then melt.

90
00:08:24,780 --> 00:08:29,540
And as the ice dwindles, so do the
bears' chances of a successful hunt.

91
00:08:32,820 --> 00:08:37,779
Most of the ice is lost over these
shallow coastal waters,

92
00:08:37,780 --> 00:08:39,220
where most of the seals live.

93
00:08:44,740 --> 00:08:49,059
It's now summer and these bears
have a choice ... take their chances

94
00:08:49,060 --> 00:08:53,100
on the shrinking ice floes,
or make for the safety of the land.

95
00:08:58,460 --> 00:09:00,260
It's a case of sink or swim.

96
00:09:08,300 --> 00:09:10,619
Bears have always gone
hungry in the summer,

97
00:09:10,620 --> 00:09:13,179
but the length of time
when there's enough ice for them

98
00:09:13,180 --> 00:09:17,740
to go hunting is getting shorter and
shorter, across much of the Arctic.

99
00:09:21,140 --> 00:09:24,459
This is hitting cubs
particularly hard,

100
00:09:24,460 --> 00:09:28,980
because they can't survive for as
long without feeding as their mother.

101
00:09:30,620 --> 00:09:34,500
Cubs that were born
underweight are at the greatest risk.

102
00:09:44,100 --> 00:09:48,019
This mother and her cubs may well
not get another meal

103
00:09:48,020 --> 00:09:50,939
until the sea freezes again
in winter.

104
00:09:50,940 --> 00:09:55,699
There's not much to eat on land and
the fact is that the longer the cubs

105
00:09:55,700 --> 00:10:00,220
have to wait until the ice returns,
the more likely they are to die.

106
00:10:03,500 --> 00:10:07,499
Longer summers with no ice
are probably the main reason why

107
00:10:07,500 --> 00:10:10,420
many polar bear populations
are dropping.

108
00:10:18,700 --> 00:10:22,779
To help monitor bears into the
future, this female is being fitted

109
00:10:22,780 --> 00:10:25,500
with a radio collar to track
her movements.

110
00:10:29,820 --> 00:10:33,019
It's an extraordinary sensation to be

111
00:10:33,020 --> 00:10:35,939
so close to such a powerful animal.

112
00:10:35,940 --> 00:10:39,099
With luck, carrying that collar,

113
00:10:39,100 --> 00:10:41,420
she will have more years to go yet...

114
00:10:42,620 --> 00:10:45,259
and be telling us a great deal

115
00:10:45,260 --> 00:10:47,739
about herself and the rest

116
00:10:47,740 --> 00:10:50,339
of the race of polar bears, as they

117
00:10:50,340 --> 00:10:52,940
face this very uncertain future.

118
00:11:00,340 --> 00:11:03,459
The future of the ice cover on
the sea isn't just

119
00:11:03,460 --> 00:11:04,979
an issue for the animals.

120
00:11:04,980 --> 00:11:07,299
It's a big concern for the people

121
00:11:07,300 --> 00:11:08,899
who live in the Arctic

122
00:11:08,900 --> 00:11:11,260
and travel across the ice every day.

123
00:11:19,820 --> 00:11:24,299
David Iqaqrialu is an Inuit
from the village of Clyde River

124
00:11:24,300 --> 00:11:25,900
in the Canadian Far North.

125
00:11:31,900 --> 00:11:36,459
There are very few roads up here,
so David and his community,

126
00:11:36,460 --> 00:11:40,460
like most Inuit people, have always
travelled across the frozen sea.

127
00:11:42,380 --> 00:11:47,019
Dog sleds are the safest way to
get around because the dogs feel

128
00:11:47,020 --> 00:11:49,780
thin ice underfoot and won't lead
travellers into trouble.

129
00:11:53,540 --> 00:11:55,980
Old-timers, like David,
know the ice is as well as we know

130
00:11:55,981 --> 00:11:58,740
the streets in our local
neighbourhood.

131
00:12:02,460 --> 00:12:03,659
Every spring,

132
00:12:03,660 --> 00:12:07,580
cracks have always formed in
the same places at the same time.

133
00:12:09,020 --> 00:12:13,340
It's going to be big very soon.
After two weeks maybe...

134
00:12:14,900 --> 00:12:17,100
it will be more open.

135
00:12:18,460 --> 00:12:22,419
But now, cracks are appearing
where they never did before.

136
00:12:22,420 --> 00:12:26,780
So, David and his friend,
Laimikie, have taken on a new job.

137
00:12:28,460 --> 00:12:31,819
They are using special GPS units
to record the position

138
00:12:31,820 --> 00:12:34,420
of new cracks or weak ice.

139
00:12:36,620 --> 00:12:38,379
These findings will be used

140
00:12:38,380 --> 00:12:40,379
by locals for their own safety,

141
00:12:40,380 --> 00:12:42,700
but they're also being studied
by ice scientists,

142
00:12:42,701 --> 00:12:47,819
who want to predict how the ice
will change in years to come.

143
00:12:54,620 --> 00:12:59,099
The Inuit are keen to know what
the future holds too

144
00:12:59,100 --> 00:13:01,939
because they've seen
with their own eyes the changes

145
00:13:01,940 --> 00:13:04,500
that the scientists have seen
from space.

146
00:13:06,300 --> 00:13:09,219
This satellite photo from 1980
shows the Arctic Ocean

147
00:13:09,220 --> 00:13:14,099
at the end of the summer,
when ice cover is at its minimum.

148
00:13:14,100 --> 00:13:18,780
Since then, there's been a 30%
drop in the area covered by ice.

149
00:13:21,420 --> 00:13:26,259
But these images can't tell us about
changes to the most important factor,

150
00:13:26,260 --> 00:13:28,900
the thickness of the ice.

151
00:13:32,500 --> 00:13:34,859
Measuring thickness
across the whole ocean

152
00:13:34,860 --> 00:13:37,739
was beyond scientists for many years,

153
00:13:37,740 --> 00:13:41,180
until help came
from an unexpected source.

154
00:13:58,220 --> 00:14:02,939
The Arctic Ocean is of huge military
importance, as it's the shortest

155
00:14:02,940 --> 00:14:04,980
route between North America
and Russia.

156
00:14:10,700 --> 00:14:15,179
Since the late 1950s, British,
US and Russian submarines

157
00:14:15,180 --> 00:14:18,420
have been patrolling
the Arctic Ocean.

158
00:14:20,060 --> 00:14:24,459
But as well as looking out for
enemy activity,

159
00:14:24,460 --> 00:14:27,339
they've also been measuring
the thickness of the ice,

160
00:14:27,340 --> 00:14:29,820
critical when looking for
a place to surface.

161
00:14:33,460 --> 00:14:36,579
When scientists got permission to
look at the submarine crew's records,

162
00:14:36,580 --> 00:14:40,819
they discovered that the ice
has been thinning fast.

