Polar Sciences Collection: Ice

Antarctica: A Challenging Work Day
What happens when the ground under your feet is ice and it's moving? This video segment adapted from NOVA features some of the dangers faced by scientists conducting research in Antarctica.

Antarctic Ecosystem
In contrast with its largely lifeless interior, the Antarctic coastal marine environment supports a vibrant and diverse ecosystem. Explore the region's living bounty in this interactive activity adapted from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Antarctic Ice Movement: Part II
Within Antarctic ice sheets are fast-moving streams of ice. This video segment adapted from NOVA hypothesizes about how ice streams are the result of warming at the end of the last ice age.

Arctic Atlas
In this interactive atlas adapted from UNEP/GRID-Arendal, explore different environmental features of the Arctic. Select from a list of themes to customize your map, then zoom in to take a closer look at one of six featured regions.

Arctic Ecosystem
Despite seemingly inhospitable conditions, the Arctic environment has a vibrant and diverse ecosystem. Explore the life that thrives in this region in this interactive activity adapted from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Arctic Tundra
This video segment from Wild Europe: "Wild Arctic" explores the struggle for survival in one of Earth's most extreme environments.

Climate Change
This video segment adapted from NOVA explains the difference between weather and climate and features groundbreaking analysis revealing that Earth's climate has changed much faster than previously believed.

Discovering Antarctica
Take a guided tour of Antarctica by watching brief video segments of its landscape and wildlife in this interactive activity adapted from the British Antarctic Survey.

Drilling to Antarctica’s Rock Core
In this video adapted from ANDRILL, find out how geoscientists get through more than a dozen football fields of ice and water in order to study the rock and sediment beneath Antarctica.

Earth’s Albedo and Global Warming
In this interactive activity adapted from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, learn about Earth's albedo (the ratio of reflected vs. incident solar radiation), how pollution alters albedo, and how ice-albedo feedback may accelerate global warming.

Earth's Cryosphere: The Arctic
In this video segment adapted from NASA, take a tour of the cryosphere in North America and the Arctic using satellite imagery.

Earth System: Satellites
This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center shows how integral satellites are to everyday life and describes the different types, including orbital and geostationary.

Glaciers
Featuring images of glacier formations, this interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service explains what glaciers are, where they are found, how they form, and how they move.

Global Water Distribution
How much water on Earth is fresh water? How much of that fresh water is found in icecaps? Lakes? Rivers? This interactive resource uses bar graphs to illustrate the relative distribution of fresh and salt water on Earth. Adapted from Oxford University Press

Great Ocean Conveyor Belt: Part II
A substantial increase in freshwater running into the northern Atlantic Ocean could dramatically affect climate and global ocean currents. This audio segment from National Public Radio presents viewpoints from scientists studying changes in ocean circulation.

Ice Shelf and Ice Sheet Simulation
In this interactive activity adapted from Texas A&M University, a block of melting ice simulates ice shelves and ice sheets and their differing effects on global sea level.

Inuit Observations of Climate Change
In this video adapted from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, an Inuit community collaborates with Western scientists studying climate change. Inuit observations are recorded and included in the data collection process, expanding the scientists' understanding of changes in the area.

Mountain of Ice: If the Ice Melts
This interactive resource adapted from NOVA Online features a collection of images that show what would happen to selected coastlines around the world if the Antarctic Ice Sheet melted.

Penguin Response to Climate Change
Find out how climate change is affecting Antarctic Adélie penguins and their ecosystem in this video segment adapted from Lloyd Fales and Sweetspot Pictures, Inc.

Satellites Orbiting Earth
This animation adapted from NASA shows the orbital paths of spacecraft in NASA's Earth Observing Fleet that are a source of wide-scale, primary research about Earth.

Taking the Earth's Temperature
This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "What's Up with the Weather?" depicts research efforts to record Earth's past and present temperatures shifts.