There is one place where we're seeing
climate change unfold faster than anywhere else on Earth.
Here,
In fact, temperatures in the Arctic and boreal regions
are rising nearly four times as fast as those in the mid-latitudes.
That's why NASA has teamed up with local partners
to better understand the vulnerability and resilience of these ecosystems,
while also gathering valuable data that will help future Earth-observing satellites.
From space, air and on the ground, we'll see how scientists are piecing
together the story of the Arctic -
from how it is changing, to what that means for our planet.
Because, as they say, what happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic.
BP is engaged..
and we're radiating.
One of the best ways to track how an environment is changing
is to observe it from above.
But where weather and vegetation can make it difficult to see the ground with the naked eye.
Specialized radar can pierce the clouds to give us a crystal clear look at the landscape.
This special device, weighing nearly 1,000 lbs, collects data about soil
moisture, vegetation, permafrost and other environmental processes on the ground below.
In fact, it's so precise that NASA developed a special system for pilots
to fly the exact same flight path year after year to get an accurate reading
as to how a landscape is changing over time.
Dr. Liz Hoy: So with the airborne data,
we can target exactly where we want to go and exactly when we want to go there.
And we get very high resolution data so we can have a really clear picture of what's on the ground.
So our satellite data gives us a very broad picture of what's happening all over the landscape.
And then with our airborne data, we can target specific locations and times
when we want to get imagery,
and then we can compare both our satellite and our airborne data
with what's happening on the ground.
We have teams actually out on the ground making measurements
and putting all that together is really where we get
a lot of the power of what we're able to study.
Dr. Katey Walter Anthony: Not all permafrost contains ice, but here in Interior
Alaska, we have frozen soils with massive amounts of ice.
There are very large ice wedges, ice wedges as big as garages.
When that ice melts, the ground surface collapses, and the sinkholes can fill with water.
When that happens, new little ponds form. thermokarst ponds,
and as thermokarst ponds form, microbes in the soil feast
on the newly thawed organic material, releasing methane into the atmosphere,
an extremely potent, and flammable, greenhouse gas.
So the bad news is that as human caused-climate change
continues to impact the Arctic and boreal landscapes,
those living both near and far will continue to feel its effects.
But the good news is that there is a team of dedicated scientists
across a variety of disciplines that are working together to give us
a complete picture of these ecosystems and how they are changing.
Because this collective knowledge is key to understanding how we can lessen our impact.