163
00:14:40,820 --> 00:14:44,060
In fact, it's nearly
halved in thickness since 1980.

164
00:14:48,500 --> 00:14:50,539
Across most of the Arctic Ocean,

165
00:14:50,540 --> 00:14:53,460
there are now just
a couple of metres of ice.

166
00:14:57,860 --> 00:15:02,259
It's so thin that it could melt away
almost entirely in the summertime,

167
00:15:02,260 --> 00:15:04,740
and that includes
the ice at the North Pole.

168
00:15:06,180 --> 00:15:09,299
If current trends continue,
then there will be

169
00:15:09,300 --> 00:15:11,219
open ocean here by summer's end,

170
00:15:11,220 --> 00:15:13,500
some time within
the next few decades.

171
00:15:16,940 --> 00:15:20,139
So, the days of the Arctic Ocean
being covered

172
00:15:20,140 --> 00:15:23,219
by a continuous sheet of ice
seem to have passed.

173
00:15:23,220 --> 00:15:26,659
Whether or not that's a good or
bad thing, of course,

174
00:15:26,660 --> 00:15:28,500
depends on your point of view.

175
00:15:32,060 --> 00:15:34,779
Nobody has had a better view of the
changes to the Arctic Ocean

176
00:15:34,780 --> 00:15:39,619
than the people of Barrow,
the most northerly town in Alaska.

177
00:15:39,620 --> 00:15:43,339
The people here have always
survived by hunting on the frozen sea

178
00:15:43,340 --> 00:15:45,940
and they celebrate this
at a festival every year.

179
00:15:48,140 --> 00:15:51,979
The blanket toss was once the best
way to spot distant animals to hunt,

180
00:15:51,980 --> 00:15:56,419
as lifelong resident
Lewis Brewer explains.

181
00:15:56,420 --> 00:15:59,579
When we throw ourselves up into the
blanket, you know,

182
00:15:59,580 --> 00:16:03,419
you get that much more of an 'Ahh'
of seeing further and further out,

183
00:16:03,420 --> 00:16:06,099
so sometimes, you'll jump 15-20 feet
in the air,

184
00:16:06,100 --> 00:16:09,380
and hopefully, you're being caught
right back into the blanket.

185
00:16:11,380 --> 00:16:13,500
I'm OK!

186
00:16:15,180 --> 00:16:17,859
But the old way of life
is under threat.

187
00:16:17,860 --> 00:16:22,699
When Lewis was young, the sea stayed
frozen to the horizon until July,

188
00:16:22,700 --> 00:16:25,699
and some ice remained
off-shore all summer.

189
00:16:25,700 --> 00:16:27,739
But now, it's breaking up in June

190
00:16:27,740 --> 00:16:32,019
and melting away completely
for two or three months.

191
00:16:32,020 --> 00:16:35,819
I used to go out on the ice all
the time at this time of the year,

192
00:16:35,820 --> 00:16:40,900
but we can't do that any more,
cos there's no more ice.

193
00:16:42,340 --> 00:16:46,739
Lewis can also see that the
loss of sea ice is affecting

194
00:16:46,740 --> 00:16:48,820
the animals he hunts for a living.

195
00:16:50,300 --> 00:16:54,019
Since 2007, something very strange
has been happening

196
00:16:54,020 --> 00:16:57,100
on this stretch of coastline,
close to Barrow.

197
00:17:00,820 --> 00:17:05,379
Mother walruses, confused by the lack
of ice, are crowding onto the land

198
00:17:05,380 --> 00:17:06,540
with their pups.

199
00:17:08,180 --> 00:17:10,579
This very tight crowding isn't normal

200
00:17:10,580 --> 00:17:13,980
and it's caused many youngsters
to be crushed to death.

201
00:17:16,580 --> 00:17:19,699
Many Arctic animals are threatened
by the changing conditions

202
00:17:19,700 --> 00:17:24,259
and that's also bad news
for the traditional hunters.

203
00:17:24,260 --> 00:17:28,180
But the ice loss could be good news
for some people.

204
00:17:32,220 --> 00:17:34,899
There are trillions of dollars' worth
of oil

205
00:17:34,900 --> 00:17:36,899
and gas under the Arctic Ocean.

206
00:17:36,900 --> 00:17:38,939
But the only way to get to them,

207
00:17:38,940 --> 00:17:43,219
until now, has been by building
expensive artificial islands,

208
00:17:43,220 --> 00:17:44,419
like this.

209
00:17:44,420 --> 00:17:46,179
But if the sea ice goes,

210
00:17:46,180 --> 00:17:49,339
it will be much easier to
drill for the huge riches below.

211
00:17:49,340 --> 00:17:53,699
So, the countries that surround
the Arctic are scrambling

212
00:17:53,700 --> 00:17:55,100
to stake their claims.

213
00:18:06,460 --> 00:18:11,939
This daring attempt by the Russians
to claim the disputed seabed

214
00:18:11,940 --> 00:18:15,259
at the North Pole in 2007 caused fury
among the competing countries

215
00:18:15,260 --> 00:18:18,900
and it's unlikely to be
the last such dispute.

216
00:18:20,900 --> 00:18:23,499
The Arctic has never been
so important

217
00:18:23,500 --> 00:18:26,100
and not just because of
its resources.

218
00:18:29,100 --> 00:18:30,459
The North-West passage,

219
00:18:30,460 --> 00:18:34,499
a legendary sea route around the
north of Canada and Alaska, cleared

220
00:18:34,500 --> 00:18:39,739
of ice in the summer of 2007 for the
first time since records began.

221
00:18:39,740 --> 00:18:42,619
This promises a much faster

222
00:18:42,620 --> 00:18:47,300
and cheaper shipping route between
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

223
00:18:51,620 --> 00:18:54,580
And some wildlife could benefit
from an ice-free Arctic too.

224
00:18:59,740 --> 00:19:03,819
Bowhead whales are one of just
a few whales that can live

225
00:19:03,820 --> 00:19:06,940
year-round in the Arctic
because they have no dorsal fin.

226
00:19:09,140 --> 00:19:11,340
This means they can come up
for air in small spaces

227
00:19:11,341 --> 00:19:14,380
and travel easily under the ice.

228
00:19:15,980 --> 00:19:19,419
Their unique body shape used to
mean that the Arctic whales had

229
00:19:19,420 --> 00:19:23,619
the seas to themselves
for most of the year.

230
00:19:23,620 --> 00:19:26,500
But now, some cousins from down south
are moving in.

231
00:19:33,940 --> 00:19:37,259
Killer whales are now a much more
common sight in the Arctic.

232
00:19:37,260 --> 00:19:41,899
Their tall fins make it difficult
for them to travel under ice,

233
00:19:41,900 --> 00:19:45,939
but the longer summers mean they can
travel much further north

234
00:19:45,940 --> 00:19:48,540
and make the most of
the rich Arctic seas.

