The Living Ice of Greenland
Click to DonateThis is the story of a group of people whose deep field work takes them to some of the harshest conditions on the planet, and there, working and surviving in the freezing rain, wind, and snow, they ask the questions laying out before our society today: what radical changes are happening to the ice today, what does that mean for our planet's future tomorrow, and knowing these truths -- should climate scientists take the role of activist?
WHY THIS IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT: We know the Greenland Ice Sheet is melting, threatening to raise sea levels and inundating coastal communities worldwide. Despite an increasingly clear picture of climate change, gaps in climate science - such as understanding the melt rate of major ice sheets - persist. While some call climate science a hoax, others think it no longer influences societal change. With so many remaining unknowns, a ‘post-climate science’ focus dangerously suggests this science is finished and minimizes understanding Earth’s systems as prerequisite for accurate predictions.
WATCH THE TRAILER:
THE SCIENCE: Climate change contributes most to ice sheet melt, but particulate matter on the GrIS adds to it, as darker surfaces absorb sunlight as heat. Satellite images of a dark band surrounding the GrIS has concerned scientists about accelerating ice melt. And while scientific consensus has previously suggested the dark particulate matter is soot, a world-renowned multi-specialty science team has found the dark band is in part ice algae. The ice algae (found on all large bodies of ice) decrease the reflectance of the ice, causing 15-20% additional melt of the GrIS, a finding not included in any current predictive models and only first acknowledged as “biological influences” in the most recent International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. This new science fundamentally changes the understanding of ice darkening during melt season and accelerates the GrIS towards its tipping point, increasing global sea level, changing weather systems and shutting down the gulf stream.
The question is now not what can we do about it, but what will we do about it? This is the everlasting question of our time.
Connection and Access: Director Kathy Kasic, specializes in climate science documentaries in the polar regions. This film represents part of a trilogy of polar films, the first being The Lake at the Bottom of the World, which depicts climate change and the evolution of life on our planet in Antarctica. She was one of 12 Principal Investigators (PIs) on that National Science Foundation (NSF) research project, broadly known as SALSA: Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access. The second of the trilogy is The Memory of Darkness, Light, and Ice, in which scientists are using Cold War era science to predict the future melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. After this season, she will have traveled to Greenland on three expeditions documenting and experiencing research above the Arctic Circle. The Living Ice of Greenland is the third polar film of the trilogy.
She has unique access to this project having worked with the participants for the last three years in Greenland, Denmark, and Germany as they uncover novel science about the ice algae. Thus far, the travel for the film production has been supported by the Deep Purple research grant with the European Research Council (ERC Synergy Grant 2019). This affords the film unique access to the ice margin of Greenland, accessible only via helicopter with the only scientists in the world studying ice algae in Greenland.
Artistic Approach
Many films on climate change are fundamentally a “call to action”. While the Living Ice of Greenland will resonate environmentally, the film portrays scientific process. The viewer is invited to understand the research, moving beyond the call to action, and sensing the power of inquiry to elevate and advance knowledge of our world, in one of the most extreme environments. Director Kathy Kasic's recent film, The Lake at the Bottom of the World, followed a similar model of inquiry-based storytelling mixed with scientific adventure, following a group of scientists as they discover a subglacial lake under 3600 feet of ice. Furthermore, her filmmaking style foregrounds the senses – heightening sound and image to develop a phemenological response to the environment –immersing the viewer in the landscape, a style she calls “Sensory Vérité”. This allows for a poetic approach to a science film, a melding of the arts and sciences, employing tactile, sensorial imagery to “feel” the environment of the ice. Microscopic and macro imagery and drone footage help the viewer establish intimacy with the ice and the wider context of the landscape. Furthermore, this film is rooted in an environmental ethic, acknowledging the interconnectedness of the polar ecosystem to our humanity.
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