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Threshold Podcast — Season 2, Episode 12: 'Here Be Dragons'

December 11, 2018 | Threshold Podcast
By
Amy Martin
The science team went to the edge of the ice sheet the day before flying out to the field site. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

The science team went to the edge of the ice sheet the day before flying out to the field site. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

The Greenland ice sheet is basically a giant ice cube the size of Alaska. What happens when it melts? We spent five days camping out on the ice with a team of scientists who are trying to find out.

Graduate students Ian MacDowell and Rosie Leone look down on the ice sheet from inside the helicopter. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

Graduate students Ian MacDowell and Rosie Leone look down on the ice sheet from inside the helicopter. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

A team of three professors and three students unload the helicopter at their research site on the Greenland ice sheet. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

A team of three professors and three students unload the helicopter at their research site on the Greenland ice sheet. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

Graduate student Ian MacDowell, undergrad Aidan Stansberry, and principal investigator Joel Harper at work on the Greenland ice sheet. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

Graduate student Ian MacDowell, undergrad Aidan Stansberry, and principal investigator Joel Harper at work on the Greenland ice sheet. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

This team is studying ice sheet dynamics, or the ways the ice sheet moves over the land and into the sea. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

This team is studying ice sheet dynamics, or the ways the ice sheet moves over the land and into the sea. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

Going to the Greenland ice sheet is "every geophysicist's dream," says Rosie Leone, a graduate student at the University of Montana. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

Going to the Greenland ice sheet is "every geophysicist's dream," says Rosie Leone, a graduate student at the University of Montana. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

University of Montana glaciologists Joel Harper and Toby Meierbachtol assemble the gear they're using to measure the movement of the ice sheet. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

University of Montana glaciologists Joel Harper and Toby Meierbachtol assemble the gear they're using to measure the movement of the ice sheet. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

The crew gathered for meals in a tent on the ice. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

The crew gathered for meals in a tent on the ice. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

University of Wyoming glaciologist Neil Humphrey works on one of the tiny sensors the team sent down through a bore hole to collect information about the ice sheet bed. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

University of Wyoming glaciologist Neil Humphrey works on one of the tiny sensors the team sent down through a bore hole to collect information about the ice sheet bed. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

The Arctic may seem remote, Humphrey says, but changes here affect the whole planet. “We're talking about raising sea level 10, 20 feet. You're going to displace hundreds of millions of people." Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

The Arctic may seem remote, Humphrey says, but changes here affect the whole planet. “We're talking about raising sea level 10, 20 feet. You're going to displace hundreds of millions of people." Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

Student Aidan Stansberry collects data to help map the ice sheet bed. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

Student Aidan Stansberry collects data to help map the ice sheet bed. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

As humans warm the planet, surface melt is increasing. If the entire ice sheet melted, it would cause sea level to rise roughly 23 feet, inundating coastal areas around the world. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

As humans warm the planet, surface melt is increasing. If the entire ice sheet melted, it would cause sea level to rise roughly 23 feet, inundating coastal areas around the world. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

University of Montana glaciologist Joel Harper examines a deep crack in the ice sheet called a crevasse. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

University of Montana glaciologist Joel Harper examines a deep crack in the ice sheet called a crevasse. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

The 24-hour sunlight is so bright that researcher Toby Meierbachtol had to make a tent over his head in order to see the screen of a computer they're using to log the data from the ice sheet bed. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

The 24-hour sunlight is so bright that researcher Toby Meierbachtol had to make a tent over his head in order to see the screen of a computer they're using to log the data from the ice sheet bed. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

The Greenland ice sheet is 10,000 feet thick in the center. “You can't go there. You can't see it,” Joel Harper says. That’s why he has his students working on mapping the bed with radar. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

The Greenland ice sheet is 10,000 feet thick in the center. “You can't go there. You can't see it,” Joel Harper says. That’s why he has his students working on mapping the bed with radar. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

After five days of intense work, the team from the universities of Montana and Wyoming team packed up all the tents, food and gear, and waited for the helicopter to come pick them up. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018.

After five days of intense work, the team from the universities of Montana and Wyoming team packed up all the tents, food and gear, and waited for the helicopter to come pick them up. Image by Amy Martin. Greenland, 2018. 

LEARN MORE

 

SCIENTIST AT WORK

Read glaciologist Joel Harper’s article in The Conversation to learn more about his research on melt water under the Greenland ice sheet.

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH GREENLAND’S ICE SHEET

See Amy Martin’s photo story on PRI’s The World, one of Threshold’s partners for season two.

GREENLAND’S ICE SHEET IS MELTING AT ITS FASTEST RATE IN 350 YEARS

A new study published in the journal Nature is the first continuous, multi-century analysis of melting and runoff on the ice sheet, one of the largest drivers of sea level rise globally. Learn more in this article by PBS NewsHour.

GREENLAND ICE SHEET TODAY

Get daily satellite images and information about melting on the Greenland ice sheet from the National Snow & Ice Data Center here.