On Thin Ice
David Attenborough journeys to the poles to investigate what rising temperatures will mean for the people and wildlife that live there, and for the rest of the planet.
David Attenborough journeys to both polar regions to investigate what rising temperatures will mean for the people and wildlife that live there, and for the rest of the planet.
David starts out at the North Pole, standing on sea ice several metres thick, but which scientists predict could be open ocean within the next few decades. The Arctic has been warming at twice the global average, and David heads out with a Norwegian team to see what this means for polar bears. He comes face to face with a tranquilised female and discovers that mothers and cubs are going hungry as the sea ice on which they hunt disappears. In Canada, Inuit hunters have seen with their own eyes what scientists have seen from space - the Arctic Ocean has lost 30% of its summer ice cover over the last 30 years. For some, the melting sea ice will allow access to trillions of dollars' worth of oil, gas and minerals. For the rest of us, it means the planet will get warmer, as sea ice is important to reflect back the sun's energy. Next, David travels to see what is happening to the ice on land. In Greenland, he follows intrepid ice scientists as they study giant waterfalls of meltwater, which are accelerating iceberg-calving events and ultimately leading to a rise in global sea levels.
Temperatures have also risen in the Antarctic - David returns to glaciers photographed by the Shackleton expedition and reveals a dramatic retreat over the past century. It is not just the ice that is changing - ice-loving adelie penguins are disappearing and more temperate gentoo penguins are moving in. Finally, we see the first ever images of the largest recent natural event on our planet - the break up of the Wilkins Ice Shelf, an ice sheet the size of Jamaica, which shattered into hundreds of icebergs in 2009.
Last on
Clips
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An unexpected climate scientist
Duration: 04:00
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Breaking the ice
Duration: 02:52
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The sleeping giant awakes
Duration: 02:19
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Last stand of the giant starfish
Duration: 03:32
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | David Attenborough |
Narrator | David Attenborough |
Composer | Barnaby Taylor |
Producer | Dan Rees |
Series Producer | Vanessa Berlowitz |
Broadcasts
- Wed 7 Dec 2011 21:00
- Sun 11 Dec 2011 15:55±«Óãtv One except Scotland
- Sun 11 Dec 2011 18:00±«Óãtv Two Scotland
- Christmas Day 2011 17:00±«Óãtv HD
- Wed 11 Jan 2012 01:45
- Tue 7 Feb 2012 00:30±«Óãtv HD
- Wed 17 Jul 2013 16:15
- Sat 14 Dec 2013 19:00
- Sun 15 Dec 2013 01:55
- Thu 19 Dec 2013 00:00
- Wed 16 Jul 2014 16:15
- Fri 13 Mar 2015 14:45
- Tue 23 Feb 2016 16:15±«Óãtv Two except Wales
- Sun 13 Mar 2022 16:00
- Fri 22 Sep 2023 19:00
- Thu 7 Mar 2024 19:00
- Fri 8 Mar 2024 01:00
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Find out more about our Frozen Planet with the Open University
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