235
00:19:55,420 --> 00:19:58,379
For animals and people,

236
00:19:58,380 --> 00:20:02,060
it will be those that can adapt who
will thrive in a changing Arctic.

237
00:20:11,220 --> 00:20:14,139
But the loss of sea ice isn't just
an issue for the Arctic,

238
00:20:14,140 --> 00:20:18,460
because the state of the ice affects
the climate of the whole planet.

239
00:20:21,540 --> 00:20:26,419
Because it's white, the ice reflects
up to 90% of the Sun's energy.

240
00:20:26,420 --> 00:20:29,899
This is called the albedo effect
and it's why

241
00:20:29,900 --> 00:20:34,140
we often see heat haze in the Arctic,
even when the air feels cold.

242
00:20:40,940 --> 00:20:44,859
The frozen Arctic Ocean
acts as a huge reflector,

243
00:20:44,860 --> 00:20:48,459
bouncing back the Sun's heat
into space.

244
00:20:48,460 --> 00:20:51,819
Throughout history, that has helped
to cool the planet,

245
00:20:51,820 --> 00:20:55,780
but when the ice melts,
it's a different story.

246
00:21:01,340 --> 00:21:07,019
Because sea water is dark,
it absorbs most of the Sun's heat.

247
00:21:07,020 --> 00:21:10,699
In the Arctic, this can trigger
a chain reaction, as the warming

248
00:21:10,700 --> 00:21:15,460
water melts more ice, exposing more
water to the Sun's heat.

249
00:21:21,020 --> 00:21:24,739
This cycle of warming, as huge areas
start to absorb rather than

250
00:21:24,740 --> 00:21:28,979
reflect heat, is the main reason why
the Arctic, a region the size

251
00:21:28,980 --> 00:21:33,420
of North America, is warming twice
as fast as the rest of the Earth.

252
00:21:38,700 --> 00:21:41,579
So, melting sea ice is a big issue.

253
00:21:41,580 --> 00:21:44,219
But there's another kind of ice
that could have an even more

254
00:21:44,220 --> 00:21:46,140
dramatic impact on our world.

255
00:21:47,500 --> 00:21:49,860
The ice that is found on land.

256
00:21:52,580 --> 00:21:54,699
This is fresh water ice,

257
00:21:54,700 --> 00:21:58,580
formed from thousands of years
of accumulated snowfall.

258
00:22:04,740 --> 00:22:10,659
This is the front of a glacier,
quite a small one, believe it or not.

259
00:22:10,660 --> 00:22:13,139
Glaciers are like rivers of frozen

260
00:22:13,140 --> 00:22:17,379
fresh water flowing
across the surface of the land.

261
00:22:17,380 --> 00:22:20,499
This one, like most polar glaciers,

262
00:22:20,500 --> 00:22:24,979
is flowing down from a vast
inland ice sheet.

263
00:22:24,980 --> 00:22:27,819
And it's what happens to those
ice sheets

264
00:22:27,820 --> 00:22:31,300
that could radically alter
the face of the planet.

265
00:22:32,580 --> 00:22:36,499
The Greenland ice sheet is by far
the largest in the Arctic.

266
00:22:36,500 --> 00:22:38,499
It's two miles thick in places

267
00:22:38,500 --> 00:22:41,660
and six times
the size of the United Kingdom.

268
00:22:48,980 --> 00:22:52,859
Every summer, some of the surface
of the ice sheet melts,

269
00:22:52,860 --> 00:22:56,420
forming sapphire blue lakes
of melt water.

270
00:22:57,980 --> 00:23:00,859
More and more of these lakes
have been forming

271
00:23:00,860 --> 00:23:03,700
as Greenland has warmed
over the last 20 years.

272
00:23:05,300 --> 00:23:09,179
This lake has grown over several
weeks and now it's overflowing,

273
00:23:09,180 --> 00:23:11,620
carving a deep channel
through the ice.

274
00:23:18,580 --> 00:23:21,699
A network of channels criss-crosses
the ice sheet,

275
00:23:21,700 --> 00:23:24,820
but many of them
come to an abrupt end.

276
00:23:36,060 --> 00:23:39,419
Huge holes, like this,
can open up quite suddenly,

277
00:23:39,420 --> 00:23:41,740
draining the melt water away.

278
00:23:52,820 --> 00:23:56,939
Alun Hubbard is a glaciologist,
studying the enormous power

279
00:23:56,940 --> 00:24:00,779
of these waterfalls,
which are known as moulins.

280
00:24:00,780 --> 00:24:05,259
We've got this amazing moulin
going off here today.

281
00:24:05,260 --> 00:24:09,979
The water's overflowing from the
lake, which is beginning to drain.

282
00:24:09,980 --> 00:24:15,699
Tonnes of water cascading down
this pipe that is, effectively,

283
00:24:15,700 --> 00:24:19,379
plummeting to the depths
of the ice sheet through

284
00:24:19,380 --> 00:24:21,460
over a kilometre of vertical ice.

285
00:24:28,940 --> 00:24:32,139
Alun is here to study where
the melt water goes

286
00:24:32,140 --> 00:24:35,339
and what effect it has on
the remaining ice.

287
00:24:35,340 --> 00:24:39,700
To do that, he needs to find a
moulin that has recently run dry.

288
00:24:46,020 --> 00:24:48,699
Just a week ago,
there was a three-mile long,

289
00:24:48,700 --> 00:24:51,539
ten-metre deep lake here.

290
00:24:51,540 --> 00:24:55,059
The weight of all that water
cracked the ice beneath

291
00:24:55,060 --> 00:24:59,580
and the late drained in just
a few hours with incredible force.

292
00:25:04,740 --> 00:25:08,660
Thousand-tonne ice boulders
were tossed about like dice.

293
00:25:15,740 --> 00:25:18,939
Alun's team have found the hole
down which the lake disappeared

294
00:25:18,940 --> 00:25:21,459
and they want to have a closer look.

295
00:25:21,460 --> 00:25:24,540
It's not a job for anyone
with a fear of heights.

296
00:25:31,340 --> 00:25:33,780
As you can see, it's dry up here,
but if you listen,

297
00:25:33,781 --> 00:25:35,339
you can hear the thunder of,

298
00:25:35,340 --> 00:25:38,100
there's a lot of water entering it
at some depth.

299
00:25:39,980 --> 00:25:44,779
Alun wants to place a sensor
deep into the moulin to discover

300
00:25:44,780 --> 00:25:46,500
how much water is flowing
through the ice.

301
00:25:52,700 --> 00:25:55,540
As they drop,
they travel back in time.

302
00:25:57,660 --> 00:26:01,779
30 metres down and they reach
ice formed from snow that fell

303
00:26:01,780 --> 00:26:04,500
10,000 years ago,
in the last Ice Age.

