definite time window it's the spring really uh in which one can walk relatively safely over the surface of the Arctic Ocean and that time Windows is shrinking with each year really at the moment it's getting warmer and warmer up there uh in the winter that far north midwinter is dark 24 hours a day which really stops you doing anything it's also very very cold conversely in the summer midsummer's day
in the world will be gone before mid-century. We also see big changes in the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean . The Arctic Ocean , I mentioned earlier, is just frozen sea water. That's the icecap on it. It's on the order of oh, 15 feet thick in many places, a little thicker sometimes in
Don't worry about the detail-- is coastal states-- Canada, Norway, the United States, Russia, Denmark-- thinking that the Arctic Ocean belongs to them. And all those colors represent their particular interests in extending their rights over the seabed.
So when the Russians did that, they were throwing down the gauntlet and saying, I think, to Canada and Denmark, we think the North Pole, if you will, or the central Arctic Ocean , is ours. We dare you. Well, that's exactly what Canada and Denmark did.
and then, in the frozen sea ice of the Arctic Ocean . The ice on the Arctic Ocean is not very thick, it's just sea ice that has frozen. But, those are the main places where we have ice.
The fabled "Northwest Passage" and the "Northeast Passage" will become reality, and lead to much more sea traffic in the Arctic Ocean . And so, big changes just due to the loss of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean . Then, of course, comes the rise of sea level. Sea level rice is not something of the future; it's already happening.
I mean, they're both oceans. Is there a difference in the Arctic Ocean that makes it, I don't know, somehow in some way reasonable to do that? Well, that's a great question.
He missed his goal, but we did the same track, the only one to do it, 10 years ago. And we drifted across the Arctic Ocean doing science-- now, we'll not go into details-- but took measurements everywhere, down in the water, in the atmosphere, on the ice. We did six months of dark-- in the dark six months.
And this will be in 2020. And this device should drift across the Arctic Ocean for the next 20 years as we plan to do it. So it's going to be a long journey and will be the only manned station in the Arctic then.
good sort of computer model of of of the Arctic Ocean and you only see a sort of globe with a big white hat at the top of it you know the pack ice the Arctic Ocean when you get close to it you realize it's not one big sheet of ice it's lots of sheets of ice um and it almost looks like a a pond with lots of giant white lily pads floating around
The net result of that is that, the Arctic Ocean is much more open, and the sunshine that might have been reflected away by the white sea ice is now being absorbed by the dark sea water and warming the Arctic Ocean . What that does is, it prevents the freezing in the fall. It pushes it back a few months later into the fall. And it also leads to earlier breakup.
So this is nothing new. We've just had one in the central Arctic Ocean .
it did was galvanize the whole rest of the world, including most major US corporations, to reaffirm their commitment to it. Obama managed to permanently ban offshore drilling in most of the Arctic Ocean and important parts of the Atlantic, which is a huge win. Iceland and Costa Rica run on 100% renewable energy.
All away to the east coast of Siberia to Anadyr where I picked up this Russian ice breaker-- it's not quite fully an ice breaker. The Lena River is a massive river that empties into the Arctic Ocean in central Siberia.
All away to the east coast of Siberia to Anadyr where I picked up this Russian ice breaker-- it's not quite fully an ice breaker. And finally it did sink to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean .
ice reaches its annual minimum extent in the fall in approximately mid-September. And the most important issue to keep in mind concerning Arctic sea ice and climate change is that bright ice cover on the Arctic Ocean reflects most of the sun's radiation, whereas dark, open ocean absorbs most of the sun's energy.
thing on Discovery. It's horrible. Anyway, this is the Haul Road, okay? It's an amazing transportation corridor up through the arctic up to the Beaufort Arctic Ocean and people know it basically because of the trucks that go back and forth. It's just, you know, it's very inviting kind of place. That's a joke folks. It's okay. So we landed in Fairbanks.
every day um if you see uh TR an example if youone seen Al Gore's film ingredient truth there's there's this very very good sort of computer model of of of the Arctic Ocean and you only see a sort of globe with a big white hat at the top of it you know the pack ice the Arctic Ocean when you get close to it you realize it's not one big sheet of ice
So what followed, of course, was an inevitable geopolitical tussle between Canada, Russia and Denmark through, of course, the kingdom of Denmark, which is Greenland, all vying the North Pole, the central Arctic Ocean , and thinking it is theirs. And you couldn't get a more fundamental expression of geopolitics, a kind of struggle, a rivalry, over a territory that is so remote, that is probably
eager, almost as if there was a return to the Cold War to make sure they properly understand this underwater space, but also scientists desperately trying to work out what on earth is going on in the central Arctic Ocean , because the sea ice just keeps disappearing. And we know disappearing sea ice is bad news.
You could not touch it. I was like, look at us in the Arctic Ocean .
