(gentle music) (air whooshing)
(gentle music) (waves crashing)
(ethereal music)
(air whooshes)
(gentle music)
- [Narrator] The Arctic, an ancient ecosystem,
is disappearing before our eyes.
Disruptive heat-related impacts
driven by unrelenting human-caused climate change
are happening throughout the Polar North.
(gentle music) (water trickling)
In Siberia, unusually warm air temperatures
led to early snow and sea ice melt,
followed by another active wildfire season.
(flames crackling)
Rain was seen for the first time
on the 10,000 foot summit of the Greenland ice cap.
Destructive geological forces
unleashed by thawing permafrost and melting land ice
are an increasing threat
to the homes and livelihoods of Arctic residents.
These changes are not isolated.
Each one can have a cascading effect,
some amplifying warming
and further accelerating climate change.
(earth rumbles)
(waves crashing)
(gentle music)
(air whooshes)
Arctic sea ice has been in a decades-long decline.
Older, thicker sea ice
that once covered the central Arctic Ocean
is now almost entirely gone.
(gentle music)
This has enabled shipping and other industrial activities
to push deeper into the Arctic year round,
resulting in more pollution and more noise in the ocean.
(engine rumbles)
During winter in the Bering Sea,
the vocalizations marine mammals use to hunt and communicate
create an almost rain forest-like soundscape.
(whales calling) (whales whistling)
(engine rumbles)
Shipping noise can drown out these calls,
potentially driving marine mammals
away from their preferred habitat
and raising concern for the food security
of Indigenous hunters and their families.
Increased shipping in the Arctic
is leading to more fishing nets, plastics,
garbage and hazardous materials
lost or illegally discarded into the ocean.
Alaska Native communities reported
many miles of their once pristine
beaches and harvesting sites
fouled by garbage.
(waves crashing)
(air whooshes)
(gentle music)
The Arctic is becoming greener.
Tundra vegetation is flourishing,
and shrubs and small trees
are spreading into new territory.
Iconic Arctic animals are losing habitat,
while new species are moving in and changing ecosystems.
In Alaska, exploding beaver populations
are transforming the tundra.
More than 12,000 dams are clogging streams,
flooding surrounding terrain,
and facilitating the invasion of more new species.
New ponds cause underlying permafrost to thaw
and release more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
Thawing of permafrost and melting glacial ice
also creates special hazards for northern residents,
ranging from crumbling homes and infrastructure
to extraordinarily dangerous geological events,
like glacial outburst floods
and avalanche-triggered tsunamis.
With continued warming,
identifying and assessing these hazards
is just one of many urgent tasks
facing Arctic scientists today.
All these disruptions are the direct result
of a climate straining under the heat-trapping burden
of greenhouse gas pollution.
The time to face this monumental challenge is now.
(ethereal music)
(gentle music)