304
00:26:07,660 --> 00:26:12,619
When this lake drained and the plug
got pulled and the whole lot

305
00:26:12,620 --> 00:26:18,579
flushed down through here,
this ice sheet, it rose by a metre

306
00:26:18,580 --> 00:26:23,019
as that water accessed the bed
and forced, jacked up the ice sheet.

307
00:26:23,020 --> 00:26:25,139
So, we know that the water

308
00:26:25,140 --> 00:26:29,499
in this whole plumbing cavity
system, down here,

309
00:26:29,500 --> 00:26:31,420
we know that shoots straight
through that ice

310
00:26:31,421 --> 00:26:34,339
and actually hits
the bed of the ice sheet.

311
00:26:34,340 --> 00:26:37,459
We've hit the water,
I can see the water now.

312
00:26:37,460 --> 00:26:39,660
Great. Nice work.

313
00:26:42,580 --> 00:26:46,619
This daring experiment is
measuring how the water flowing under

314
00:26:46,620 --> 00:26:50,019
the ice sheet affects the speed
with which the glaciers

315
00:26:50,020 --> 00:26:52,699
flow from it, down to the sea.

316
00:26:52,700 --> 00:26:56,099
The theory is that the water is
acting as a lubricant.

317
00:26:56,100 --> 00:26:59,780
So, the more water there is,
the faster the glacier flows.

318
00:27:01,980 --> 00:27:06,179
To the naked eye, glaciers don't
appear to move at all.

319
00:27:06,180 --> 00:27:07,460
But move, they do.

320
00:27:09,700 --> 00:27:13,820
These unique time-lapse images were
captured over the last four years.

321
00:27:26,660 --> 00:27:30,459
Through long observations,
we now know that Greenland's ice

322
00:27:30,460 --> 00:27:35,579
is flowing down to the sea twice
as quickly as it was 20 years ago.

323
00:27:35,580 --> 00:27:38,939
The speed of the glaciers
affects our sea levels

324
00:27:38,940 --> 00:27:43,300
because when they reach the water,
they break apart into icebergs.

325
00:27:45,100 --> 00:27:47,100
Occasionally, a real mega-berg
is born.

326
00:27:57,020 --> 00:27:59,820
This is the Store Glacier
in May 2010.

327
00:28:56,140 --> 00:28:59,379
75 million tonnes of ice,
that had been sitting on land

328
00:28:59,380 --> 00:29:02,460
for thousands of years,
has broken away.

329
00:29:07,700 --> 00:29:10,859
Events like this have become
increasingly common,

330
00:29:10,860 --> 00:29:14,260
as Greenland's glaciers flow faster
into the sea.

331
00:29:26,980 --> 00:29:32,699
Every single one of these icebergs
raises the sea level a small amount.

332
00:29:32,700 --> 00:29:37,179
Scientists monitoring the ice sheet
predict that Greenland might add

333
00:29:37,180 --> 00:29:41,899
as much as a half metre to world sea
levels by the end of the century,

334
00:29:41,900 --> 00:29:45,620
enough to swamp many of
the world's low-lying islands.

335
00:30:07,540 --> 00:30:12,539
99% of the Arctic's fresh water ice
is in Greenland.

336
00:30:12,540 --> 00:30:16,899
It's a staggeringly big ice sheet,
but it's just a drop in the ocean

337
00:30:16,900 --> 00:30:20,900
compared to that at the southern end
of our planet.

338
00:30:28,900 --> 00:30:33,219
In Antarctica,
there is ten times more ice,

339
00:30:33,220 --> 00:30:36,540
by far the largest
concentration of ice on Earth.

340
00:30:41,780 --> 00:30:44,739
Our exploration
of the Antarctic only began

341
00:30:44,740 --> 00:30:46,780
a little over 100 years ago.

342
00:30:52,660 --> 00:30:56,619
The study of ice retreat here was
unwittingly begun

343
00:30:56,620 --> 00:31:00,380
on an expedition led by the great
early explorer Ernest Shackleton.

344
00:31:04,500 --> 00:31:09,939
In 1916, after their expedition boat
was crushed and sunk by ice,

345
00:31:09,940 --> 00:31:15,540
Shackleton and two companions set
off to summon help in a tiny boat.

346
00:31:18,340 --> 00:31:22,299
They sailed over 800 miles
across the Southern Ocean

347
00:31:22,300 --> 00:31:25,980
to the island of South Georgia,
on the edge of the Antarctic.

348
00:31:29,460 --> 00:31:33,419
Near starving and dressed in rags,
the three men

349
00:31:33,420 --> 00:31:36,899
walked across the ice sheet at the
centre of the island, knowing there

350
00:31:36,900 --> 00:31:40,580
was a whaling base on the opposite
coast where they could summon help.

351
00:31:48,580 --> 00:31:52,339
This team of Royal Marines is
re-tracing the steps

352
00:31:52,340 --> 00:31:55,820
of that journey in tribute
to Shackleton and his men.

353
00:31:57,620 --> 00:32:02,379
But for all their efforts, they can't
exactly copy the great walk

354
00:32:02,380 --> 00:32:03,660
because the ice is not as it was.

355
00:32:07,300 --> 00:32:09,859
A number of South Georgia's glaciers

356
00:32:09,860 --> 00:32:11,140
were photographed

357
00:32:11,141 --> 00:32:13,059
by Shackleton's cameraman.

358
00:32:13,060 --> 00:32:15,899
Frozen Planet saw a dramatic change

359
00:32:15,900 --> 00:32:18,660
when they returned 94 years later.

360
00:32:36,460 --> 00:32:41,379
Most of South Georgia's glaciers
have shrunk since Shackleton's time

361
00:32:41,380 --> 00:32:42,979
and most of that has happened

362
00:32:42,980 --> 00:32:45,780
since I first went to
the Antarctic 30 years ago.

363
00:32:47,340 --> 00:32:50,259
I've been to South Georgia
several times

364
00:32:50,260 --> 00:32:53,780
and seen how greatly the glaciers
there have changed.

365
00:32:58,020 --> 00:32:59,899
This photograph of a glacier

366
00:32:59,900 --> 00:33:01,899
reaching right down to the sea

367
00:33:01,900 --> 00:33:04,019
was taken just six years

368
00:33:04,020 --> 00:33:06,820
before I first visited in 1981.

369
00:33:08,020 --> 00:33:12,700
Now, that glacier has retreated
by 400 metres away from the beach.

370
00:33:17,980 --> 00:33:22,339
Temperatures in South Georgia have
risen sharply, but the Southern

371
00:33:22,340 --> 00:33:26,940
Hemisphere's most dramatic warming
has happened a little further south.

372
00:33:28,460 --> 00:33:32,099
In recent years, stronger winds
blowing over the Southern Ocean

373
00:33:32,100 --> 00:33:36,699
have brought warmer air to the 800
mile-long finger of land that forms

374
00:33:36,700 --> 00:33:40,220
the northern extremity
of the Antarctic continent.

