Episode 12: Here Be Dragons
Episode Length: 30:03
Focus
Getting to know the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is basically a giant ice cube the size of Alaska, and figuring out what happens when it melts
Locations
Greenland
Keywords
glaciers, ice, ice sheet, sea level rise, Greenland
Episode Outline
These outlines are intended to help you locate ideas and topics more easily, but these are narrative episodes with many interlocking themes and ideas, so you may want to share segments that cross multiple points in the outline.
MINUTES: 00:00 - 05:38
First impressions of the Greenland Ice sheet:
Setting up camp on the Greenland Ice Sheet with Glaciologist Joel Harper and the research team
05:38 - 11:27
Basics of ice sheet science—what scientists are studying and why:
‘Ice Sheet Dynamics’ is the science of understanding how ice flows like a fluid
Ice movement is normal, but right now the ice sheet is losing more at the edge than it’s gaining in the middle
11:27 - 13:43
Understanding why ice is an important part of the climate system:
Albedo, the reflective glare of ice, makes Greenland a mirror for solar energy
13:43 - 18:02
How to find out what goes on inside an ice sheet:
Glaciologist Neil Humphrey designs sensors to collect information from holes drilled to the bottom of the ice sheet
Sea level rise could displace hundreds of millions of people
BREAK
18:32 - 20:56
Mapping the bedrock under the ice:
Three students drag a radar across the ice, trying to understand how the shape of the bed affects the movement of the ice
20:56 - 26:00
How snow becomes ice in a glacier:
Holes in the ice sheet called ‘moulins’ are like a glacier’s plumbing, and can bring water all the way to the bottom of the ice sheet
26:00 - 30:03
What the inside of an ice sheet sounds like.