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There is one place where we're seeing

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climate change unfold faster than anywhere else on Earth.

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Here,

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In fact, temperatures
in the Arctic and boreal regions

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are rising nearly four times
as fast as those in the mid-latitudes.

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That's why NASA has teamed up
with local partners

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to better understand the vulnerability
and resilience of these ecosystems,

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while also gathering valuable data
that will help future Earth-observing satellites.

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From space, air and on the ground, we'll see how scientists are piecing

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together the story of the Arctic -

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from how it is changing, to what that means for our planet.

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Because, as they say, what happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic.

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BP is engaged..

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and we're radiating.

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One of the best ways to track how an environment is changing

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is to observe it from above.

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But where weather and vegetation
can make it difficult to see the ground with the naked eye.

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Specialized radar can pierce the clouds
to give us a crystal clear look at the landscape.

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This special device, weighing nearly
1,000 lbs, collects data about soil

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moisture, vegetation, permafrost
and other environmental processes on the ground below.

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In fact, it's so precise that NASA
developed a special system for pilots

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to fly the exact same flight path year
after year to get an accurate reading

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as to how a landscape is changing over time.

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Dr. Liz Hoy: So with the airborne data,

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we can target exactly where we want to go
and exactly when we want to go there.

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And we get very high resolution data
so we can have a really clear picture of what's on the ground.

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So our satellite data gives us a very broad picture of what's happening
all over the landscape.

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And then with our airborne data, we can target specific locations and times

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when we want to get imagery,

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and then we can compare both our satellite
and our airborne data

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with what's happening on the ground.

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We have teams actually out on the ground
making measurements

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and putting all that together is really where we get

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a lot of the power of what we're able to study.

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Dr. Katey Walter Anthony:  Not all permafrost contains ice,
but here in Interior

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Alaska, we have frozen soils
with massive amounts of ice.

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There are very large
ice wedges, ice wedges as big as garages.

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When that ice melts, the ground surface collapses,
and the sinkholes can fill with water.

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When that happens, new little ponds
form. thermokarst ponds,

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and as thermokarst ponds form, microbes
in the soil feast

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on the newly thawed organic material,
releasing methane into the atmosphere,

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an extremely potent, and
flammable, greenhouse gas.

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So the bad news is that as human caused-climate change

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continues to impact the Arctic
and boreal landscapes,

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those living both near
and far will continue to feel its effects.

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But the good news is that there is a team
of dedicated scientists

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across a variety of disciplines
that are working together to give us

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a complete picture of these ecosystems
and how they are changing.

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Because this collective knowledge
is key to understanding how we can lessen our impact.