375
00:33:46,220 --> 00:33:50,939
Here, on the Antarctic Peninsula, the
changing wind patterns have driven

376
00:33:50,940 --> 00:33:54,299
temperatures up by nearly
three degrees Centigrade

377
00:33:54,300 --> 00:33:55,819
over the last 50 years.

378
00:33:55,820 --> 00:33:59,660
Ten times the average rate
of the rest of the planet.

379
00:34:05,940 --> 00:34:10,540
The rapid warming is having
a big effect on the birdlife.

380
00:34:25,780 --> 00:34:30,460
The Adelie penguin is the most
southerly nesting of all penguins.

381
00:34:33,260 --> 00:34:36,459
And, like the polar bear,
up in the north,

382
00:34:36,460 --> 00:34:40,060
their lives are dependent
on the sea ice.

383
00:34:41,500 --> 00:34:44,619
Adelies spend their whole lives
near ice.

384
00:34:44,620 --> 00:34:47,259
These birds have spent
the winter feeding at the ice edge,

385
00:34:47,260 --> 00:34:49,739
but now it's spring

386
00:34:49,740 --> 00:34:54,100
and they've started a long trek
over the frozen sea towards land.

387
00:35:01,700 --> 00:35:06,859
They're heading for areas
of exposed rock, where they gather

388
00:35:06,860 --> 00:35:10,540
to breed, in colonies that can be
over 100,000 strong.

389
00:35:27,100 --> 00:35:30,099
But it seems that Adelies don't
find the conditions

390
00:35:30,100 --> 00:35:32,620
on the Peninsula
to their liking any more.

391
00:35:35,020 --> 00:35:39,499
17 years ago, when I was last
in the Antarctic, there were

392
00:35:39,500 --> 00:35:45,059
large colonies of Adelie penguins
all along the Antarctic Peninsula.

393
00:35:45,060 --> 00:35:50,299
Now, warming temperatures
have meant less sea ice

394
00:35:50,300 --> 00:35:53,500
and Adelie penguin numbers
are in decline.

395
00:36:02,500 --> 00:36:05,340
Many colonies have been
emptying fast.

396
00:36:09,580 --> 00:36:11,739
It may be that penguins are starving,

397
00:36:11,740 --> 00:36:15,619
or it may be that they're heading
south to colder climes

398
00:36:15,620 --> 00:36:18,620
where there's still plenty of ice
on the sea.

399
00:36:26,900 --> 00:36:31,219
But, as in the Arctic,
while ice-loving animals are feeling

400
00:36:31,220 --> 00:36:36,220
the heat, animals that like it
a bit more cosy are moving in.

401
00:36:44,260 --> 00:36:47,939
The bright orange beaks of Gentoo
penguins are a much more common sight

402
00:36:47,940 --> 00:36:50,739
on the Peninsula these days.

403
00:36:50,740 --> 00:36:52,979
I always used to know them
as residents

404
00:36:52,980 --> 00:36:56,259
of the slightly warmer islands
north of the Antarctic.

405
00:36:56,260 --> 00:36:58,500
But they've moved south in numbers.

406
00:37:00,020 --> 00:37:03,579
There are thought to be ten times
more Gentoos on the Peninsula now

407
00:37:03,580 --> 00:37:05,140
than just 30 years ago.

408
00:37:14,620 --> 00:37:17,339
The peninsula has warmed
a great deal,

409
00:37:17,340 --> 00:37:20,020
but the same is not true
further south.

410
00:37:25,060 --> 00:37:29,900
The Antarctic continent is smothered
by the world's greatest ice sheet.

411
00:37:31,060 --> 00:37:33,699
One and half times the size of
Australia

412
00:37:33,700 --> 00:37:35,580
and up to three miles thick.

413
00:37:38,700 --> 00:37:43,900
A staggering 75% of the Earth's
fresh water is locked up in this ice.

414
00:37:48,180 --> 00:37:54,260
Global sea levels would rise by some
60 metres if all this was to melt.

415
00:37:58,260 --> 00:38:02,379
But what chance is there of
that happening here in the coldest,

416
00:38:02,380 --> 00:38:04,100
most hostile place on Earth?

417
00:38:10,020 --> 00:38:14,859
The ice beneath me, up here
on top of the ice cap, is so thick

418
00:38:14,860 --> 00:38:19,700
that I am short of breath,
simply because of the altitude.

419
00:38:20,780 --> 00:38:23,499
This is midsummer

420
00:38:23,500 --> 00:38:28,940
and the average temperature is
some 20 degrees below freezing.

421
00:38:30,020 --> 00:38:32,940
And I can tell you it feels
much lower than that.

422
00:38:34,020 --> 00:38:38,579
And even the worst predictions
don't suggest

423
00:38:38,580 --> 00:38:43,619
that the air is going to warm enough
to melt the ice.

424
00:38:43,620 --> 00:38:47,300
But now, scientists are asking
a different question.

425
00:38:49,020 --> 00:38:53,099
Could the speed at which
the Antarctic ice flows off the land

426
00:38:53,100 --> 00:38:55,300
be increased by a warmer ocean?

427
00:38:56,980 --> 00:38:59,219
Where the ice sheet meets the sea,

428
00:38:59,220 --> 00:39:02,859
scientists are going to
extreme lengths to find out.

429
00:39:02,860 --> 00:39:04,060
Firing.

430
00:39:15,540 --> 00:39:19,020
Andy Smith works
for the British Antarctic Survey.

431
00:39:20,460 --> 00:39:24,259
What we have here is one kilogramme
of pentolite explosive.

432
00:39:24,260 --> 00:39:27,539
We're going to use this
to generate a shockwave

433
00:39:27,540 --> 00:39:30,699
and record the echoes that come back
from underneath the ice.

434
00:39:30,700 --> 00:39:32,220
Firing.

435
00:39:35,100 --> 00:39:38,379
Andy is particularly
interested in mapping

436
00:39:38,380 --> 00:39:40,500
the underside of the ice
around the coast.

437
00:39:42,140 --> 00:39:46,019
Because here,
it isn't resting on land.

438
00:39:46,020 --> 00:39:49,939
It's floating on sea water,
so if sea temperatures rise

439
00:39:49,940 --> 00:39:52,700
just a little,
it can be melted from below.

440
00:39:54,780 --> 00:39:57,139
Around the coast of Antarctica,

441
00:39:57,140 --> 00:40:01,739
the glaciers have flowed out across
the sea to form immense masses

442
00:40:01,740 --> 00:40:05,140
of floating fresh water ice,
called ice shelves.

443
00:40:09,420 --> 00:40:13,619
These freeze to the land around
them, sticking fast and acting

444
00:40:13,620 --> 00:40:17,500
like bathplugs, holding back the
flow of the glaciers into the sea.

445
00:40:20,700 --> 00:40:25,099
On the Antarctic Peninsula,
a one-degree sea temperature rise

446
00:40:25,100 --> 00:40:29,540
has helped to break apart seven major
ice shelves in the last 30 years.