Like Colomban says very often, it's like being in the rainforest with the nets, catching birds and new things. So this was a crazy project, including the Arctic ocean . And Colomban will talk to you more about this science and this knowledge.
only sixty percent of the area of summertime sea ice that formerly existed is present today, and its thickness has been reduced by about half. The net result of that is that, the Arctic Ocean is much more open, and the sunshine that might have been reflected away by the white sea ice is now being absorbed by the dark sea water and warming the Arctic Ocean . What that does is, it prevents the freezing in the fall. It pushes it back a few months later into
So for the first time, we are having to invent a new term to take into account the scale or change in the Arctic. 10 years ago, we didn't talk about the central Arctic Ocean . We now do so.
You can see there the Rosette, the instrument I told you. That water flows north and flows south to the South end ocean, to the Arctic Ocean , and the Atlantic Ocean.
And Colomban will talk to you about that. So in the future, we're going to go again in the Arctic Ocean in 2020. We are developing now a polar station, pretty big polar station, to put some scientists on the ice, and to understand how this Arctic Ocean is affecting
It's not a small pond it's an ocean. Jane Espenson: Absolutely. Brad Bell: It's the Indian Ocean and the Arctic Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Jane Espenson: It's the Seven Seas.
So they listed the bear and this brings some really strong legal protections: things like the designation of critical habitat, those are the areas essential for their survival and recovery of the bear, and vast areas of the Arctic Ocean and near shore areas in Alaska have now been designated as critical habitat. The oil industry in the State of Alaska and others are suing over that trying to get it undesignated and so we're defending it but that is a big protection.
every direction was South uh all the time zones converge there so it could be any time I want um it's also slat bang in the middle of the sea it's in the middle of the Arctic Ocean so I was uh uh I think the closest land was just over a thousand kilometers away I was the only human being in 5.4
clearly this is a re acent um we' uh we just got I mean I was still completely in in shock it was my first morning waking up in a tent on the AR you camping on on the sea camping on the Arctic Ocean so sometimes you can feel the ice moving you hear it moving really quite quite frightening extremely cold at night you're sleeping in a massive sleep mag with all your gear on U and
have seen ice reduced on the globe. The main places for ice today are on the tops of the high mountains in the tropics and mid-latitudes, and in the big icecaps in Antarctica and Greenland, and then, in the frozen sea ice of the Arctic Ocean . The ice on the Arctic Ocean is not very thick, it's just sea ice that has frozen.
other places. But in the summertime, there's a little bit of a breakup of the sea ice in the Antarctic, until the last few decades when there's far more than little bit. The area of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean in the summer has been shrinking dramatically over the last few decades, until today, about only sixty percent of the area of summertime sea ice that formerly existed is present today, and its thickness has been reduced by about half.
Well, one of the things that I think really helped transform the Arctic as a geopolitical space was a very, very particular act in August 2007. For those of you can recall, a Russian flag was raised gently deposited at the bottom of the central Arctic Ocean . And the flag was made of titanium, so it's rust proof, and presumably, whether we like it or not, will endure in the coming years, possibly centuries.
And all those colors represent their particular interests in extending their rights over the seabed. And on the other hand, you have a more traditional oceanographic physical geography, if you will, of the Arctic Ocean , that is being mapped ever more intensely both by militaries eager, almost as if there was a return to the Cold War to make sure they properly understand this underwater space, but also scientists desperately trying
We now do so. And we've just recently signed an agreement where we are trying to set up a framework for regulating potentially commercial fishing in the central Arctic Ocean , That would have been absolutely unthinkable to Halford Mackinder when he was writing about the geographical pivot of history.
We study the coral reef ecosystem over all the Pacific for two and a half years. This is now. Back, 10 years ago, we studied the Arctic Ocean . This is North Pole.
So in the future, we're going to go again in the Arctic Ocean in 2020. We are developing now a polar station, pretty big polar station, to put some scientists on the ice, and to understand how this Arctic Ocean is affecting our climate, to understand what sleeps below the ocean, what is the life there.
A number of Arctic sea ice experts have recently determined that the data relating to Arctic sea ice volume actually reveal an exponential decline rather than a linear decline. So as you can see if this trend continues we may be headed for an ice free Arctic ocean in the summer within only a matter of a few years.
Umm, but at the same time, you know, there's gotta be some big electricity demands and for that, umm, Santa has a vast array of underwater turbines in the Arctic Ocean so everything, his whole entire operation runs on green technology. Umm, and it has to really because Santa is
the fall. And it also leads to earlier breakup. So we're on a pathway, I think, to see an ice-free Arctic Ocean in the summertime in just a few decades. And that will be a whole new regime change in the Arctic. There will be commercial interests that will move in very quickly, searching for resources. There will be fishery ships coming in and
scooping up the Arctic fisheries resource. There will be trade routes open up. The fabled "Northwest Passage" and the "Northeast Passage" will become reality, and lead to much more sea traffic in the Arctic Ocean . And so, big changes just due to the loss of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean . Then, of course, comes the rise of sea level.