447
00:40:31,220 --> 00:40:33,659
This is the Larsen B ice shelf,

448
00:40:33,660 --> 00:40:38,020
three times the size of Greater
London, breaking apart in 2002.

449
00:40:40,260 --> 00:40:43,819
Afterwards, the glaciers it had been
holding back

450
00:40:43,820 --> 00:40:46,500
started flowing
up to six times faster.

451
00:40:49,580 --> 00:40:53,259
In 2008, a much larger ice shelf
at the southern end

452
00:40:53,260 --> 00:40:56,340
of the peninsula started to break up.

453
00:40:57,420 --> 00:41:01,060
It's an enormous event
that's never been filmed before.

454
00:41:03,500 --> 00:41:06,059
Andy Smith is flying
down the Peninsula to study

455
00:41:06,060 --> 00:41:08,700
this phenomenon first hand.

456
00:41:09,740 --> 00:41:13,179
We're flying to a place called
Wilkins Ice Shelf.

457
00:41:13,180 --> 00:41:16,459
It's an ice shelf that,
over the last couple of years,

458
00:41:16,460 --> 00:41:20,620
has shown a very sudden
and dramatic break-up.

459
00:41:22,860 --> 00:41:25,819
The Wilkins Ice Shelf is
a two-hour long flight south

460
00:41:25,820 --> 00:41:29,219
from his research base,
but Andy can start to see

461
00:41:29,220 --> 00:41:34,419
the evidence of ice shelf break-up
a long way before he gets there.

462
00:41:34,420 --> 00:41:35,820
As we're heading further south,

463
00:41:35,821 --> 00:41:38,819
we can see more and more
icebergs in the ocean.

464
00:41:38,820 --> 00:41:41,179
And most of the big ones
will be ones

465
00:41:41,180 --> 00:41:43,780
that have broken off
the ice shelves in this area.

466
00:41:49,380 --> 00:41:52,019
Once we cross the mountains,
we should be able to see

467
00:41:52,020 --> 00:41:55,299
Wilkins Ice Shelf and then it's not
far then to the ice front, here,

468
00:41:55,300 --> 00:41:56,620
where it's collapsing.

469
00:42:08,780 --> 00:42:11,379
As Andy's team reaches
their destination,

470
00:42:11,380 --> 00:42:14,899
the scale of what's been happening
soon becomes clear.

471
00:42:14,900 --> 00:42:18,259
Here, for thousands of years,
an area the size of Yorkshire

472
00:42:18,260 --> 00:42:21,740
has been covered by a sheet of ice
200 metres thick.

473
00:42:26,820 --> 00:42:29,740
But now,
over half of that has broken apart.

474
00:42:43,980 --> 00:42:48,699
Andy has been studying
Antarctic ice for 25 years,

475
00:42:48,700 --> 00:42:51,780
but even he is blown
away by what he's seeing.

476
00:42:52,860 --> 00:42:56,539
Now, that is pretty awesome.
That is remarkable.

477
00:42:56,540 --> 00:43:01,059
The edge of the ice shelf has just,
kind of, disintegrated.

478
00:43:01,060 --> 00:43:03,099
Some of the big pieces look like

479
00:43:03,100 --> 00:43:05,460
they could be a mile or more
in size.

480
00:43:07,820 --> 00:43:11,339
It's almost like a, sort of,
a slow motion explosion.

481
00:43:11,340 --> 00:43:13,860
It all pushes outwards very quickly.

482
00:43:21,660 --> 00:43:26,100
Every one of these huge icebergs
will slowly drift out to sea.

483
00:43:31,100 --> 00:43:35,900
To study how fast that happens, Andy
needs to get closer to the action.

484
00:43:37,420 --> 00:43:41,259
We're going to look around and see
if we can find a place where

485
00:43:41,260 --> 00:43:43,819
we can land. And if we can, we'll be
able to put down an instrument

486
00:43:43,820 --> 00:43:47,139
that will help us monitor the big
icebergs that are breaking off

487
00:43:47,140 --> 00:43:48,660
as the ice shelf breaks up.

488
00:43:56,940 --> 00:44:00,340
Landing on an iceberg is another
first for Andy's team.

489
00:44:14,780 --> 00:44:18,739
This satellite transmitter will help
to track the continued break-up

490
00:44:18,740 --> 00:44:22,060
of this colossal ice shelf.

491
00:44:34,660 --> 00:44:39,140
The remainder of the Wilkins
looks set to break apart soon.

492
00:44:42,620 --> 00:44:46,739
It's the latest ice shelf to
disintegrate in a wave that's been

493
00:44:46,740 --> 00:44:48,099
travelling southwards,

494
00:44:48,100 --> 00:44:51,780
playing a major role in the loss
of ice from the Peninsula.

495
00:44:52,900 --> 00:44:58,179
Next in line, and already weakening
in places, are the ice shelves

496
00:44:58,180 --> 00:45:03,220
that hold back Antarctica's gigantic
continental ice sheet.

497
00:45:04,340 --> 00:45:08,659
And it would only take a small
corner of this to slide into the sea

498
00:45:08,660 --> 00:45:10,620
to have major global consequences.

499
00:45:13,860 --> 00:45:18,659
We've only started to see changes
in the Arctic and Antarctic recently.

500
00:45:18,660 --> 00:45:23,059
So, it's hard to predict exactly what
impact these changes will have.

501
00:45:23,060 --> 00:45:26,819
But we can see for ourselves
that these places are changing

502
00:45:26,820 --> 00:45:29,420
and on a scale that is hard
to ignore.

503
00:45:32,460 --> 00:45:37,299
The Poles, North and South,
may seem very remote,

504
00:45:37,300 --> 00:45:41,859
but what is happening here is likely
to have a greater effect upon us

505
00:45:41,860 --> 00:45:45,459
than any other aspect
of global warming.

506
00:45:45,460 --> 00:45:49,699
If the Arctic sea ice
continues to disappear,

507
00:45:49,700 --> 00:45:54,099
it will drive up the planet's
temperature more quickly.

508
00:45:54,100 --> 00:45:57,059
And the melting ice sheets could
contribute to a sea level rise

509
00:45:57,060 --> 00:46:01,139
of a metre, enough to threaten
the homes of millions of people

510
00:46:01,140 --> 00:46:04,620
around the world's coasts
by the end of the century.

511
00:46:06,020 --> 00:46:10,339
We've seen that the animals are
already adapting to these changes,

512
00:46:10,340 --> 00:46:17,300
but can WE respond to what is
happening now to the frozen planet?

513
00:46:54,900 --> 00:46:58,779
The increasing unpredictability
of the ice was a big issue

514
00:46:58,780 --> 00:47:03,460
for the Frozen Planet team, who spent
three years working on top of it.

515
00:47:10,900 --> 00:47:13,659
Whether on sea, land, lake or river,

516
00:47:13,660 --> 00:47:18,100
the state of the ice was the first
concern for most filming crews.

517
00:47:23,260 --> 00:47:29,379
Unexpected break-ups left many a
cameraman in need of a swift rescue.

518
00:47:29,380 --> 00:47:32,180
Sometimes, help came by boat,
and sometimes by air.

519
00:47:39,580 --> 00:47:43,259
I had a chance to see the changing
ice conditions for myself,

520
00:47:43,260 --> 00:47:45,300
when I visited the North Pole.

521
00:47:48,100 --> 00:47:52,939
I flew with the team to a temporary
camp that is set up every year in

522
00:47:52,940 --> 00:47:56,940
the centre of the frozen Arctic Ocean
to support expeditions to the Pole.

523
00:48:01,700 --> 00:48:05,699
I had never visited
the North Pole before,

524
00:48:05,700 --> 00:48:07,140
so this was a great highlight for me.

525
00:48:08,380 --> 00:48:11,459
But it was hard going
in temperatures of minus 40,

526
00:48:11,460 --> 00:48:13,660
so as soon as filming finished,
we flew south.

527
00:48:16,180 --> 00:48:19,740
Little did we know that
we had made it out just in time.

528
00:48:21,460 --> 00:48:26,059
We got back from the Pole camp
last night and I've just bumped into

529
00:48:26,060 --> 00:48:29,979
the Russian Commander,
who's just heard from the camp.

530
00:48:29,980 --> 00:48:35,059
And the news is that a little crack,
which I'd seen in the ice

531
00:48:35,060 --> 00:48:40,619
between our tent and the airstrip,
which was no more than an inch

532
00:48:40,620 --> 00:48:44,939
or so wide, has, overnight,
widened to 20 metres.

533
00:48:44,940 --> 00:48:48,379
Temporary break-ups,
caused by stormy weather

534
00:48:48,380 --> 00:48:51,819
and strong winds, have happened
before, but they've been getting

535
00:48:51,820 --> 00:48:55,700
more and more frequent over recent
years as the ice has got weaker.

536
00:49:00,340 --> 00:49:03,099
It was only swift action
by the staff that prevented

537
00:49:03,100 --> 00:49:06,420
a lot of valuable equipment
going in the drink.

538
00:49:13,180 --> 00:49:17,459
The biggest concern was that the
ice airstrip might break apart,

539
00:49:17,460 --> 00:49:20,739
but, luckily, it held
and everyone was able to evacuate

540
00:49:20,740 --> 00:49:22,620
when the weather improved.

541
00:49:27,020 --> 00:49:30,979
The Frozen Planet team's
clearest demonstration of the power

542
00:49:30,980 --> 00:49:33,139
and unpredictability of breaking ice

543
00:49:33,140 --> 00:49:37,779
came when they went to film the
melting of a frozen Canadian river.

544
00:49:37,780 --> 00:49:39,219
Producer Mark Linfield

545
00:49:39,220 --> 00:49:43,499
and researcher Matt Swarbrick have
travelled to the far North of Canada.

546
00:49:43,500 --> 00:49:45,420
Matt, when was the last time
we saw a car?

547
00:49:45,421 --> 00:49:47,540
I don't know, about three hours ago.

548
00:49:50,020 --> 00:49:53,219
They've driven through the vast
Northwest Territory on a mission

549
00:49:53,220 --> 00:49:56,980
to film the moment when
this frozen waterfall breaks apart.

550
00:50:00,820 --> 00:50:04,259
The break-up, when the frozen
river above the waterfall thaws

551
00:50:04,260 --> 00:50:08,899
and masses of water start to flow
again, can be a spectacular event.

552
00:50:08,900 --> 00:50:11,819
But predicting exactly when
it's going to break

553
00:50:11,820 --> 00:50:15,580
is the big challenge, if Mark and
Matt want to get the best shots.

554
00:50:17,860 --> 00:50:20,899
And they're not the only ones
who want to know.

555
00:50:20,900 --> 00:50:24,299
When the waterfall breaks,
it can flood the town of Hay River,

556
00:50:24,300 --> 00:50:29,139
just downstream, with
millions of tonnes of water and ice.

557
00:50:29,140 --> 00:50:32,859
Mark is taking advice
from the scientist Fay Hicks,

558
00:50:32,860 --> 00:50:36,259
who has the job of predicting
when the ice will break.

559
00:50:36,260 --> 00:50:39,659
What happens is, you get ice jams
form upstream and they start to dam

560
00:50:39,660 --> 00:50:40,738
up the water and it builds

561
00:50:40,739 --> 00:50:42,460
and builds and builds,
and that can let go,

562
00:50:42,461 --> 00:50:45,579
and that's a much bigger wave of
water, you know,

563
00:50:45,580 --> 00:50:47,259
than just the normal flow.

564
00:50:47,260 --> 00:50:50,180
So, it just depends upon how
dramatically it unfolds.

565
00:50:51,620 --> 00:50:55,299
Fay takes her research helicopter
to monitor the situation

566
00:50:55,300 --> 00:50:57,340
upstream of the waterfall.

567
00:51:06,180 --> 00:51:10,420
Just ten miles up river,
the ice is starting to break.

568
00:51:11,980 --> 00:51:15,899
The locals are concerned because
huge amounts of water can build up

569
00:51:15,900 --> 00:51:17,979
if these ice chunks dam the river,

570
00:51:17,980 --> 00:51:20,819
and that can lead to devastating
flooding in the town,

571
00:51:20,820 --> 00:51:22,419
when the dams burst.

572
00:51:22,420 --> 00:51:25,219
Sound of it's moving through
there now.

573
00:51:25,220 --> 00:51:26,859
Yes, got a shot.

574
00:51:26,860 --> 00:51:30,179
Using cameras and sonar to assess
the state of the river,

575
00:51:30,180 --> 00:51:33,019
Fay makes her best guess at
when this break-up will hit

576
00:51:33,020 --> 00:51:35,259
the waterfall just above the town.

577
00:51:35,260 --> 00:51:37,860
Now, guys, I think we have about
48 hours to go.

578
00:51:39,500 --> 00:51:43,980
Fay's prediction of the 24th April
is exciting news for the team.

579
00:51:47,020 --> 00:51:51,499
Upstream from here, it's already
starting to melt and Fay thinks that

580
00:51:51,500 --> 00:51:56,699
we may only have another one or two
days before this whole thing goes.

581
00:51:56,700 --> 00:51:59,459
Which is almost impossible
to imagine looking at it now,

582
00:51:59,460 --> 00:52:00,979
but that's what she says.

583
00:52:00,980 --> 00:52:04,259
With the break-up seemingly imminent,

584
00:52:04,260 --> 00:52:07,260
the team set up
their cameras in anticipation.

585
00:52:10,180 --> 00:52:13,179
Over the next 48 hours, the weather
warms to well above freezing,

586
00:52:13,180 --> 00:52:14,980
but there's no sign of the break-up.

587
00:52:14,981 --> 00:52:18,260
The team waits and waits and waits.

588
00:52:28,620 --> 00:52:31,779
Mark is concerned that the crew have
to return home soon, so

589
00:52:31,780 --> 00:52:33,819
he heads into town to get the advice

590
00:52:33,820 --> 00:52:36,979
of long-term resident Red McBrian.

591
00:52:36,980 --> 00:52:42,339
We just have to live with it and
take whatever evasive action we can.

592
00:52:42,340 --> 00:52:46,939
Red has had 50 years
of witnessing the power of the river.

593
00:52:46,940 --> 00:52:51,019
Well, we're hoping that she may
break up in two or three days.

594
00:52:51,020 --> 00:52:54,419
Oh, no, no, no, that's too soon.
Oh, no, no.

595
00:52:54,420 --> 00:52:58,459
Boys, you're looking at seven
or eight days

596
00:52:58,460 --> 00:53:03,259
before she breaks of any
significance.

597
00:53:03,260 --> 00:53:09,380
And if she breaks, she can jam
and hold up. She can be...

598
00:53:10,420 --> 00:53:14,500
She'd be down here probably
around the 5th or 6th May.

599
00:53:16,100 --> 00:53:20,379
The townspeople are on tenterhooks,
waiting for the big day,

600
00:53:20,380 --> 00:53:23,940
but another week goes by
before anything starts to happen.

601
00:53:35,580 --> 00:53:38,739
Finally, it seems that things
might be happening.

602
00:53:38,740 --> 00:53:40,819
We've just heard some cracks
from upstream,

603
00:53:40,820 --> 00:53:44,139
so, if we're lucky,
we might get some action.

604
00:53:44,140 --> 00:53:48,379
Seven o'clock, which gives us
two hours of light. Two hours.

605
00:53:48,380 --> 00:53:52,420
If it happens at night,
we're going to miss the whole thing.

606
00:53:53,940 --> 00:53:56,579
Sure enough,
the town is put on red alert

607
00:53:56,580 --> 00:54:01,019
that the river is about to break
in the middle of the night.

608
00:54:01,020 --> 00:54:03,619
They've just called a full
evacuation of the Eye Inn,

609
00:54:03,620 --> 00:54:06,779
where we're staying, and if we don't
move now, we're all going to be

610
00:54:06,780 --> 00:54:09,500
underwater and possibly get trapped
here for a few days.

611
00:54:10,540 --> 00:54:13,020
The team have to move out
and get up to the waterfall,

612
00:54:13,021 --> 00:54:17,220
hoping that it doesn't break
before it's light enough to film.

613
00:54:22,220 --> 00:54:25,979
Luckily, the Sun is up
before the main event begins.

614
00:54:25,980 --> 00:54:29,580
That is a serious amount of ice
coming around the corner.

615
00:54:40,780 --> 00:54:44,659
After weeks of waiting,
the sleeping giant of a river,

616
00:54:44,660 --> 00:54:49,020
we thought nothing was go to happen
and suddenly, look at this!

617
00:54:50,340 --> 00:54:53,659
This is what we're here for.
Unbelievable.

618
00:54:53,660 --> 00:54:56,580
Absolutely unbelievable. Holy ...!

619
00:55:00,460 --> 00:55:02,899
The team is used to handling
multiple cameras,

620
00:55:02,900 --> 00:55:06,620
but they don't usually have to dodge
ten-tonne ice floes at the same time.

621
00:55:10,140 --> 00:55:13,059
As you can see, it's racing
over at unbelievable speed.

622
00:55:13,060 --> 00:55:16,419
The power, I just, if you were here
to feel this, it's a deep rumbling

623
00:55:16,420 --> 00:55:20,419
sound of the river, I can feel it up
through my feet.

624
00:55:20,420 --> 00:55:25,179
The power, I just can't imagine.
That could crush a house in no time.

625
00:55:25,180 --> 00:55:29,979
The team takes to the air to witness
the destruction that's unleashed.

626
00:55:29,980 --> 00:55:33,299
Huge ice blocks are pushed
downstream on the wave of water

627
00:55:33,300 --> 00:55:35,820
released by the breaking waterfall.

628
00:55:39,260 --> 00:55:41,220
This could devastate the town.

629
00:55:46,060 --> 00:55:49,619
But, this year,
the townspeople's luck is in.

630
00:55:49,620 --> 00:55:51,740
The town has escaped flooding.

631
00:55:56,380 --> 00:56:00,539
Crucially, the ice blocks did not
dam the river, it's running free.

632
00:56:00,540 --> 00:56:02,219
And the date of the break-up,

633
00:56:02,220 --> 00:56:06,340
the 6th May.
Red's got it right again.

634
00:56:07,980 --> 00:56:12,339
I don't use any of these here gauges
and mechanical assistance,

635
00:56:12,340 --> 00:56:17,379
I just go by what I see on
the river as I walk it down.

636
00:56:17,380 --> 00:56:22,419
And I say I walk it down, back and
forth every day on the river to see

637
00:56:22,420 --> 00:56:27,339
what's happening, and from that,
I gauge when it's going to hit here

638
00:56:27,340 --> 00:56:31,179
and what the situation is going
to be like when it does get here.

639
00:56:31,180 --> 00:56:32,820
You know,
when it went this morning,

640
00:56:32,821 --> 00:56:35,459
I said to my students,
"Guess what the date is?"

641
00:56:35,460 --> 00:56:38,019
Red told us it was the 6th May
and we were, you know, I'm not

642
00:56:38,020 --> 00:56:41,019
surprised, because we've been here a
couple of times and that's happened.

643
00:56:41,020 --> 00:56:44,059
Ten days, two weeks out and he just
looks around and goes "5th May."

644
00:56:44,060 --> 00:56:46,299
How does he know that?

645
00:56:46,300 --> 00:56:47,779
It's incredible.

646
00:56:47,780 --> 00:56:50,019
It's because he just has lived
on this river

647
00:56:50,020 --> 00:56:53,700
and lived this break-up
for 50 years.

648
00:56:54,940 --> 00:56:58,939
Ice scientists are improving
the accuracy of their predictions

649
00:56:58,940 --> 00:57:01,059
all the time, but in the meantime,

650
00:57:01,060 --> 00:57:04,259
the people of Hay River have a
remarkable guardian.

651
00:57:04,260 --> 00:57:08,579
Red, you were completely right this
year. Are you right every year?

652
00:57:08,580 --> 00:57:10,339
No, I'm...

653
00:57:10,340 --> 00:57:16,860
I miss the odd one.
Yes, 1985, I missed it.

654
00:57:17,305 --> 00:57:23,550
Support us and become VIP member 
to remove all ads from www.OpenSubtitles.org